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Expert: - 6/15/2010


Question
Hi,

I have a domestic short hair female cat who's left eye has had a red/brown discharge for a while now. On numerous times I have tried to take her to the Vet but she is extremely difficult to firstly catch and secondly keep a hold of. Is there something I can try to help her at home?

Thank you very much :)
Kind regards.

Answer
Hi Laura,
I understand how hard it is to catch some cats. A reddish brown discharge usually means it's been there a while. Animals have a certain compound in their body that turns their body fluids like saliva, eye discharges, urine, etc into a brownish color when the air hits it for a while. That makes me think she has had this eye issue for some time.

If the discharge were green, yellow, thick, pussy looking I would think that she had an infection, a foreign body in there, etc. Her's sounds more like a tear duct problem- but without having it looked at there is no way to know of course.

Since I am not a vet I cannot tell you what to treat it with at home and even a vet would tell you that all eye discharges should be looked at first to remove the possibility of their being something in the eye. We have seen cats with stickers in their eyes that have brownish discharges and not green ones.

You should rent a have-a-heart trap and catch her in that. They are very safe and easy to get the cat out of once you get her to the vets. Another way we always told our clients to transport their fractious cats in was a pillow case. It is easier to get them into one of those (after catching them of course) then it is to get them into a carrier which of course scares a semi-wild cat crazy.

Once you have her make your self straight to the vets office. If they have to sedate her, the beauty of the pillow case is that they can inject her right through it.

Other than that, there really isn't anything you can do at home for her until you know what is in or with her eye.

Hope you do catch her and get her in soon.

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Jana Connell RVT, CVT

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PLEASE READ BEFORE SUBMITTING TO ME: I am NOT a vet and do NOT diagnose diseases. That is only for a licensed Veterinarian to do. I will give you suggestions and steer you toward calling your vet for help. You can call the vet's office and talk to the technician there or the vet at times. Don't be afraid to call them! If you have a serious issue with your pet please post it to one of the veterinarians in here- I will tell you the same thing in my answer. IF your pet is injured or in an emergency situation, CALL YOUR VET- Do not wait and post in here. Just call the vet's office and get them in to see the vet right away. Critical treatment time is lost if you seek answers here when you should have your precious pet at the vets!! Don't sit at home waiting for an answer when your pet is critically ill or injured!! I can answer most questions about small animal and wildlife care as well as small animal nutrition. I can also answer questions about all phases of dental care for small animals. I DO NOT answer questions about birds (unless it is wildlife or songbirds) or HAMSTERS/GERBILS/CHINS/GUINEA PIGS/REPTILES/FROGS/RABBITS/PET BIRDS OF ANY KIND so please submit these questions to the appropriate sections. I, as well as other experts in here, do NOT do homework questions- that is for YOU to do! Please respect these rules for all of us. Thanks!

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I have over 35 years experience in the field of veterinary medicine. I specialized in small animals and did wildlife rehab for over 25 years, mostly raptors, squirrels and opossums. I am a Small Animal Nutritional Consultant with 6 certificates from Hills Pet Foods, CNM and Purina. I also specialized in Small Animal Dentistry which is a field I truly love.

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Audubon,World Wildlife Federation, American Society of Veterinary Dental Technicians.

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Licensed with California and Oregon, RVT and CVT. Certified Veterinary Dental Technician Have over 500 logged hours of Continuing Education Credits(that means I keep up to date!).

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Nominated for Expert of the Month for the last 5 years.

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