Expert: Jessica - 9/16/2009

Question
my cat just recently had a litter of kittens on august 30th, 2009 and the kittens just opened their eyes roughly a week ago. And all of their eyes are black for one thing. And i have read on many sites that they are suspose to be blue. There are four kittens in total and the father of the kittens is the mothers brother. just today i was doing my normal examination of the kittens and there was a slight orange goo coming out of the behind of one of the kittens. Which happens to be the runt. They don't seem to have any other problems. What should I do

Answer
Hi there.  It sounds like the runt probably has diarrhea.  He really needs to see the vet.  Kittens can have bacterial gastrointestinal infections at this age that need to be treated with antibiotics.  They are also getting to the age where, potentially, you may begin to see some symptoms from roundworms.  Most kittens don't experience diarrhea from worms until the worms mature around 3-4 weeks old, but they are beginning to approach this age.  Kittens often contract roundworms within the first couple days of life, through their mother's breast milk.  Diarrhea really needs to be treated fast in babies because they can suffer dehydration and malnutrition very quickly.  Dehydration throws off electrolytes which regulate heart and brain function, and once a baby becomes dehydrated, he is usually lost.  

As for the black eyes, this does sound odd.  Kittens' eyes are a very milky blue-grey when they first open and stay blue until about 6 weeks.  It sounds possible that the kittens could have a congenital problem.  One such condition is called aniridia, which is a lack of the iris (the colored part of the eye which is normally blue in kittens).  This leaves just a very large black pupil in the middle of the eye.  Aniridia can be carried by the parents as a "hidden" gene that the parents don't suffer signs of.  When you have two siblings who breed, if both of them are carrying that gene, that chances that all of their kittens would end up with the condition are far greater than if they had bred with a cat who wasn't carrying the mutation.  I am certainly not saying this is what your babies are suffering.  BUT, I think the babies should see a vet so the real cause of their strange appearance can be determined.  If the cause is treatable, the best chance at completely curing it will be to start treatment early.

I hope all turns out well at the vet!

Best regards,
Jessica