Conference misery::feline_v1

    I have a cat who haa a watery eye, and the vet checked it and found
    no problem with it. However, at some point when he lived with his
    former owner he had suffered some sort of head injury - like getting
    kicked in the head (altho I don't think that he was kicked) or perhaps
    being hit by a bicycle. In any case, it did permanent damage to his
    eye duct and therefore his eye waters - sometimes not at all, sometimes
    quite a bit. Sometimes it even has a bit of blood in it. Apparently
    if a particle of dirt or dust get into the duct, the duct gets
    irritated and tears-up. The vet thinks this will continue for the
    rest of his life. It apparently doesn't bother him at all.
    
    

    Hmmmmmmm, interesting that this note is here.  Murdock's left eye has
    been filling up with water since April.  A trip to the vet (Dr.
    Verbridge who has since passed away) revealed a mild chlamyida, and we
    treated him with terramycin ointment and now oral tetracycaline.  His
    eye still waters, and my feeling is that if it were chlamydia he would
    have cleared by now.  We are going to the opthomologist in a few weeks
    to see what might be up.  Dr. Verbridge found no scratch or abrasion on
    the eye, and I have heard that chlamydia can be stubborn to eradicate,
    but I need to have a specialist tell me what we are dealing with for
    piece (peace?) of mind.  Well, he'll state his piece (for $75/office
    call fee it better be good!) and give me peace :^} )!!
    
    He is still on oral tetracycaline.  We were told to finish off the
    bottle.  If by some miracle his eye clears between now and his optho
    appt. I will cancel the visit.
    
    Another thought for .0:  Could be a blocked tear duct, which isn't
    anything serious.  I think some cats are born with this.
    
    
    --Roberta
    
    

My cat has allergies to some pollens (just like mom) and she sometimes get
a very watery eye.  My vet had the output cultured and found nothing so she
said to just keep on eye on her and leave her alone.  I simply rinse her
eyes with eye rinse (human type eye wash I buy at the pharmacy) when they
look uncomfortable.    

    Roberta,
    
    You should call the Optho. and ask them if you should keep him on
    meds until the appointment.  Reason is, if the optho. wants to culture
    from his eyes or flush his tear duct and culture that, the meds
    could interfere with the culture.  Just a thought.
          
    Don't feel bad, Opthomologists out here a every bit as expensive.
    :^(
    
    Jo

    Holly is a carrier of respiratory infection;  she has a somewhat
    watery eye or (more rarely) a sneeze or so every so often and
    no other visible symptoms.  Her
    feline housemates get a resp. shot every six months instead
    of once a year, and everyone has been fine for several
    years.
    

    Guido Tiggerini was hit in the head by a car.  He is now going blind in
    one eye and "watering" in the other.  I never thought of a damaged tear
    duct from the accident (he was hit on the other side of his face, poor
    love).  Thanks for the serendipitous help.
    
    

    What's strange is that it doesn't look at all irritated before, during
    or after the running.  It's only in one eye and it doesn't happen all
    the time.
    
    I also swore that I saw it in my other cat on 1 occasion as well - but
    not since.
    
    He's 1 1/2 yr olds so I don't think that it's a blocked tear duct from
    birth - but I could be wrong.  It could have blocked all of a sudden.
    
    Thanks again for the input!
    Sonia

    re; .6
    
    Poor Guido.  Is he going to keep the sight in the "okay but watering
    eye"?  If not, blind cats do very well as inside cats.
    

    Kostas developed a very watery eye a few days after I got him which
    suddenly cleared up as as soon as I changed brands of litter.
    
    Deb

    A blocked tear duct can occur at any time.  It can sometimes occur
    as a result of chronic eye infection.  The tear duct gets blocked
    up and the tears have to spill out on the face rather than draining
    through the duct.  Sometimes the vet can flush out the duct and
    clear the blockage, but this doesn't always work.
    
    I have a cat that is sensitive to different kinds of cat litter
    too.  I have to use the 99% dust free kinds or her eyes will start
    tearing.
    
    Jo

    Geez, it's really starting to sound like a blocked duct!  I'll see what
    my vet thinks next week!
    
    Thanks so much,
    Sonia
    

    There are also certain breeds of cats that may have watery eyes
    because of the structure of the face.  Obviously Exotics and
    Persians are in this category.  Less well know are scottish folds.
    Because the eyes of a fold can be so large, some of them have watery
    eyes totally unrelated to any disease.  Dundee's mom Fiona is one and
    Angel currently is another.  I'm hoping Angel outgrows it.
      Nancy

    My kitten is 6 months old and since I brought her home from the
    cat show, her eyes have been watering.  I took her to the vet, and
    he also said that she had no signs of conjunctivitis, but gave me
    some drops to put in her eyes every day.  I have been doing this,
    for over two weeks now, but still her eyes are filled with water?
    
    Don't know what to try next.
    Nancy

    Nancy, what breed of cat is your kitten?
    

    What breed is she?  The next step is to tell the vet that the drops
    didn't work, and that you want to take more aggressive steps to
    finding out what the cause is.  You have to let the vet know that
    the drops didn't cure the problem first, then he will decide what
    is best to do next.
    
    Jo

    What brand of litter are you using? Tidy Cat 3 (yellow bag) is notorius
    for eye problems. 
    
    Deb

    Deb, what is it about Tidy Cat 3?  I ask because that is what we have
    always used, and now I wonder if that could be the reason for Murdock's
    watery eye.  It is dust free, which is why I buy it; I would think it
    would be the safest brand.
    
    Do you have any other suggestions about what we should try?  I'm going
    to feel really foolish if it was the litter all along!!
    
    Thanks,
    Roberta
    

    While it claims to be dust-free, have you ever dumped the litter into
    the box from a standing position and noticed the cloud of dust it
    produces? Also, it is, so that could be the problem.

    I seem to recall hearing that in a Main Coon cat club news letter there
    was a warning about it causing an allergic conjuctivitis, and that
    Maine Coons were particularly susceptible. I remember Pam Levine's cat
    Daisy was having all sorts of eye problems which disappeared when Pam
    switched to Kleen Kitty Red on the advice of Kate. I believe that the
    late HRH was having similar problems.

    By the way, Johnny Cat was causing problems with Pip's eye, and Kleen
    Kitty (Red) was causing problems with Kostas. We are currently using
    Multi-Cat which, to my astonishment, is causing no problems.

    Deb

    P.S. Heartland sells the big bag of Multi-Cat for $3.39, a lot cheaper
    than the $4.69-$4.99 that Star and Stop & Shop are charging.

    Hmm, as a matter of fact I have noticed some dust when pouring it into
    the litterboxes!  I also just bought 50 pounds of the stuff, but am
    going to try switching to Kleen Kitty red for awhile and see what
    happens.  They have used Kleen Kitty before, so at least I know they
    will do their business in it.
    
    One thing I hate about Tidy Cat 3 is that the urine doesn't absorb into
    the clay like in other brands.  If I don't scoop it out early enough, I
    end up changing the boxes more often than ususal.
    

    I switched *to* Tidy Cat 3 to help clear up Kyrielle's problems.
    I can use any of the 99% dust free litters and not have a problem
    with her eyes tearing.  I use Tidy Cat 3 and Scamp for the most
    part.
    
    Side note:  Do any of you Californians shop at Petco?  I have a
    bone to pick with them and I was wondering if anyone else had noticed.
    The Petco folks claim that their Petgold brand of litter is really
    Scamp litter.  They claim to have bought Scamp from Ed Lowe.  Well,
    if that is true, that it is the same, why does it not say 99% dust
    free on the label, and why is it that Scamp is still available in
    other stores??  Does anyone know the real scoop on this.  I don't
    think it is right for Petco to go out of their way to tell folks
    something that is misleading to the consumer. (moderator - if this
    note violates any DEC policies please let me know and I will fix
    it).
    
    Jo

re: .20

Jo,

I don't know where petco is...I use Cindy's as my most convenient source
of goodies and AN-JAN as the most likely to have ANYTHING you might want
for pets.  Other than your beef, are petco's prices impressive?  If so,
where are they?

P.S.  as I understand the aspects of marketting, the inventory of an
individual distributor of a product can always be sold to the public,
even if the manufacturer has been sold to another company or something.
Some stores have more inventory than others....of course, if you
see it being sold next year, you may be dealing with intentional or
unintentional misinformation....not the first time it has happened,
as we all know.

re: 99% dust free labelling - it is really just a way for the vendor
to say "we REALLY tried to get rid of the dust in this stuff - it MAY
be less dusty than other brands"....who can actually measure in any
meaningful way - the vendor that had the dustier product simply has
to say that the package/container of the product was "abused" before
the test.  If the supposedly re-packaged product is acceptable to the
cats, and looks about the same, that is all you can verify.

Now, I wish I had to nerve to try other brands of litter than tidy cat 3,
but after Tabs pooping in the waterbed to express her "dismay" when we
tried tidy cat mc, I'm just not quite that brave, even tho Hannah is
allergic to something...maybe I'll try another brand, locking Hannah and
me IN the bedroom at night with a cat box...and keeping Tabs out.

    Actually, Petco's prices are outrageous.  We only go there if the
    feed store is closed.  There is just Petco and the feed store in
    our town, and the feed store closes at 5:00pm on weekdays and is
    only open a short time on Saturdays.  
    
    I worked in retail management as a buyer for 8 years before coming
    to DEC and I am familiar with "generic" products being sold to
    retailers so that they can label them as house brands.  That is
    what has probably happened with Petco and their Petgold brand of
    litter.  I wish that they would just say that it is their private
    label, that it is not Scamp, and be up front with their customers.
    
    Another beef I have with Petco.  They have jumped on the private
    label bandwagon, and virtually eliminated all national brands except
    for one, in almost every catagory.  As an example, in the litter
    department, they only carry Jonny Cat and Petgold brand now.  They
    have two types of Petgold litter, regular clay (which isn't dust
    free from what I can tell, cough, cough), and a private label that
    is similar to Everclean.  They don't carry anything else.  The price
    for their Petgold brand of litter is just slightly under the national
    label prices.  So, they are not really passing along the savings
    of buying a private label to the consumer.
    
    This type of merchandising was apparent all through out the store
    on my last visit.  Coat supplements available, Linatone and Petgold.
    Shampoos available, Ring 5 and Petgold.  And in all cases the Petgold
    product was just a few cents less than the national label.  Odor
    removers available, Outright and Petgold (which is a direct takeoff
    of Nature's Miracle labeling BTW).  
    
    They may have every right to do this, but I for one don't like it.
    I have decided that I will not shop there anymore.  I have found
    a great new place to go in the Bay Area.  It is called Premium Pet
    Mart and it is located on Meridian in a building that used to be
    a grocery store.  Great place, lots of brands available and very
    good prices.  They also have a breeders program available.  They
    give discounts for all full case purchases too.  Dian, check it
    out.  
    
    Jo

>    I have decided that I will not shop there anymore.  I have found
>    a great new place to go in the Bay Area.  It is called Premium Pet
>    Mart and it is located on Meridian in a building that used to be
>    a grocery store.  Great place, lots of brands available and very
>    good prices.  They also have a breeders program available.  They
>    give discounts for all full case purchases too.  Dian, check it
>    out.  
    
nearest cross street on Meridian???  Sounds like what I need.

			Thanks,

			   D

    I think it is one block north of Hamilton on Meridian, but I am
    not sure.  My husband found the place and since I wasn't driving
    I wasn't paying attention to where we were going either. :^)
    
    Jo

    Re:     Another beef I have with Petco.  They have jumped on the
    private label bandwagon, and virtually eliminated all national brands
    except for one, in almost every catagory.  As an example, in the litter
    
    This irritates me about Safeway, especially since their private
    brands (Lucerne dairy products, etc.) are yukky compared to
    the "national" brands.
    
    (Do I feel the hot breath of a moderator on my neck?)
    

    >(Do I feel the hot breath of a moderator on my neck?)
    
    Not yet but it is getting close. For one thing, I just read the past
    few notes. The  main reason they haven't been hidden is because they
    have all been qualified with the "in my opinion" disclaimer.
    
    Deb

    My cat is a Lynx Point Oriental siamese.  I know, this breed does
    have eye watering problems.  But I will try a new dust free kitty
    litter and see if this helps.  She really has both eyes watering
    quite a bit.
    
    Thanks,
    Nancy

    I was using the one with the "powder scent".  I have swished
    to the Kitty brand marked 99% dust free.  Hope this helps, because
    she has droplets in both eyes.  If this does not work in a couple
    of days, she is going back to the Vet.
    
    thanks,
    Nancy

    I have tried the eye drops and they didn't work.  The Vet flushed
    out Tasha's eyes with die, but nothing happened.  Her eye ducts are
    closed.  I am bringing her back to the Vet on Friday to really
    understand this condition, as I did want to breed her in a few
    years, but will not, if the condition is genetic.  I think this is
    just a problem with the one kitten in the litter, as I was told by
    the Breeder last night, that all the other kittens are fine.  So
    maybe there is something the Vet can do and operate on her, or 
    recommend someone who can, if the condition can be corrected.
    Thank you for all your input, especially Karen, who know a lot
    about lynx points and orientals.  The mother and father of Tasha,
    do not have this eye watering problem, so it may be just a condition
    that Tasha has to live with.
    
    Nancy

    Nancy, I took my Birman, Murdock, to the opthomologist last Wednesday
    and he, too, has a blocked tear duct.  He said the chlamydia Murdock
    had earlier this year probably plugged up the duct.  He is undergoing
    surgery next Wed. at Tufts to have his duct flushed, and we are
    confident it will work.  The duct was fine when right up until the time
    he got chlamydia so there probably is an opening.  The optho mentioned
    that in some cats, there is no opening for the tears to drain, but he
    doesn't think this is the case with Murdock.  Even if it was, though,
    he said it isn't a serious matter and Murdock would be fine for the
    rest of his life.  He said the duct is flushed with a needle (you
    mentioned dye) and since Murdock wasn't thrilled to be examined we felt
    it best to anesthesize him in order to flush the duct.
    
    

    The vets will stain the eye with the dye so that when they look
    at the eye, the dye will make any abrasions show up.  The dye will
    also color a chlamydia infection so that the vet can see it.  The
    dye is a diagnostic tool, not a treatment.
    
    A cat can get a blocked tear duct at any time during it's life.
    A blocked tear duct isn't cause enough to not breed a breeding cat.
    If the cat has no tear ducts, or if they are deformed, then perhaps
    it would be best not to perpetuate that.  The vet might be able
    to help you decide if the problem was a genetic one or a congenital
    one.
    
    Hope it all works out,
    
    Jo

    I took Tasha to the Vet last Friday, the doctor said there is no
    opening, and he believes there never was.  She was born with 
    no ducts.  The doctor said he believes this is genetic, and probly
    just happened in one of the kittens out of the litter, because the
    rest of the kittens, I was told, are fine.  The doctor just recommended
    wiping her eyes as often as I can, so she won't be proan to eye
    infections.
    
    Thanks,
    Nancy