Are Kitten Eye Infections Serious?
Doctor, a friend has a female with four kittens.
Most of the kittens have swollen watery eyes. Is
this a serious illness? I am planning to adopt one
of the kittens. I don’t want to get a sick
kitten.
Vicki
Duncan, Oklahoma
Eye infections are very common in kittens. Usually they are not serious.
Because their immune systems are immature, kittens are highly susceptible to a number of viruses and bacteria that can cause swollen, weepy eyes. The most common offenders, herpes and Chlamydia, sound like venereal diseases. They aren’t. They are ubiquitous infectious agents, and almost every cat on earth contracts one or both of these germs at some point. Most are exposed as kittens.
The weepy eyes may take several weeks to clear up. A veterinarian should assess the kittens to make sure that nothing more serious is going on.
In rare cases, severe eye infections in kittens can lead to permanent damage and long-term eye and sinus issues. However, this is not common at all.
Therefore, the chances are very good that the kitten you are about to adopt does not have a major problem.
You have questions. 
My Sergei had problems with eyes (herpes). First time when he was around 4 months old, but it keeps coming back. Nothing serious, though. Just becomes a little red, and than it goes away. But, we did gave him antibiotics. And the “distance” between herpes’ showing up is larger and larger!
But, i must say i was really scared first time he had it, because i knew nothing about it.
Good luck with the new kittens!
I would agree in making sure it is not something more serious. My Michi had a recurring eye infection (coupled with an upper respitory infection) that became pretty severe at one point. I had her to the vet it seemed every other week. It wasn’t until I decided to get a second opinion that it was revealed that she had a large polyp on her soft pallete that needed to be surgically removed. Anyway, she ended up with some permanent damage to her eye. Just make sure your new baby is healthy.
Lots of luck!
My ringo is 10 weeks and one of his eyes are swollen shut. I started to panic. i adopted him 2 weeks ago from the animal shelter. He is medication from the vet. but his eye does not seem to be getting any better. I have been doing my research on the internet and with the medication he is on i should see improvement with in 48 hours. I am praying to God he does not loss his sight. He is so beautiful.
K.C. and her kits, Shadow, Snoopur and Bear all have FHV. It caused eyes and noses to run. K.C. was suffering with it when she adopted us at aproximatly 7 months. On her first trip to the vet we found that she was going to have kittens. If our Vet had only told us that the kittens could be spared the FHV if they would have gotten their first shots within a certain time frame we would only be treating K.C. instead of all 4. The first year of a kittens life with FHV is the worst. On big help is L-lysine, an amino acid, it helps by suppressing the Virus.
Because we had so many kitties inquire about what FHV is and some just wanted to know if it ever gets better K.C. started a Catster group: http://www.catster.com/group/Information_and_support_on_fhv-11111
Some of our group members are taking higher doses of L-lysine then others, but the norm has been 500 mg per day for the first 6 months (250 mg in morning and at night) after the first 6 months 250 mg a day (I give it in the evening). I purchase the L-lysine at the Rx (the veg type) Crush them and 250 mg = 1/8 tsp. I mix it with a can of gravy cat food (I use Fancy Feast Grilled with Gravy) and they lick it up. Some mix it in a tsp of chicken baby food and give it. Other things you can do to help your FVH kitty/kitties is to feed a good cat food, choose a kitty litter that is dust and purfume free (I use Feline Pine), watch the amount of scent that you or your husband wear and becareful of the air freshners you use in your house some contain chemicals that at not pet friendly (I use Fabreze since it does not contain those chemicals) . There are other tips within the “Information and Support on FHV” group page if you would like to check it out. Membership is open.