Why Your Cat Eye is Watering
Conjunctivitis
Symptoms
- Inflamed and red eye tissue, can affect one or both eyes
- Watery discharge
Causes
- Feline viral respiratory infections
- Hereditary: your cat may have been born with excessive tear production or without a proper drainage system for their tears
- Physical trauma: could happen when your cat has gotten injured in a fight or by other means
- Feline herpes virus: can get aggravated by stress
Treatment and Prevention
Pink eye can clear up without much intervention, unless it’s the herpes related kind. In this case, you can get your cat a vaccine to help ease the symptoms. Cats with feline herpes virus are infected for life, but the vaccine, along with some prescribed antibiotics and antiviral drugs can help reduce flare ups and ease your cat’s discomfort.
Infection
If conjunctivitis has been ruled out, your vet can consider checking if your cat has an infection. You’ll see that the symptoms vary depending on the type of infection that your cat is probably dealing with. The good thing is this can be healed relatively easily.
Symptoms
- Sticky or yellow discharge
- Clear mucus or green or yellow mucus
Causes
- If the mucus is clear, it’s most likely caused by a viral infection
- Yellow or green mucus can mean that the infection is of a bacterial nature
Treatment and Prevention
Viral infections can clear up after a week or two, while bacterial infections may require an antibiotic in eye drop or ointment form to heal. Vaccinations are also available to help your cat avoid common viruses that can cause their watery eyes.
Allergy
Like us humans, cats are also susceptible to getting allergies. If this is the reason why your cat’s eyes are watering, then you have to determine what their allergen is and avoid exposing them to it, as well as treat them accordingly.
Possible Causes
- Grass
- Pollen
- Cigarette smoke
- Some fabrics
- Mold
- Mildew
- Medicine
- Dust
- Flea-control products
- Perfume
- Cleaning products
Treatment and Prevention
Your vet can prescribe an antihistamine and tell you to reduce your cat’s exposure to the allergen that will be pinpointed as the cause for the allergy.
Nature
This one is pretty much unavoidable if your cat’s breed really is susceptible to tearing up. However, it can be accompanied by other health issues that may need to be addressed on their own.
Symptoms
- Flowy tears
- Stained fur
- Irritated or inflamed skin
Treatment and Prevention
You can ask your vet for a product that will treat these stains and affected skin. Some products on the market have non-FDA approved ingredients, so watch out for those. The staining can also be resolved by wiping around your cat’s eyes with hydrogen peroxide, as long as you make sure you’re not getting it into their eyes.
Eye Ulcer
This one is pretty serious and needs immediate attention from your vet. Don’t worry, as this cause for eye watering can be easily determined by the other distinctive symptoms that your cat may be exhibiting.
Symptoms
- Watery eyes
- Cloudy eyes
- Head rubbing
- Cat eye watering and squinting
Causes
- Blow to the head
- Scratched eye
- Infection
- Exposure to chemicals
Treatment and Prevention
If you suspect that your cat has an eye ulcer, bring them to the vet immediately. If it isn’t treated right away, your cat can be in danger of losing their sight. Keep your cat away from other animals that can pose a danger to them and cause trauma to their eyes.
Epiphora
This is a certain condition that causes an abnormal amount of tears to overflow from your cat’s eyes.
Symptoms
- Overflowing tears
- Face staining
- Drainage of tears
- Cat eye watering and squinting
- Inflamed eyes
- Red and irritated eyes
- Discharge
- Corneal ulcers
- Loose or saggy skin around the eyes
Causes
- Eye shape of certain breeds
- Abnormally large eyelid opening
- Congenital: distichiasis (turning in of the lashes)
- Congenital: entropion (turning in of the eyelid, affecting either the upper or lower lids, can be since birth or caused by post traumatic scarring or facial nerve paralysis)
- Absence of eyelid in some breeds
- Rhinitis or sinusitis
- Trauma or fracture of facial bones
Treatment and Prevention
Depending on the cause of the irritation, your vet may take measures to resolve it. This can be done through surgical procedures. Most of these are best done early on to avoid any complications. Medications will also be prescribed depending on the diagnosis and treatment plan for your cat.
Conclusion
Cat eye is watering? My cat has a watery eye and I managed to find out so much. I hope sharing the findings here will help you.
Only one of my kitties eye’s are watery
Clear fluid
I’m pretty sick with my cat’s tear problem, she sheds tears all the time. When I first raised him I thought he would only cry for a while when he grows up but now he is 8 months old and his tears are still coming and seem to be getting worse. To my knowledge there are 7 main causes of cat tears:
1. The eyes are stimulated by foreign objects
2. Eye infection caused by bacteria
3. Eye infection due to conjunctivitis
4. Eyes with respiratory infections
5. Cats with allergies
6. Effects of glaucoma
7. Race prone to tears
Thank you for this informative article, it’s really helpful for cat owners. I hope to see more good articles in the future.