eye problem

[modema]

I have a four year old inside cat.  I noticed he had just a little bit of gunk in the corner of his eye.  I wiped it off and it has not returned yet, however; his eye looks irritated and red.  I know that eye infections in cats can be serious so I will take him to the vet in the morning.  I was just wondering if there was anything I could do in the meantime.  Is it normal for an inside cat to suddenly get an eye infection?  Also, I have a kitten that plays pretty rough with him...is it possible she scratched his eye?  

[modema]

I took my cat to the vet and he also has conjunctivitis.  I saw that the new kitten also had a little stuff in her eye so the vet said she must have given it to my older cat. So they both are on eye medication.  
I forgot to ask my vet how long until his eye is back to normal..I see your vet said a week or so.  Have you seen improvement yet?

[modema]

I will do the warm compresses tonight.  It was just really weird because he seemed fine when I came home.  It was just a couple of hours later when I noticed it and it was right after the kitten was attacking him so thats why I thought maybe she scratched his eye.  I guess there is no real reason to speculate...I will take him to the vet first thing tomorrow.  I don't want to risk his eyesight.  But thanks for the advice on how I can make him a little more comfortable.

[SandyRay]

I just had the same problem with my 14 week old kitten - I thought my 5 year old daughter poked her in the eye on Saturday night - the kittens eye was all red and looked really weird.  Today when she woke up, her eyes were "glued" shut!  I took her to the Vet right away and she was diagnosed with conjunctivitis "pink eye" and they gave me drops to give her.   I was putting warm compresses on her eye up until tonight and that seemed to help her open her eyes.  The doctor said she should be fine in a week or so.    The doctor did a eye test and determined there was no damage to her cornea and no ulcer.