My cat’s eyes are watering. What is the cause and treatment?

Original Question: I have a Persian cat and I am aware of the eye issues that this breed can develop. One eye is tearing constantly. Can I use human eye drops in his eyes? Systane is a lubricant that I was considering using. There does not appear to be an infection. Can I use Tobra 3% or an over-the-counter Polysporin in his eyes? Thank you. - Connie

Jul 19, 2017

Hi Connie,

Thanks for your question.

I’ve always been in support of trying to treat things at home rather than instantly running to the animal clinic. The most important thing is that anything we treat with will not cause any harm. The first type of harm is obvious and that would be a treatment that is detrimental. The second type of harm is if we start treating a condition improperly and it is successful in reducing symptoms but it’s not curing the underlying condition and it progresses in the meantime. Having said that, I always tell clients that if they try a home remedy or over-the-counter medication, if the condition does not improve quickly or it returns soon after the treatment is finished, I recommend seeking veterinary help immediately.

There is no way for me to know exactly what is going on with your cat’s eye but I can offer some potential causes. The most common reason if a cat’s eyes are watering is an infection, a blocked duct that drains the tears, or a hair or eyelid that is rubbing and irritating the eye’s surface during blinking. Any ocular medicine you find for humans will be pH balanced for the eye and this balance is the same for a cat’s eye, so none of them should cause irritation unless there is a rare sensitivity to some ingredient in the medication. If the symptoms resolve indefinitely then that’s great, if they return I would recommend visiting your veterinarian and having them diagnose it properly.

A word of advice. This breed will sometimes have a viral infection rather than a bacterial infection. Viral infections tend to improve while you’re using a treatment but return soon after the treatment finishes. A test that I find is commonly underperformed is a DNA ocular viral panel. This can identify a range of viruses to give a specific diagnosis and it can also find pseudobacteria, like mycoplasma, that can be treated but it takes a longer duration of a unique treatment to be successful. I have seen many cats live with this type of infection and the owners keep buying eye drops repeatedly but the condition never clears up because it wasn’t confirmed and the right treatment was never performed. Consider this test if you see this condition return or become chronic by visiting your veterinarian.