01-29-2010, 12:05 AM
(01-28-2010 01:53 AM)WinstonsandOlliesMom Wrote: [ -> ]the brown/black discharge is just from excess tear production (or clogged or inefficient tear ducts). The iron in the tears turns brown/black when it dries. My cats had this when they were younger, and it seemed to clear up on its own as they got older. So keep an eye on it, but it's nothing major to worry about if he's otherwise fine. To clean it off, take a sterile gauze pad, cut it/tear it in two, moisten it with warm water, and gently clean around his eyes when he's sleepy and calm. Use a different gauze pad (or piece of gauze pad) for each eye.
Thank you so much for telling me how to clean his eyes out. Seems like such a simple task, but he has pure white fur around his eyes and it just seems to stain it something awful. I was using a damp tissue but I thought it was a bit rough. I bought some nice soft round cotton wool pads so I think these may be the way to go. I normally only use the cheap cotton balls etc and they tend to fall apart easily, so the last thing I wanted was to leave bits of cotton wool in his eyes! I will give it a shot when he is a bit snuggly or sleepy. Being a kitten he seems too energetic to stop and let me do things like this during playtime!