Cat has a watery eye and warm nose

by Shannon
(NC)

My cat has a watery eye with gunk coming out of it and a warm nose. Any idea what could be wrong?

Her eye has been like this for several days, really watery, gunk in the corner. One evening her eye was rolled back and was blood red.

I wash it with warm water in the morning and evening and it will look better for a day or so, then it does it again.

Her nose is very warm and she isn't as active as usual. Lies around and sleeps a lot.

Editor's note: I'm sorry to hear that your cat is not doing well, Shannon. Whenever a cat is lethargic, I head for the veterinarian.

I've heard of cats getting blocked tear ducts, and cats can get conjunctivitis of the eye (pink eye), which can make the eye appear red. But, you've described other symptoms as well, which may indicate other problems.

Lack of a cold nose by itself doesn't necessarily mean bad health, but if she's excessively warm, she may have a fever. Fever may indicate infection.

When you say the eye was "rolled back" I'm guessing you mean that it was largely covered by the "third eyelid" (the nictitating membrane or "haws").

There are any number of reasons why a cat may have the haws covering the eye, but along with a watery eye, discharge, lethargy and (possibly) fever, I'm thinking that it could be an upper respiratory infection.

There are many other possibilities here, but if she were my cat, I would take her to the vet and have her checked out.

I hope she gets better quickly.
-Kurt