My kitten's third eyelid is red and won't retract. What should I do?
Updated On September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Mediumhair | Female | unspayed | 2 months and 26 days old | 3 lbs
My kitten (10 weeks) is having her third eyelid show, and it will not retract. It's getting red, and I'm worried. She had an eye infection when I got her at 8 weeks, and had her antibiotics.
2 Answers
Most Helpful Answer
Published on August 27th, 2017
Hello, poor Freyja. She may be having a recurrent upper respiratory infection. Most common URI are by viruses (herpes and calicivirus) and then there's chlamydia which is bacterial. In addition to the antibiotics she may need to have antivirals such as oral lysine. I would have her rechecked by your veterinarian to rule out the possibility of a recurrent infection. Hope this helps and best of luck!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Related Answers from Veterinarians
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Published on June 16th, 2018
How lovely of you to take in this kitten and look after him! Salem is very lucky to have you. It sounds like he was pretty sick, and your vet is right that it will take time for his eyes to return to normal. I would continue to give the ointment and lysine as directed, and continue to monitor his eyes. Hopefully you should start to see more signs of improvement over the next two weeks, but if they don't appear to be improving, I would take him back into the vet. Best of luck!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
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