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My cat has watery eyes and tear stains. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Longhair | Female | 8 years and 7 months old | 13 lbs

My sweet Kalli girl has had really watery eyes for the past 6mths or so. My mother is an artist and works with wool and there is ALOT of wool in the house so I figured allergies but I am worried. Kalli does NOT like strangers and becomes aggressive and bites etc and id rather not put her ( or the vet lol) thru bringing her in unless I need to. She gets tears that stream down her lil face and shes got tear stains now cuz they are watery so often! Poor girl :( Any thoughts?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 29th, 2018

What a cutie! I am sorry to hear about Kalli's issue. Allergies is one possible cause. Abnormally positioned eyelashes or facial hair touching the cornea can also cause this, as can blockage of the nasolacrimal duct which normally drains tears off the eyes. You can read more about this issue at https://www.vin.com/veterinarypartner/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951527 (the article says dogs but applies to cats as well). I would recommend wiping the tears from her face several times a day with a wet cloth. If she seems bothered by the tears, she squints or rubs her eyes, or the eyes look red or develop a green or yellow discharge she needs to see the vet. If she is stressed by travel to the vet you can see if there is a housecall vet in your area, or you can ask her vet for medication to give her prior to her visit to make her less stressed. You can also use Feliway spray on her carrier and give her a calming supplement such as Composure or Zylkene beforehand to try to help her be less stressed. These products are available online or at your vet's office.

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