Yeah, I know there's a cat section, but this place has more traffic...
My 5 1/2 year old cat, Kovu, has always had a cloudy eye, since I got him at 9-10 weeks. I was told that he probably just scratched it at some point, and it was just scar tissue that may or may not ever go away. He saw several different vets over the years, and none of them thought any differently.
Two years ago, he was having these coughing and sneezing attacks, to the point where he was sneezing blood. Vets did heartworm tests, checked out his throat, they did chest x-rays, blah blah blah... They decided to do a trachael wash (which, btw, he had to go to San Diego for..that's 100 miles away from here), and culture what they got out... and no results. No idea what was wrong with him, but he was fine for months after that, so whatever.
Probably 6-8 months later (wish I'd written dates and whatnot down, or gotten copies of everything they did, because I have a terribly memory) he had this..bubble, for lack of a better word, underneath his eye. His cloudy eye. Vet said for some reason his eye was scarring again, and it spread to his tear duct (does that even make any sense at all???), which got blocked. So they drained it. Still no explanation on WHY his eye was scarred or scarring again...
Fast forward another couple months when he actually saw an opthalmologist, who took one look at his eye and said he had herpes. Herpes. Which apparently is extremely common in cats. Whose classic symptoms are ulcers on the eye and respiratory problems. Which several different vets, at several different practices, ALL MISSED!! Okay, so I'm still a little mad.
The point of this whole long backstory is... His tear duct is clearly blocked again. I figured he was having a little outbreak. He sneezed for a few days (though luckily not to the point of blood), was eating a little less, he was being a little needier, etc. The "bubble" is still quite small, just barely noticeable. I'll take him to the vet if it gets worse (which it will if I can't do anything about it), put it on a credit card because I'm flat broke right this second, but I'd rather wait til I have the money.
Basically my question is.. what can I do to maybe make the swelling go down? I was thinking maybe a warm compress? Any other ideas? Or is it probably not a good idea to try something on my own?
I have him on Lysine now, to hopefully help with any future outbreaks, besides that.. anyone know anything about feline herpes, and what I can do to help him out?
Thanks in advance.