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How much tearing is normal?

CathyO

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Peaches is scheduled this Friday for her rabies shot and she’ll get checked.

I’ve heard about conjuvitis and herpes and not sure if I’m getting the correct info that herpes is quite common in kittens?

I’ve seen sphynx cats in a cat show with tearing eyes and when I asked I was told it’s common in this breed because they have no eyelashes. Is this true?

I have since started to notice my bed getting tear stains wherever she sleeps on it and we have white bed sheets as our preference. She’s had this once before for a couple of days to a week tops, gave her lysine and it stopped and then only now after several months did she start having this bout of tearing again. She doesn’t squirt and looks healthy otherwise. Eats the same. Pee and poo the same and nothing unusual in her routine.

I should qualify that the tearing I s not constant. I’d say once or twice a day I’d see her tear coming off one eye if I don’t clean it right away. It’s fine other than that if I wipe her face.

Does your sphynx tear a bit from time to time? Is this all part of a having a sphynx? Or did my sphynx caught something?
 

Sheldon13

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I think that is normal. And I think it’s less about them having no eyelashes as it is about hair all around the eye that would otherwise absorb the liquid.


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Bailey21

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I think it all depends on the cat. I have 3 and none of them have leaky teary eyes, but rather booger type goop that I wipe off with a q tip or my finger.
 

CathyO

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Oh that makes sense. So I think Peaches does have tearing sometimes then “goop” as the default.

Any tips on how to keep your bed clean???
 

Toa and Ross

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White sheets? You are very brave!:).
Most sphynx lesved stains from skin oil on the sheets or eye boogers. Hard to say if the tearing of the eye is normal. They produce eye gunk (reddish colour).
 

Westbroadwaybb

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My kitten (6 months old) has always had teary eyes, though a little bit less so now. My breeder had him checked by the vet before she sent him and the vet said there were no apparent causes. Doesn't seem to bother him.
 

CathyO

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Hiya all! So just an update that Peaches back from the vet and the tearing on one side is normal. She says only time it would be concerning is if the colour is yellow or green.

BTW, I was also told that the reason the tearing is usually only on one side aside from the lack of fur is that some cats have shallower tear ducts to hold the tear. I am so amazed!
 

CathyO

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White sheets? You are very brave!:).
Most sphynx lesved stains from skin oil on the sheets or eye boogers. Hard to say if the tearing of the eye is normal. They produce eye gunk (reddish colour).

Haha yes, I never thought I would go with white bed sheets but I found that it helps relax us more than the old printed ones we have. With white, it tells me right away it's time to wash them, although it is so tempting to just go with dark color ones to just hide all the stains.
 

CathyO

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You can have their own blanket to lay on?


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Ok, so I tried it and it failed lol as Peaches likes to bury herself UNDER blankets. My partner also kicks the special blanket for Peaches and invites her to our blanket LOL I'm sure we will find the magic potion for this dilemma!
 

Sheldon13

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Ok, so I tried it and it failed lol as Peaches likes to bury herself UNDER blankets. My partner also kicks the special blanket for Peaches and invites her to our blanket LOL I'm sure we will find the magic potion for this dilemma!

Rofl your partner like...kicks it off the bed? As in “honey, the cat belongs up here with us, don’t you know that?”


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CathyO

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Rofl your partner like...kicks it off the bed? As in “honey, the cat belongs up here with us, don’t you know that?”


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Oh IKR? I even considered completely eliminating the blanket to see what will happen...
 

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Hi! I don't know if this will be helpful but my kitten had a lot of tearing and eye gunk, and rubbed them a lot. She was also either frequently closing her eyes or squinting, we learned this was an immune issue (they believe herpes) that causes the lubricant for her eyes not to be produced enough and so her tears slide off and then her eyes are very scratchy. She has been on immunosuppressant eye drops and the tearing has stopped completely and the gunking has almost completely stopped. She does have permanent scar tissue on her eyes from the time she spent without proper eye lubrication (I guess blinking can scratch the cornea without it) but it is minor and we are managing it easily.
 
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