Are tear stains a disease or normal?

I have been working a lot lately, and when my eyes are tired, they secrete some sticky tears. I need to apply artificial tear eye drops many times a day to moisturize my eyes, which reminds me of some of the most common eye diseases in cats, such as a large amount of pus tears and thick tear stains. In daily pet disease consultation, pet owners often come to ask what’s wrong with their eyes? Some say the tear marks are too severe, some say the eyes cannot be opened, and some even show obvious swelling. Cats have much more complex eye problems than dogs, some are diseases, while others are not.

Firstly, when encountering dirty cat eyes, do we need to distinguish whether the tear stains are caused by illness or the pollution caused by illness? Normal eyes can also secrete tears. In order to keep the eyes moisturized at all times, there are still many tears secreted. When the secretion is reduced, it can become a disease. Normal tears flow into the nasal cavity through the nasolacrimal duct under the eyes, and most of them gradually evaporate and disappear. Tears are a very important metabolic organ in the cat’s body, second only to urine and feces, which metabolize excess minerals in the body.

When pet owners observe the thick tear stains on their cats, they should notice that they are mostly brown or black. Why is this? In addition to moisturizing the eyes and avoiding dryness, tears are also an important way for cats to metabolize minerals. Tears dissolve a large amount of minerals, and when tears flow out, they mainly flow to the hair area under the inner corner of the eye. As tears gradually evaporate, the non-volatile minerals will remain and stick to the hair. Some online sources claim that heavy tear marks are caused by excessive salt consumption, but this is completely incorrect. The salt residue is white crystals that are difficult to see after drying with sodium chloride, while tear marks are brown and black. These are the iron elements in tears that gradually form iron oxide on hair when exposed to oxygen. So when tears are heavy, it is to reduce the intake of minerals in food rather than salt.

Simple heavy tears may not necessarily be caused by eye diseases, as long as you adjust your diet appropriately, drink plenty of water, and regularly wipe your face.

Infectious viruses can cause eye diseases

How to distinguish whether the dirt around a cat’s eyes is caused by a disease or not in daily life? Just observe a few aspects, 1: Open your eyelids and check if there is a large amount of bloodshot blood in the white part of your eyes? 2: Observe whether there is white mist or bluish blue coverage on the eyeball; 3: Are the eyes swollen and protruding when viewed from the side? Or unable to fully open, with different sizes of left and right eyes? 4: Does the cat frequently scratch its eyes and face with its front paws? Although it is similar to washing one’s face, upon closer inspection, one will find that it is completely different; 5: Wipe your tears with a napkin and observe if there is pus?

Any of the above may indicate that his eyes are indeed uncomfortable due to illness; However, many diseases may not necessarily be eye diseases, but can also be infectious diseases, such as the most common herpesvirus and calicivirus in cats.

Feline herpesvirus, also known as viral rhinobronchitis, is widely present worldwide. The feline herpesvirus can replicate and reproduce in the epithelial cells of the conjunctiva and upper respiratory tract, as well as in neuronal cells. The former can recover, while the latter will remain latent for life. Generally speaking, a cat’s nasal branch is caused by a newly purchased cat that has contracted the disease in the previous seller’s place of residence. It is mainly transmitted through the cat’s sneezing, snot, and saliva. The symptoms mainly manifest in the eyes and nose, with purulent tears, swollen eyes, and a large amount of nasal discharge. Sneezing is frequent, and there may be occasional fever, lethargy, and decreased appetite. The survival rate and infectivity of herpes virus are strong, and the virus can maintain initial infectivity for 5 months in daily environments below 4 degrees Celsius; At 25 degrees, it can maintain soft staining for one month; Reduce infectivity from 37 degrees to 3 hours; At 56 degrees, the infectivity of the virus can only last for 5 minutes.

Feline calicivirus is a highly contagious disease that exists in various groups of cats around the world. The incidence rate of indoor cats is about 10%, while the incidence rate in cat houses and other gathering places is as high as 30-40%. It is mainly manifested as pus discharge from the eyes, redness and swelling in the mouth, nasal mucus, and most notably, redness and swelling or blisters in the tongue and mouth, forming ulcers. Mild feline calicivirus can be recovered through treatment and the body’s strong resistance. After recovery, most cases still have the infectivity to expel the virus for up to 30 days or even years. Severe calicivirus can cause systemic multi organ infections, ultimately leading to death. Feline calicivirus is a very frightening infectious disease that is difficult to treat, and although vaccine prevention is ineffective, it is the only way to prevent it.

Rhinitis causes tears

In addition to the infectious diseases mentioned above, more cases of cat eye pus discharge are simply eye diseases, such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, and bacterial infections caused by trauma. These are relatively easy to treat and do not have symptoms of nasal or oral cavities. Using antibiotic eye drops can restore health.

Another disease that often causes severe tear marks and thick tears in cats is nasolacrimal duct blockage. As we mentioned earlier, most normal tears will flow into the nasal cavity through the nasolacrimal duct and then evaporate. However, if the nasolacrimal duct is blocked for various reasons, tears cannot flow out from here and can only overflow from the corner of the eye to form tear marks. There are many reasons that can cause blockage of the nasolacrimal duct, including genetic problems with naturally flat faced cats, inflammation, swelling, and blockage of the nasolacrimal duct, as well as nasal tumor compression leading to blockage.

In summary, when encountering cats with excessive tears and heavy tear marks, it is necessary to first determine whether there is a disease, and then adopt different methods of relief and treatment based on the symptoms.

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