I seem to have pinkeye - conjunctivitis, that I actually got from my sick cat sneezing into my eyes several times a night for longer than a week. Weird, yeah.

Do i need to see a dr for this? I have the watery eyes, the irritation, the bloodshot look, and I wake up with a crust on my eyelashes.

pink eye is contagious and needs a prescription

Yes, Jilly. Susan is right. Pink Eye is very contagious and you need an ointment to heal it.

Wash your hands often, especially after touching your cat, and try not to touch your face without washing your hands first. The condition can spread to the other eye easily.

I agree, I had it not to long ago and got a prescription

Hi, Jill. Yes, Pink Eye is spreadable from humans to animals and the reverse. The disease requires a prescrittion for quickest recovery. If you definitely know that your cats have Pink Eye then a doctor should bbe visited. You may also need to have a vet look at your cats. Severe cases can cause vision loss. Pink Eye is not something to play around with. I would see a doctor especially, since you are experiencing all of the syptoms of the disease. This is my suggestion, but I am definitely not a doctor. So don't go by my suggestion alone. You can contact a medical hotline for a medical suggestion and advice. Hope you and your cats get well soon! Best wishes for 2012!

Thank you, Dean and everyone. The condition doesn't hurt, but it is a little irritating. I guess you are right, though, and I should seek a professional about it.

I have an appointment tomorrow to see my medical clinician (for my meds) anyway - I will ask her if she can look at my eye, or if I need to take it up a level. Hopefully she can prescribe something and take care of it anyway.

I did have the cats seen when they started passing this fun illness around, and the vet approves of my using terramycin.

Hi, Rosie. Thanks for your post in the Vision Issues Forum. I am glad you posted about your pink eye experience. Jill needs to make a doctor's visit for medical assistance and treatment for her and the cats. Best wishes for 2012.

Did you see my post above? maybe we posted at the same time, lol.

Hi, Rosie. thanks for posting on the Vision Issues Forum. I am glad you posted your experience with pink eye. Jill needs to see a doctor and obtain treatment for the disease. Also, needs to have her cats visit a vet so they don't keep sharing the disease. Thanks again. Best wishes for 2012!

Hi, Phyllis. Please ignore the post to Rosie on your post about pink eye. I thought I was on Rosie's post instead of yours. Still learning to navigate the web page. Here is what I intended to say to you! Hi, Phyllis. thanks for your post and great information to the Vision Issues Forum. You offered some very good advice. Pink eye is easily shared between humans and animals. Jill and her cats both must be treated to stop the sharing of the disease. thanks again for sharing. Have a good day!

I have my appointment to see my medical clinician today and will see what she thinks of my conjunctivitis. Hopefully she can prescribe me something today and I won't have to see another dr.

Will update you here.

The cats have seen a vet and they approve of my terramycin treatment.

I asked my clinician and she could not help me. I also went to a few dr offices in town but no one could see me today. I will have to drive into Cottonwood tomorrow to the Urgent Care clinic to take care of this.

Jilly, please keep us posted!

Jilly, have you checked with a pharmacist in your local drug store?
A pharmacist can give some helpful suggestions to ease the discomfort until you can see a doctor and get a prescription.

Here is a link that is helpful: Pink Eye Home Treatment

Thank you for that info, Phyllis, you are very kind.

I plan to get to urgent care today, will update on how it goes.

Hi, Jilly.
Thanks for the update concerning yourself and your animal family members.

Since we have been talking about pinkeye my next article is about pink eye. Written for next week. I learned some new information about pink eye. I didn't know there are 3 types of pink eye - viral, bacterial, and allergic. Only the bacterial pink eye requires an antibiotic ointment. The other 2 usually clear up on their own without causing vision damage.

I went to the following website for the Center for disease Control(CDC) and found most of my new information -
www.eyecarecharleston.com/eye-health/eye-diseases.html). The

I also read some interesting information on the National Eye Institute's website on pinkeye.
Thought I would let you know and hopefully, you can visit the websites and read up on pink eye.
Good luck with your appointments.
Happy to hear you are being proactive with your eye care.
Great job!
Your new friend!

Thank you for the information and kind comments, Dean! I will be excited to read your article.

I am happy to report I went to the Urgent Care clinic in Cottonwood, AZ today. They pretty much just looked in my eyes, ears, nose and mouth, listened to me breathe, and asked about my symptoms.

I told them I thought it was a bacterial version because the cats had an bacterial infection and I caught it from them.

They gave me a gel ointment prescription and sent me out the door. It was a very quick appointment.

I drove straight to CVS and filled my prescription. Then I drove home and applied the ointment thus:

- I washed my hands
- put the ointment in my tear duct and along the lower lid and blinked a few times
- I washed my hands again

I was told that I need to apply it 3x a day for 5-7 days (until the symptoms go away then two more days). I have to be careful to not go driving for about an hour since they say it will make my vision a little gloppy.

Also, I am told not to wear any eye makeup during the treatment, and to throw away any eye makeup I have used while having pinkeye.

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I actually plan to call my vet and tell them they might want to let their clients know they can catch conjunctivitis from their cats. I had no idea. I would have been a lot more proactive had I known!

Today i woke up with crusts over both eyelids and the main infected eye being more swollen than before. I also felt fatigued. I decided to just stay home today and care for myself.

I used the eye goop three times, as prescribed. it does feel gloppy for a while and make my vision a little blurry.

tonite i am noticing less watering, which is great. It would be easier to go to sleep if they aren't crying all over the place and being irritated.

I am supposed to use this gel for five to seven days, three times a day.


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the cats also get their own eye goop.

Jilly, I hope your eyes get better soon - what an experience!

Jilly, it will get better. So glad you were able to get what you needed - Yippeee

Persistence does pay off Girl and you are one persistent lady...

Hi, Jilly.
Glad to here you have begun to use the eye gel.
It must be difficult to use the medicine every 8 hours and still take care of things during the day.

Just remember, pink eye usually heals in a few days - the length of time you are supposed to use the jel.
So things get better quickly.
Hang in there and know you are doing the right thing.

thinking about you.
Take care.

Just thought I'd throw in that if you have a breastfeeding friend, breast milk works wonders for pink eye. A friend just this week cured her own without antibiotics and I have done so as well. Obviously this is not a remedy to which everyone has access, but it does work. I have an article on the Medicinal Uses of Breast Milk on the Breastfeeding BellaOnline site. :-)

Nicki, that is wild about the breast milk. I don't know anyone lactating though.

I will caveat that there are several kinds of pinkeye/conjunctivitis. The viral and allergen kind go away on their own, but the bacterial kind (which i have right now) needs antibiotics.

Updated: I have been using the eye antibiotic gel now since thursday night, three times a day from friday on. My eyes have seen improvement, but are by no means better. They are still pink (not as much), watery, and irritated. Less crusties in the morning though.

I called the nurse hotline to ask if I should be better by now and am waiting for them to call me back.

They just called me back!

Apparently I am not using enough ointment. I will try to get more in there. I have trouble touching my eyes so this is kind of an issue.

I will use the ointment for two more days and then see if it clears up. If i does I am to do two MORE days of treatment. If it's still inflamed I am to go see my dr again and talk to her. maybe get a stronger prescription.

Also she said to be really careful not to touch my eyes or reuse a towel/washcloth, as it's super easy to reinfect my eye. Apparently this can go on forever, the reinfecting. I am seeing this with the cats passing it around too. The nurse says it's a hard bug to shake.

Yikes Jilly - like you I hate anything near my eyes and that is why I refuse to do contact lenses and stick to the glasses.

Yes, please keep us posted.

Hugs,
A

Blech. I am so tired of putting massive amounts of gunk in my eye. I have to do it again right now. It's starting to make me feel nauseous (how i get before I feel lightheaded and faint over stupid medical procedures).

I understand it is not a very pleasant procedure to follow, but it will help. My daughter and her family have had pinkeye several times and it always seems to come from the cat.

I hope this clears up soon for you, Jilly.

Thank you. Stoopid cats.

Good news! Putting the extra glop in my eyes has been very helpful. my eyes are noticeably less red, wet and irritated. I will keep taking the meds for a few more days and see how it goes.

It's very nice to have normal looking eyes again. Not totally normal really, yet, but a far cry better than a few days ago.

Hi, Jilly.
Great news!
I am so pleased your eyes are doing better.
Thanks for keeping me updated.
Looking forward to the day when you are completely over pink eye.
Take care.

Hi, Nicki.
Thanks for the information you posted.
That's very interesting. I had no ideal breast milk worked in such a manner. I learned something today.
I must pay your site a visit.
Thanks again.
Take care.

Update: putting more gel in my eyes was the trick. it took only a couple or three days of that and the pinkeye is gone! Yay!

I will see if there are any crusties in my eyes when i wake up in the morning, since i did not use any gel today.

My cats seem to still be passing their infection around...there will be no more sneezing in my face, though!

Hi, Jilly.
I guess it has been 7 days of treatment. Hopefully you want have any crust to deal with on your eyes.
Sorry to hear your cats are still dealing with pink eye.

Although, you have gone through a horrible situation, I have learned good information because of your experience with pink eye. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Wishing you all the best!

Thanks, dean! I am still having minor morning crusties but i think it's mostly gone. I now am paranoid about not letting the cats sneeze in my face. Hubby too.

You might want to include a link in this post to your great new pinkeye article.

Hi, Jilly.
Great to hear you are much better and your cats.
Thanks for the link advice. Great idea.
Wishing you all the best!

Link to Article "Pink Eye!"
BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Hi, Jilly.
I think I am lost. I am not sure who I was posting the message too - Rosie or Phyllis or you. LOL!
Please forgive me if I said something incorrect. Your information about "Pink Eye" has been of great value in the Vision Issues forum.
Again sorry for my lack of skill keeping up with all of the comments in the pink eye thread.
Yor friend!