# My cat has third eyelid. advise please?



## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

Hi i noticed about a week ago my cat had a white bit of skin coming out from the corner of his eyes. I googled it and see its called the third eyelid. It has got a bit bigger now and is on both eyes. He is fine apart from that eating sleeping playing purring just his normal self. should i be worried?


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## Ang2 (Jun 15, 2012)

You should be extremely worried! This is a sign of stress - or worse, serious illness. Please get to your vet without delay.


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## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

I have researched third eyelid and it says it is normally only serious if there are other symptoms such as weight loss sickness dioreah etc. thats why i was wondering if it may be something less serious and may just pass. its not covering pupil at all just slighly comming out both eyes. when relaxed its covered a bit more when playing it goes back in a bit but not completely.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

I would take the fact that the inner eyelid is visible as a sign that your cat is not in full health especially as this has been going on for a week .Have a look at this link.................

Masterpet | The eye's hidden helper

I think a visit to your vet is needed to find out the cause.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

I agree, this is usually a sign that a cat isn't very well. Why don't you give your vet a ring and see what they say.


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## Etienne (Dec 8, 2010)

Ang2 and buffie have given sound advice and I agree with them. It may not be anything serious but surely a trip to the vet now is better than not treating.
My Shadows third eye was seen well before he went down with cat flu. I am not suggesting it is that, but at this stage you have no idea.


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## vivien (Jul 20, 2009)

My Tiga had the third eyelid come over after having to have a bath a couple of years ago it turned out to be Torovo virus due to the stress of the bath and he was on slow release antibiotic injections for quite a while so I would take him to the vet it could be nothing but better to be sure  .

Viv xx


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## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

Thanks for the advise. I rang vet last week but they just say bring him in they wont give me any advise over phone. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experiances with third eye on here first as im always quick to rush my cats to the vets and theres nothing wring with them. We do have kittens at the moment and he does not like them so we keep them away from him i was wondering if that could be causing the stress.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

carlyd said:


> Thanks for the advise. I rang vet last week but they just say bring him in they wont give me any advise over phone. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experiances with third eye on here first as im always quick to rush my cats to the vets and theres nothing wring with them. We do have kittens at the moment and he does not like them so we keep them away from him *i was wondering if that could be causing the stress*.


It may be,but why risk it,especially if you have kittens at the moment.Does he have access to outside,he may have a virus which will put your kittens at risk.
My advice still stands,you dont know what the cause is so he should be checked, that is what I would do.


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## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

No hes a indoor cat. I have rang vets i cant get a appt untill friday! Have booked him in for then. The receptionist (who is not a vet lol) said its common and normally to do with worms!! altho he is wormed up to date. but we shall see.


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

I would not take the risk.
The vet cannot really say what is causing it over the phone.
But the third eyelid showing is a sign of poor health, and as it has increased, I would take that as a sign he is in a worse condition now than a week ago, when it started showing.

Cats can hide illness very well, and by the time you really notice something wrong with them, they are usually in a rather bad way.

Be grateful for this early warning and have the vet give him a thorough check-up.

I used to have a cat who had his third eyelid showing a little bit most of the time, as he had chronic cat flu, but whenever it started showing more, the disease would flare up and he would get a secondary respiratory tract infection or an eye infection. I spent a fortune on antibiotics on that cat, but because his third eyelid would give me an early warning, we could usually prevent him from getting really ill.


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## Lunabuma (Dec 12, 2011)

carlyd said:


> No hes a indoor cat. I have rang vets i cant get a appt untill friday! Have booked him in for then. The receptionist (who is not a vet lol) said its common and normally to do with worms!! altho he is wormed up to date. but we shall see.


Is there another vet that you can get an earlier appointment at - I personally wouldn't be happy to wait three days for one.

On Friday evening my vet saw Luna within 15 mins of me ringing.


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## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

Its usually quick to c my vet but she said they are short staffed this wk. she said its not a emergency as hes still eating drinking and going to toilet. Im keeping a close eye on him im so nervous somethings wrong. fingers crossed fridays good news.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

Treacle had his 3rd eyelid showing for about a week once too, took him to the vet and they said it can be normal for some cats


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

If his immune system is strong, he will probably fight off a mild infection all by himself.... 
so it would be normal for a very healthy cat to show the third eyelid occasionally without getting ill. And in cats with a chronic condition, like my Spetter, it may always be visible.


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## carlyd (Mar 16, 2013)

So i took my cat to the vets friday and she couldnt find anything wrong with him so put it down to some sort if gastric tummg upset and said it should pass in a few weeks. But the last 2 days my cats been acting really strange, when i go to stroke his head he ducks down and ears go flat like he thinks im going to hurt him. Its really worrying me hes never done that before. Anyone have any ideas why hes doing this?


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## danniandnala (Aug 31, 2012)

carlyd said:


> So i took my cat to the vets friday and she couldnt find anything wrong with him so put it down to some sort if gastric tummg upset and said it should pass in a few weeks. But the last 2 days my cats been acting really strange, when i go to stroke his head he ducks down and ears go flat like he thinks im going to hurt him. Its really worrying me hes never done that before. Anyone have any ideas why hes doing this?


ould he be in pain some where it sounds as though hes flinching when you touch him...id definitely get a second opinion from another vet xx really hope he gets sorted soon..poor boy xx


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Did your vet check his ears, could be he has an infection or something deeper inside the ear canal which is causing his discomfort. I'd go back and ask them to check again.


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## jadeandlolacat (Jul 29, 2012)

My cat Lola had her third eyelids very visible about 2 months ago. I posted here too. 

I took her to the vets and he gave her an antibiotic injection, as well as tablets, special diet and worming treatment. He also said it could be an infection or could be due to stress (we looked after a friends cat for 2 weeks and he had just left, maybe she was lonely) he advised we also get a second cat as once you introduce them to a friend they can become depressed alone. I got a new kitten 2 weeks later. Her third eyelids went completely after about a month xx


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## darkcity (Mar 11, 2014)

buffie said:


> I would take the fact that the inner eyelid is visible as a sign that your cat is not in full health especially as this has been going on for a week .Have a look at this link.................
> 
> Masterpet | The eye's hidden helper
> 
> I think a visit to your vet is needed to find out the cause.


That link doesn't seem to work, but I found the page at
The eye's hidden helper | MasterpetMasterpet

Its a very helpful page, so thanks for pointing in its direction.

Off to the vet later to check our cat's eyes. She has some third eyelid showing in both eyes.


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## Jiskefet (May 15, 2011)

One of my cats, Spetter, had his third eyelid showing most of the time, but he suffered from chronic cat flu and had frequent respiratory infections. The third eyelid was always the first sign of a flare-up.
I spent a fortune on that cat in antibiotics and other meds, but I was very grateful for the third eyelid, as I would usually catch the problem in an early stage, so he never got really seriously ill before I noticed.

So the third eyelid showing doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong with the eyes, it is just a general sign the cat is not in the best of health, and probably developing some kind of infection or another type of disease. He will need a general check-up: temperature, eyes, ears, throat, teeth, lymph nodes, accumulation of fluids in the peritoneum or pleural cavity...... the works. And if he really seems to be off-colour while no obvious cause is found, a blood test might be in order.


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## george1111 (Jul 28, 2013)

gerge was the same it turned out he had an infection and was given antibiotics hes back to normal.


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## darkcity (Mar 11, 2014)

Our cat doesn't normally show much of the third eyelid. The first trip to the vet was due to an eye inflection which was giving a brownish discharge. That when we noticed the eyelid. We got eyes drops which we used for a couple weeks.

At the vets yesterday she said the eyes may be a little infected still and or an allergy. We are now to try with antibiotic eye-drops and allergy tablets.


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## korrok (Sep 4, 2013)

Teemo has a bit of his third eyelid showing pretty constantly. As some may know I got him from bad conditions and he was in a bad way from being severely underweight when I got him, however the eyelid has stayed visible and he's now doing well, active and healthy. The vet has seen him 3x since I've had him (since August), checked in his eyes etc and we've never had a problem mentioned about it. I just have to surmise it's how he is.

That said, if it's a new thing for your cat then it sounds like something to get checked out.


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