Hubby and I have a cat and a pet rat. Because of our financial situations, we've had to learn to do some medical care for our animals that should normally be done by a vet. It sucks, but you do what you have to do.
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Originally Posted by imabehot
Excuse me but it wasn't part of him. We made sure of that. And so we trimmed it and it fell out and he's all better and very happy. It was probably just string.
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If the string-like thing had been part of him, I'd be less concerned.
It probably was not a string. Strings do not randomly attach to eyeballs with fleshy things attached.
It probably was a parasitic worm of some kind. Clipping it may have killed the worm, causing it to release.
If your cat is very lucky, one worm egg got in and grew in his eye and it was a single parasite that attached itself from the outside, and the problem is resolved.
I wouldn't count on luck though, because there are many parasitic worms that are deadly before you see any signs of them (such as heartworms, which I believe can infest the eye).
At the very least, keep a very close eye on your cat. Check his sleeping areas, his poop (squash the poop and look through it), eyes, nose mouth, genitals and rectum several times a day, for signs of worms. Even if there are none, there are no guarantees that he is now parasite free.
Whether or not there are signs of more, he could be dangerously infected. If you can afford a vet visit, I would highly recommend it.
You may be tempted to buy an over-the-counter worming medicine, but I would not recommend it, because you don't know what kind of worm you're dealing with. Also killing off the worms can actually be dangerous, if the infestation is severe (for example with heartworms).
As I said, I understand the reluctance to get veterinary care, but if you're not going to use a vet, you need to self-educate so that you can diagnose and treat your animals and and know the limits of your abilities, before the situations occur.
At the very least, I would recommend that you get a very good comprehensive book on healthcare for cats. One geared towards breeders will give more medical care instructions than one geared towards pet owners. A textbook for vets would be even better, but you need to have a strong science background to understand veterinary texts.
I'm not judging you for self-treating, because I do give my animals treatment that should probably be done by vets, but I have a strong science background (with coursework in life sciences in college and graduate school) and self-educated myself.
You can self-educate too, but if you don't have a strong science background, this can take a while, so you have to do it before a problem crops up.
I just got done treating my rat with antibiotics and lancing a huge abscess under her chin that might be due to a bad tooth. If it is a bad tooth, she will need to go to a vet to have it pulled.
I bought the antibiotics (for cows) at a farm supply store and did the math to calculate the rat dosage (which I already had looked up in my rat husbandry book) and lanced the abscess once it came to a head.
I wouldn't expect the average person to know how or when to give the antibiotics, the correct dosage, or how to lance the abscess without doing injury, so I would tell anyone else to go to a vet.
I know I can't pull a tooth, so if the abscess comes back, I will either have to take my little Pea to the vet, or euthanize her humanely myself. I'm putting money aside so that I can afford to take her to the vet, because I'd rather not have to put her down.
I get not being able to take an animal to a vet, even for emergencies, but if that's the case, you need to self-educate so that you're prepared before the situations come up.
Getting help from the internet, when the problem is occurring is just not the best solution, because you won't have time or a clear enough head to judge good advice from bad.
And if you're going to seek help of any kind online, at least go to a species-specific website (a cat care website, not a weight loss site). You'll still get a lot of bad information and judgement, but you at least have a more reasonable hope that a veterinarian or experienced breeder or pet owner can answer your questions.