Kitten has bloodshot eyes - antibiotics not working HELP??

[Davchl]

Looking for a second opinion or anyone with similar experience who can put my mind at ease:
-6 month old kitten displayed symptoms of the very common feline herpes virus (squinting, red eyes, fatigue)
-Vet prescribed ABs (erithromycin and doxycycline, twice a day each) for 2 weeks
-we are now out of ABs and she has gotten worse
-no sneezing or coughing

My biggest concerns are 1) her eyes, which are normally a very light blue, are almost BLACK because they are so thoroughly bloodshot. This has not eased up at all.
2) MAJOR personality change. She is a part-Siamese: normally a friendly, confident, snuggly and chatty cat. Now, she hisses at me if I even take a step in her direction. She barely moves all day, only to eat and go to the bathroom once a day. She growls and snarls is we ever dare to pick her up. It’s like she’s become a completely different cat, as though she HATES us. I don’t know if she’s in pain or if she’s just cranky and needs more time, but we’re going on 3 weeks now and things only seem to be getting worse.
Do we need more medicine? How long should I wait to see results? Are there any more serious eye issues that this could be?

[Mollycat]

Not sure what you mean by so bloodshot her eyes are nearly black, this sounds worrying.

Herpes virus can cause bloodshot eyes but bloodshot normally refers to the white of the eye having visible blood vessels, red lines. If there is blood in the coloured part of the eye that sounds like bleeding and that would rarely happen evenly or symmetrically. Herpes normally involves conjunctivitis, respiratory tract infection, sneezing.

Herpes virus is just that, a virus, so treatment would normally be antivirals, not antibiotics which act on bacterial infections, unless there is some secondary infection being treated? That is very common in cats who have a latent herpes infection, to have flare-ups with bacterial infections.

Is it possible your kitten is acting like this towards you because you have been forcing pills down her throat for the past 2 weeks? Even my sweet placid Ragdoll started getting upset after a while on daily tablets.

But if she seems to be getting worse, you need to speak to your vet again.

[Mayday21]

Pls take to vet ASAP. Little un needs to be seen to. Sending +ve vibes all is okay. Interesting a friend had their dog to vet to have teeth out. Last weekend ended up at emergency & was told infection with a tooth that hadn’t been removed. Back to their vet Mon only to be told Sophie had an ulcer behind her eye & as teeth had been removed it started to drain. If no improvement she goes to an ophthalmologist. Perhaps it’s an eye thing with your little cat. Keep us posted.

[pandorawarlord]

how are you administrateing these Ab's ?

[Davchl]

Replies for both @Mollycat and @pandorawarlord

By “black” I mean that the colored part of her blue eyes is indeed, bloodshot. So the combination of redness over blue has cast a very dark coloring to her entire eye. I will try to submit a photo that helps visually.
I contacted another vet for a second opinion and she said the darkness of her eyes could also indicate a dilated pupil, but that there are many causes for this so she recommended an ophthalmologist.

My vet told me that there is no antiviral “cure” for herpes and that the antibiotics were to treat any secondary bacterial infections caused by the flare up of the herpes, as you had mentioned.
It’s possible her crankiness towards us is due to her treatment but truthfully the administration of the medicine hasn’t been too much of a pain - she doesn’t love it, obviously, but she’s mostly calm and gets over it quickly (it’s really just eye drops and a liquid form of doxycycline that we squeeze into her mouth, so nothing painful and no pills).

[Mollycat]

That's what I imagined from your description, blood in front of the iris, and as far as my limited knowledge of biology goes there aren't any blood vessels in front of the iris which would make this - I would have thought - serious. But if the vets aren't overly concerned I certainly don't know. I'm sure you know the difference between an overly dilated pupil and blood in the eye. Sorry I'm no use just wanted to check some details but I'd be the same as you looking for some answers from the vets.

[Davchl]

@Mollycat thanks for your help - I have set an appointment with an ophthalmologist tomorrow to make sure there but your note about blood vessels in the iris have me checking for a more serious injury or bleed in her eyes. If you think of anything else please do let me know!

[Mayday21]

Hope you get good news & issue is sorted.