Hello!

[Catherine]

Hello,

I'm new to this site. I was searching for information about third eyelids and up popped this site! We are about to adopt two cats from an animal shelter and one of them, a 12 year old female, has her third eyelid showing. The animal shelter said she had been checked out by the vet and is okay, and of course we can get a second opinion. What I wanted to know is, could we be letting ourselves in for a sad ride with this cat? She is lovely, and I wouldn't want to turn her away now, but any information about this condidtion woudl be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to reaidng all your stories and getting to know you all.

Best wishes,
Catherine

[yola]

Hi, and welcome. I don't think the 3rd eyelid showing is in itself a disease, more a case of being symptomatic that something is not quite right with the cat.

I've only seen it once with one of my cats and that's when we was a kitten and a friend inadvertantly over-sprayed him with flea treatment and he was poisoned by it. Thankfully he recovered but was a poorly chap for a bit and the 3rd eyelid showed during this time.

It might be worth getting the opinion of another vet if you've set your heart on having this cat.

[Mags]

Hello Catherine, a warm welcome to Catsey!

It's good to read that you are about to adopt 2 cats from an animal shelter, they will be such good company for each other.

However I would be slightly concerned about the cat with its third eyelid showing as usually that is a sign of illness..... or maybe something in her eye. Before adopting her, maybe you could ask the shelter to show you the vet's report as obviously something is causing the eyelid to show

Please keep us updated, we would like to know the outcome of this..

Looking forward to chatting with you and hopefully seeing some pics of your cats when you get them.

If you have difficulty posting any pics, this link should help you...

http://www.catsey.com/showthread.php?t=8195

[Fran]

Warm welcome!

One of my Siamese always has one of her third eylids visible. When I got her from the breeder, it was like this and my vet said it was due to a nasty eye infection when she was a baby that was left untreated causing the bottom eyelid and the third eyelid to fuse together. It will always remain visible but she's almost two years old now and it has never given her a days worry. I'd get your vet to give the cat a through exam. Good luck and let us know how you get on!

[charliebubs]

Hi and welcome to Catsey!!!

I think the others have given some great advice regarding the third eyelid. Please do let us know how you get on.

[angieh]

Hi Catherine!

I think 3rd eyelid showing is usually a sign of something! Could be in the past, like Fran's siamese or something like a low level vitamin deficiency perhaps? Well done for adopting from a shelter I hope that you have years of happiness ahead together with the cats. Photos please and let us know how things go!

[MrsH]

Hi Catherine, welcome to Catsey I hope eveything turns out well with your future kitties, well done on giving rescues a home!

[Moli]

Hi, warm welcome to Catsey.........

[babycakes]

Welcome to Catsey. Hope you are successful in adopting your kitties and will look forward to seeing pics of them and hearing how they settle in when you get them.

[dandysmom]

Hi and welcome! I also think asking for a vet report on the third eyelid is a good idea; I'm assuming that everything else is fine with the little girl or she wouldn't be up for rehoming......and well done you for getting rescue cats! Do let us know how everything is going with your new friends, and yes, pics are definitely wanted!