Sinéad: Greetings, everybody. This week's column is going to be kind of short, because Mama's not feeling good, and neither is Siouxsie.

Siouxsie: Yeah, I don't feel good. Stay away from me! Grrrr!

Thomas: What's the matter, Siouxsie?

Siouxsie: My eye hurts and it's all swollen up and I just feel yucky. Mama even took me to the vet this morning.

Sinéad: What happened to you?

Siouxsie: I was out hunting and my ungrateful prey scratched me just by my eye. And now the vet says it's infected. She squirted salt water in my eye because she said it would get the pus out, and then she put some more goop in there that stings and makes it so I can't see too well.

Thomas: Ugh! The humiliation! Did you scratch the vet?

Siouxsie: No! Mama held me too tight. But I growled and hissed a lot. And then, to make it even worse, she stuck something in my butt that beeped, and then she said that I have a fever. No wonder I just don't feel so good.

Sinéad: I was wondering. After all, you strolled to your food dish this morning instead of running like you usually do. And you've been grumpy and growly for a week!

Siouxsie: Well, you know, when you've got a fever, you just don't feel like eating.

Thomas: So what is Mama supposed to do to make your eye get better?

Siouxsie: Mama did the right thing by taking me to the vet right away when she saw that my eye was all yucky. It's very important to get any injury checked out quickly, especially an eye injury. If that mean old rat had scratched my eyeball, it could have made me blind if she'd left it untreated.

Thomas: I see Mama brought home some antibiotic pills from the vet. Do you have to take pills?

Siouxsie: Yeah. I hate taking pills!

Sinéad: But they'll make you feel better, though. Mama's pretty good at giving pills. She got lots of practice with me when my liver got sick a while back.

Siouxsie: At least I only have to take one pill a day. But she also has to put that gunk in my eye for a while, too. I don't know if I want to let her do that.

Thomas: You really should. Isn't your eye already starting to feel better from the gunk the vet put in there this morning?

Siouxsie: Yeah, I guess so. But still, I don't like gunk!

Sinéad: There's something else Mama can do to help your eye feel better, too. She can make an infusion of eyebright and goldenseal. Goldenseal is an herb with antibiotic properties, and eyebright has been used for thousands of years to help heal eye irritations and injuries.

Thomas: To make the infusion, she's going to boil one cup of pure water, and then pour it over 1 teaspoon of eyebright and 1/4 teaspoon of goldenseal powder. She'll let that steep, covered, for 15 minutes, until it's a nice, strong tea.

Sinéad: Then she'll filter the tea through a very fine cloth or a coffee filter -- goldenseal powder particles can be very irritating if they get into the eye -- and add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt.

Siouxsie: Once the mixture has cooled down to just above room temperature, she can pour out a little bit of the infusion into a separate dish (so as not to contaminate the rest of it) and put one drop in my sore eye, three times a day. She can use this infusion to wipe gently around my eye to help get the pus and ick away. She's going to discard the treatment fluid she used on my eye rather than pouring it back into the main batch.

Thomas: She could also use the mixture in a warm fomentation (a damp cloth applied to an infected area) to draw out the poison and soothe your eye. If she does that, though, the cloth has to be clean, and she can't use the same cloth twice.

Sinéad: This goldenseal-eyebright-sea salt infusion can be kept, covered, on your countertop for two days.

Siouxsie: Whenever you're applying anything to the eye -- yours or your cat's -- you must be very careful that the mixture is not too hot and that it is not contaminated with anything that could cause more problems.

Thomas: Aconitum napellus 30C is a homeopathic remedy that can help with the pain and inflammation of eye injuries. Only one dose is needed. Give two whole pellets (or three pellets crushed to a powder) on the tongue. Do not give food for at least an hour before or after the treatment.

Sinéad: And, of course, if your cat's injury is not 100% better within a week, then bring your cat back to the vet. There may be something more serious than a simple infected scratch going on if there has not been substantial improvement on a regimen of antibiotics and herbal washes.

Siouxsie: I sure hope I'm all better in a week. I don't want to go back to the vet!

Thomas: I'm sure you will be. After all, you are the Queen Of All Eastern Cats, and no bacterium would dare defy your will.

Siouxsie: Darn right!

Got a question? Need some advice? E-mail us at advice@paws-and-effect.com. None of the material in this column is meant to be a substitute for regular veterinary care.