One thing you might do is to use a hot compress on the eye. Take as large a container of as hot water (the hotter the better) as you can manage to the barn, or wherever he is comfortable being handled. Add either Epsom salts or plain salt - when I was making an eye compress for horses, I used a scant handful in about a quart of water, but you can use a bit less salt if you want - and then dip a washcloth or other small piece of terry cloth in the mixture, wring it nearly dry, fold it to size, and hold it over the eye until it cools off. Repeat as long as the cat will let you or until the water is too cool. Wearing rubber gloves will let you deal with hotter water than bare hands, and may prevent scratches if the cat objects. Help may be needed. You can also look in your local healthfood store for eyebright or Euphrasia, an herb used frequently for eye problems. You MIGHT find the herb, or a prepared tincture. If the herb, boil a teaspoon in a cup of water for 5 min., let cool and gently drop a few drops into the eye several times a day - you may need help and need to wear gloves for this - or use a cloth and gently wipe over the eye, getting a little in if you can. If you can find a tincture, then follow the dilution directions on the bottle.

Well, you'd have to call us more ranchers than farmers these days. But we still have more animals than most people, and yes we have a population of barn cats. I refer to them as wild cats and they are distinct from feral cats, which show up now and then at mating season. The wild cats are born on the place, stay close to buildings and are quite content to have humans near as long as you don't try to touch them. We provide food, shelter, and water. (I'd be happy to provide medical care also if I could find a way to manage it.) Also have created a fenced area away from dogs where they can bring their kittens to play and eat. This happens to be right out our large bedroom window so we enjoy quite a show during the birthing season. To answer your question: yes. We value our barn cats. Like every other thing on the farm/ranch, they serve a purpose and must earn their keep. They are distinct from "pets". Just as the donkey's job is to keep calving cattle safe from coyote attacks while they are down birthing, and the livestock guardian dog's job is to keep predators and vermin away from the homestead as well as the livestock, the cat's job is to keep the place snake and rodent free. They are very good at it. It's a kind of 'circle of life' thing where each species helps with the care of others. The chickens are kept for flea and tick control, cats for mice and snake control, dogs protect the cats and chickens from wildlife that would eat them etc. Chickens also keep the ground scratched up so we can see rattlesnakes if they come on the place. Ground cover around the home can be deadly here on the short grass prairie. It works well if you have the right animals and right breed of dogs, particularly. We do everything we are able to do for our wild cats. And many of them live a good long life. I've been here for 29 years and I can still see replicas of our first cats in their many-times great offspring. We do get the inherent problems of inbreeding now and again (dwarfism) but have had no bad disease run rampant in our cats. But I agree with the person who said you can't determine a mindset by an occupation. It's an inherent thing: you either 'steward' your charges or you exploit them. We see ourselves as stewards... though I fully understand that not everyone would agree with this assessment. I know that a couple hundred years from now those of us who made our livelihood providing meat for consumption will be looked upon as we now look upon slaveholders of old. We will be considered the worst of barbarians. *sigh* j

From http://www.fabcats.org/catflu2.html "Bordetella bronchiseptica This bacterial infection has become recognised as a problem in cats only recently. Although well known in other species, until 10 years ago it was not really reported in the general cat population. In breeding colonies, in combination with FHV and/or FCV, it can cause fatal pneumonia, with death of entire litters within hours or days. On its own (in experimental studies) this bacterium usually causes a mild nasal discharge and perhaps a slight cough. In experimental studies there also appears to be a carrier state, and queens have been shown to shed bordetella in the post-kittening period. The role of bordetella in cat flu is still being investigated and several studies on this bacterium are in progress. It is now possible for researchers to 'type' different strains and what makes some strains cause disease is an area under active study. Using this strain typing system, it has also been shown that this bacterium has, in a small number of cases, been transmitted from dogs (in which it causes kennel cough) to cats". Labmomma - Actually there are a good number of zoonotic illnesses that can be transmitted from dogs to humans, not just rabies and lepto. Worms, ringworm, scabies, lyme disease. The first link below reports that Bordetella is also something that can be spread to humans. Rare events but possible. A couple of websites describing the diseases that people can catch from their pets http://www.cfc-efc.ca/docs/canps/10001_en.htm http://www.2ndchance.info/zoonoses.htm http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/dogs.htm

Cats can get colds, but not the human kind. They can get an upper respiratory virus just like us. We can't catch their colds, and they don't catch ours. Like any cold, it will go away in about a week, and you don't need to do anything for it. But you need to watch out for eye infections (white goopy stuff in the corners of the eye or squinting) or if they stop eating or playing or seem weak and tired. If they stop eating, develop a fever or an eye infection, they will need vet attention. Or if the sneezing gets really bad and isn't clearing up, they will need to be seen by a vet. Just keep an eye on them, otherwise you can't really do anything but let it run it's course, which should be a week to 10 days. It could also be an allergy, but if they're both sneezing it's probably a mild upper respiratory infection.