How do you get a cat eye look?

Did I scratch my cat's eye?

• I just adopted my cat today from the local shelter. When we got home I noticed that she had eye-boogers in the corner of her left eye. I cleaned them out gently, they were sort of yellowish. Later when I was petting her, something happened. Because I just got her today I was not completely familiar with how she acts. She does this thing where she bumps her head on your hand, kind of hard, to get petted. I was caught off-guard, and she ended up poking my finger tip (and fingernail!) right into her eye! I was alarmed but didn't know if I really did scratch her. She didn't make any noise, act surprised, or even stop pushing her head on my hand. So I figured I must have been wrong and I didn't scratch her. But now, several hours later, she is keeping that eye mostly closed. I managed to get a look at the surrounding "white" of her eye and it's bright red. The thing is, it's the same eye as had yellowish eye boogers earlier. So I don't know if I scratched her, or if it's conjunctivitis. Did I scratch her? Is this something that needs an emergency vet visit tomorrow, or is Monday ok? She is favoring the other eye but I don't know if she's in pain.

• Answer:

  Take her to the vet and tell them what happened. Just in case there is a problem, they can detect it early, before it develops into something worse. Better to be safe than sorry.