discharge.

Question
Well, i have a Tom-kitten that i had recently brought into my home on May 11th, 2009. I had seen the mother chase him away for no apparent reason, so i had left some food by my front door and then took him in, a little scathed but okay. I've eradicated his fleas, found no ticks, or crust around the nose. He may have ear mites because of the sickly rust-brown gunk in his ear which i softly cleaned out with a cotton swab for babies, for the extra softness, and flexibility, as to not hurt the poor kitten.
He is still a little hostile, and only hisses when i get close, but then he lets himself be handled after i lower my hand to the ground and let him smell me. He has shown no signs of rabies, but he has a sickly greenish-yellow discharge that streams out of his eyes.
Honestly, i am terrified every time i take a damp cloth and remove the discharge from his eyes because his pink eyelid, the one on the inside which i do not know the name of) is almost completely covered his eye when i open it to clean the crust, and to check for cloudiness. There is a mild cloudiness in his eyes and they are fully dilated, but after i have cleaned away the gunk, they lose the cloudiness and become bright again, but a little glazed..
i think he may have that feline conjunctivitis (hope its spelled like that) but right now i have no money to take him to the vet. What else can i do? can i go to a Petsmart or Petland and have him checked there? they did once for my dog..
or can i get any sort of medicinal remedies for his eye problem there?
but other than being very timid around me sometimes, he eats like there is no tomorrow, drinks water, and he hasn't gone to the bathroom for feces yet, but he has released plenty of urine.
and I'm not really sure but he looks about 4-6weeks old.

Answer
Hi Meily.  Thanks for taking in this little one.  Cats can have such a huge range of eye problems, and they can get really severe really quickly.  Many can cause blindness and even the need to have the eye removed.  A vet would be the one to say exactly which part of the eye is being affected and what the proper treatment is.  

There is an antibiotic eye ointment you could put in his eyes, called Terramycin ophthalmic ointment, that wouldn't hurt, and it may help with some eye infections.  Generally, you can only find it online (search for it at drsfostersmith.com  calvetsupply.com  amazon.com  lambertvetsupply.com)  This should help clear up that crustiness and is a good medication for treating conjunctivitis.  It is not too bad for helping to speed the healing of corneal ulcers, which can cause a hazy appearance on the outer surface of the eye.  But it is not a great medication if there is inflammation of the inner eye, which really needs to be treated with a steroidal agent.  Only a vet can prescribe those kinds of medications, since using them in the wrong situations could cause catastrophic damage.  I'm not sure if Petsmart or Petland would be able to help you out, but a phone call would never hurt.

Hope the little one feels better soon!