Feral missing eye and expensive surgery

[LeiLatte]

We caught this feral the other week for TNR and immediately noticed a problem with his eye. He is missing his eye ball but the socket is still open. The eye doesn’t look infected, just the eye ball is not there or visible.

I made an appointment at a local low cost vet to get his opinion and he said the eye is gone probably from infection or injury, but the surrounding tissue should be removed and the eye should be stitched shut, otherwise it will probably get infected if dirt gets inside.

The vet said the cost of the eye removal would be $800, not including the neuter, pain meds, follow up and sedation to remove stitches, etc… it’s not a friendly feral and he can’t be handled.

I wanted to help this kitty but can’t afford the $800 for eye surgery. It’s just too much and I have my own pets to care for. Since it looks okay not infected I’m thinking about just taking him to the spay/neuter clinic to get fixed and that’s it. Am I doing the right thing? I feel really guilty about it. I wish the vet had said stitching it up for a small fee was an option.

I can’t turn him into the shelter because they have a waitlist and expensive surrender fee (plus the waitlist on their website goes to a broken link). He would get euthanized anyway

 

[Norachan]

The thing is he could well die of an infection if he has an open socket like that. The fact that he's already lost an eye to infection could mean the surrounding tissue is already infected, which will be painful for him.

$800 is a lot, but it's not unreasonable for that kind of surgery. Could you contact other TNR groups in your area to see if they know of any cheaper vets? Would any of the shelters be willing to meet part of the cost of his surgery? Could you start a fund raiser for him? We allow Gofundme and other fund raisers on our SOS forum if you want to share a link here.

 

[Avery]

Several years ago, I trapped an unneutered stray cat who was missing an eye. After getting him neutered, I took care of him outside for a while and then was able to bring him inside. I took him for eye surgery and the cost was quite a bit more than $800 so I think that is fairly reasonable.

If you were planning to adopt him and keep him inside, I think you could monitor him and hold off on the surgery. However, I believe you plan to release him after neutering and so I think it would be best to do what you can to get financial help for him. Norachan has some good suggestions and the Humane Society has a web page with additional ideas. I'll try to attach it below.

Thank you so much for caring for this cat.

Are you having trouble affording your pet?

 

[LeiLatte]

Yeah, we’re not planning to keep or adopt him. He’s not friendly. I have 8 indoor cats already, including 4 rescued feral kittens from outside. I just don’t have the money to cover this. We spent at least 1500 out of our pocket on an injured feral bitten by a dog recently, with a 700 extra bill paid by a rescue at one of the visits. I feed and TNR the cats near my house out of my own pocket, but it’s become unaffordable to point where I’m going to have to stop feeding to stop having these unfixed cats come by, or just ignore new litters and kittens being born (doubt I can do that. I would probably have to just stop feeding then).

There aren’t any TNR groups that help anybody or respond here. Our city does not have a program for low cost spay/neuter or vouchers. No rescues that respond or help. It’s not their fault, just everybody has been overwhelmed with kittens and cats this year. Shelters are full they don’t accept surrenders you have to waitlist and then pay $150. It is bad here. Hence why we kept 4 of the kittens.

There is another feral here who comes by our porch to eat that I got fixed at the beginning of the year. We paid to have to 2 broken teeth removed while he was getting neutered, but he has since become sick and skinny, won’t eat much. I think he has another problem with his teeth causing pain to where he can’t eat out of the bowl. I see him trying to scoop bits out with his paw, and he eventually runs around like he has some pain. I feel bad so I was thinking about helping him at least to see what the vet says. But now he won’t go in the traps and he is slowly wasting away. I definitely couldn’t help both. The money and our savings has run out

I will post about this kitty on this local networking facebook group for rescues but there is so much need there. So many posts where injured animals and kittens need help and they go unanswered. The bill is just so high I had hoped it would be $200-400 less. He said total with neuter would be $1005 not including meds. It is more expensive to get neutered there. It would be cheaper to bring him to a spay neuter clinic and have the vet do the eye surgery, if the funds could be raised

 

[FeebysOwner]

I have no idea if this will be helpful to you, but it can't hurt to share it. At the bottom of this article are some organizations that are listed both federally and local.
No Money For Vet Care? How To Find Help And Save Your Cat's Life - TheCatSite

 

[LeiLatte]

Thank you everyone. I posted to the rescue networking group and a very sweet lady local to me has contacted a vet and is willing to take him to get the surgery and neutered. And she will hold him for the aftercare until he is well.

I guess she said she will post the bill online afterwards to try to get donations to cover the cost. So I am happy the kitty will get help but am still concerned about the cost. But I’m willing to donate some too. I hope it all works out and the kitty can get his surgery

Thank you again

 

[Avery]

That is very good news! Thanks for the update and thank you for all the help you have been giving the cats and kittens in your neighborhood. You are truly an inspiration. I'm so glad you reached out to this group and I hope all will go well for this kitty.

 

[Norachan]

That's great news. I'm really glad to hear he is going to get the care he needs.

One of my feral rescues needed to have an eye removed and it cost me around $2,000, so I think if you can get it done for less than $1,000 that's not bad at all.

Your welcome to share links to any fundraisers in our Cats S.O.S forum

 

[LeiLatte]

Hi again, so she brought him to the vet she trusts in a far away city. But I guess the vet told her he’s not in pain and doesn’t need anything for the eye. She told me she tried to insist they stitch up the eye or something, and they said it’s really not necessary. So he only got neutered today and rabies shot, flea treatment.

It’s a bit disappointing but I appreciate her help, though we could have gotten him neutered too. I guess we are back at square one. Feel bad for kitty but a vet didn’t think it was necessary…

 

[FeebysOwner]

Indoor/outdoor, or outdoor only, cats typically will need the eye socket to be stitched up - to avoid debris contamination. I believe there are indoor only cats that don't necessarily need it. I think it is a matter of what to do to help with reducing debris in those cats who are indoor only.

Sorry you are getting conflicting information.

 

[Norachan]

That's frustrating, but I guess it's good that he was neutered and vaccinated.

Where is he now? Is there any possibility of taking him to your vet for the eye surgery? I guess it would be a little more affordable now that he's already been neutered.

 

[Avery]

Hmmm... yes, frustrating and confusing! Could you call the original vet who had given you the estimate for eye surgery and get his advice, let him know you are confused and unsure now of what would be necessary. That vet would probably not say anything negative about the second vet (although you never know!) but it might be helpful to get more information about this procedure (maybe he'd agree it isn't urgent, but would be "best practices") and perhaps this vet would offer a lower price.

 

[JamieN]

We caught this feral the other week for TNR and immediately noticed a problem with his eye. He is missing his eye ball but the socket is still open. The eye doesn’t look infected, just the eye ball is not there or visible.

I made an appointment at a local low cost vet to get his opinion and he said the eye is gone probably from infection or injury, but the surrounding tissue should be removed and the eye should be stitched shut, otherwise it will probably get infected if dirt gets inside.

The vet said the cost of the eye removal would be $800, not including the neuter, pain meds, follow up and sedation to remove stitches, etc… it’s not a friendly feral and he can’t be handled.

I wanted to help this kitty but can’t afford the $800 for eye surgery. It’s just too much and I have my own pets to care for. Since it looks okay not infected I’m thinking about just taking him to the spay/neuter clinic to get fixed and that’s it. Am I doing the right thing? I feel really guilty about it. I wish the vet had said stitching it up for a small fee was an option.

I can’t turn him into the shelter because they have a waitlist and expensive surrender fee (plus the waitlist on their website goes to a broken link). He would get euthanized anywayView attachment 458564

Did doctor say if it’s a new infection/injury or old? Poor baby. If old maybe just let it be. I don’t know. That’s really hard situation

 

[JamieN]

Did doctor say if it’s a new infection/injury or old? Poor baby. If old maybe just let it be. I don’t know. That’s really hard situation

Sorry to repeat questions. I now see that he was neutered and rabies shots . Glad you helped him as best you could