Fire Ant Eye - Tropical Keratopathy

[voyager]

Hawai'i is not a rich state.
That is so obvious to me after living in Alaska since the oil boom began.

There is not much local money available to address this problem.
Animals, including pets, farm animals and wildlife, are not a spending priority.
Hawai'i has a little more importance than Puerto Rico to the federal govt., only because it is a state, not just a commonwealth. No financial support can be expected from them for this either.
We can't even get the attention of the CDC to address the Rat Lungworm problem in our area, not enough people affected, I suppose, even though the effects can be devastating for those affected.


I'm thinking that Tropical Keratopathy, also called Florida Keratopathy, is the greatest danger to pets and other animals in Hawai'i. In some of the photos in the first two links below are a chicken and a wild pig.
It's not just dogs and cats.

Dexter, our more adventurous cat, is showing signs of his corneas clouding up.
He's only a year old.
He climbs more trees and spends more time running around through the underbrush than Tubby does.
I'm beginning to worry that he may end up blind while still quite young.
Being as it also carries a Florida name, I'm wondering if there is anyone from the S.E. area with any news of progress being made against it around there.

Info on this is at:

blind pets

and:

Good Shepherd Foundation - Fire Ant Eye Tropical Keratopathy Cure, Find A Treatment And Cure For Pet Eye Damage From Fire Ants, Animal Care

Sides have been drawn as to what the actual cause is, LFAs, bacteria, or a combination of the two.

My thought is that it is a combination of the two.

A thesis study from French Polynesia:

http://www.littlefireants.com/Master paper EN.pdf

I guess this qualifies as just another rant.
Nothing can really come from it.
But, at least I got to say it.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

What a terrible thing! We have lots of fire ants here in North Carolina, as well. I've just about killed off the ones in my own yard with grits.

 

[voyager]

A couple of months ago there had been the noise of a cat encounter in our yard.
I never saw who the intruder was.
The next day Skinny Cat had a weeping eye.
Worried that he may have received a claw injury I called a vet to make an appointment.
It turns out that the only vet in our area only does house calls.
Much easier on cats than driving them to endure a visit to a vet's office, much less stress on them.

She is the one that pointed out that Skinny Cat was showing clouding in his other eye.
She gave me a bottle of Gentamicin Sulphate Opthalmic to treat the suspected eye injury with.

We have begun to treat the clouding eye with it now to forestall any bacterial cause for the clouding in the other eye.
I have found it available on line for when it runs out.
I have always been able to purchase veterinary medications locally in Alaska and Washington with out needing an Rx.
I assume that I can do the same on line.
Correct?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm not sure, I'm sorry to say. I do know that there are any number of online sources, including one that I know of in Australia with excellent prices, and ingredients that are pretty much identical to USA ingredients for the same item. Just check, there should be something on the site about whether prescriptions are necessary.

 

[voyager]

We don't have high medicinal use, either of us.
But, I do order one from Canada and she orders at least one from Australia.
I do need to obtain a prescription to get mine.
She does need an Rx to get hers here in the U.S., but doesn't need one to get it from Australia.
I found online sources from $5 to $35 locally.
If I can't get the $5 medication "locally" online, I'll look into getting it from Down Under.

Thanks

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Best of luck. I hate that you and your cat are going through this. Please let me know how he is doing from time to time.