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- Sep 10, 2018
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Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I last posted, but I have a new situation at hand that I need some help deciding how to best proceed.
A little bit of backstory - one of my cats that I had adopted from a shelter has an ulcerated eye stye to illness when he was a kitten. I adopted him with what I thought was one eye when he was about six months old and he is now three. My usual vet, and the only vet I have used since I adopted him, recently passed away so I had to find a new vet.
The old vet (and the new one who bought the practice that I don't care for) have obviously seen his eye- it is still open, it does drain and occasionally gets some gunk that he pretty much cleans himself. He's been treated for urinary blockage recently, but neither of those vets said anything about the eye. I was under the impression that it was just open, it didn't look inflamed, he eats and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort or pain. All you can see is the inner eyelid and a little bit of grey at the corner.
Today I have my first visit with a new vet for a wellness exam and to keep up with checking on his urinary issues. She immediately commented that he does in fact have an eye and claimed that he is in pain and really should have it removed. She did gently pull back the inner eyelid that mostly blocks it so I can get a better look. Sorry if this is gross, skip this part if your squeamish- I clearly saw that it is an eyeball, grey in color now, that is missing the cornea. She explained that the eyeball collapsed but was not removed, and what the removal process would be like.
Obviously, this new information and suggestion for yet another surgery blew my mind. My last vet, the one who passed away, was someone I trusted. He was not always the most forthcoming with information necessarily, due to not wanting to cause unnecessary alarm. His philosophy was very much to not overdo it with the animals. I feel like if he thought eye removal was necessary, he would have said so. I can also appreciate the opinion of this new vet, in wanting to prevent any future issues by removing the eye and closing up the hole. Honestly, I wish they had just did that initially at the shelter when it first happened. She also claimed that the eye was infected, and although I see no swelling or redness to the area I did ask for eye drops at least as a preventative in the meantime.
I'm still processing I'll this information, and I don't know what I want to do right now. I'm still paying off the emergency vet bill for the blockage, and I really don't want to put him through something traumatic again if it can be avoided. He does not appear to be negatively affected by it, but if possible I want to do right by the cat. When I first read up about one-eyed cats, I have found information both for and against suturing. I guess that doesn't apply to me, because he does in fact have an eye. I've tried to do some more research in the few hours since this visit, but anything I can find is about cornea ulcerations that have just occurred. This cat has been like this for 3 years now.
Regardless, I am going to have to wait until I'm sure I have a handle on the urinary issues as well as paying off the last bill. I'm going to need to decide whether or not I elect to do an additional surgery, with the knowledge that he could have urinary issues down the road. Yes, I hate to say it but money is a concern, but my main concern is his well-being. He's already been through so much in his short life - is this eye surgery necessary at this time? Does anyone else have any experience or insight to this kind of thing? I'd really appreciate some advice here as I don't yet know what the best decision for him is.
A little bit of backstory - one of my cats that I had adopted from a shelter has an ulcerated eye stye to illness when he was a kitten. I adopted him with what I thought was one eye when he was about six months old and he is now three. My usual vet, and the only vet I have used since I adopted him, recently passed away so I had to find a new vet.
The old vet (and the new one who bought the practice that I don't care for) have obviously seen his eye- it is still open, it does drain and occasionally gets some gunk that he pretty much cleans himself. He's been treated for urinary blockage recently, but neither of those vets said anything about the eye. I was under the impression that it was just open, it didn't look inflamed, he eats and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort or pain. All you can see is the inner eyelid and a little bit of grey at the corner.
Today I have my first visit with a new vet for a wellness exam and to keep up with checking on his urinary issues. She immediately commented that he does in fact have an eye and claimed that he is in pain and really should have it removed. She did gently pull back the inner eyelid that mostly blocks it so I can get a better look. Sorry if this is gross, skip this part if your squeamish- I clearly saw that it is an eyeball, grey in color now, that is missing the cornea. She explained that the eyeball collapsed but was not removed, and what the removal process would be like.
Obviously, this new information and suggestion for yet another surgery blew my mind. My last vet, the one who passed away, was someone I trusted. He was not always the most forthcoming with information necessarily, due to not wanting to cause unnecessary alarm. His philosophy was very much to not overdo it with the animals. I feel like if he thought eye removal was necessary, he would have said so. I can also appreciate the opinion of this new vet, in wanting to prevent any future issues by removing the eye and closing up the hole. Honestly, I wish they had just did that initially at the shelter when it first happened. She also claimed that the eye was infected, and although I see no swelling or redness to the area I did ask for eye drops at least as a preventative in the meantime.
I'm still processing I'll this information, and I don't know what I want to do right now. I'm still paying off the emergency vet bill for the blockage, and I really don't want to put him through something traumatic again if it can be avoided. He does not appear to be negatively affected by it, but if possible I want to do right by the cat. When I first read up about one-eyed cats, I have found information both for and against suturing. I guess that doesn't apply to me, because he does in fact have an eye. I've tried to do some more research in the few hours since this visit, but anything I can find is about cornea ulcerations that have just occurred. This cat has been like this for 3 years now.
Regardless, I am going to have to wait until I'm sure I have a handle on the urinary issues as well as paying off the last bill. I'm going to need to decide whether or not I elect to do an additional surgery, with the knowledge that he could have urinary issues down the road. Yes, I hate to say it but money is a concern, but my main concern is his well-being. He's already been through so much in his short life - is this eye surgery necessary at this time? Does anyone else have any experience or insight to this kind of thing? I'd really appreciate some advice here as I don't yet know what the best decision for him is.