Medical history…

When I arrived at the sanctuary, it was clear that I had a poorly eye. My finders had mentioned it to the vets they had taken me to, where I had been neutered and vaccinated, as it had not changed since I appeared. These vets had a look ay my eye but thought it was nothing to worry about. My carer was still worried though when she saw it. Apparently, there had been some other ex-street males at the sanctuary recently who had also come in with eye issues, likely due to fighting with other unneutered males. They sadly had to have their effected eyes removed, so my carer knew it was important to get me seen by a vet quickly.

I was seen by a vet and although their quick, simple checks on my eye seemed good, they thought it best I be referred to an eye specialist to figure out the extent of what the issue was and whether I too would lose my eye.

I was booked in with the eye specialist, and he had a really good look at both of my eyes. My eye looked like I had been in a fight and another cat had scratched it, causing a tear to my upper eyelid. The eye specialist diagnosed it as a condition called ectropion, which is where the eyelid droops away from the eyeball and leaves the inner eyelid exposed. He advised I be booked in for corrective surgery for this and he could have a better look at my eye while I was asleep under anaesthetic, he was worried that there may be a growth under my eyelid that was causing the ectropion.

I had to wait a few weeks for my surgery, eye specialists are very busy people! When I had my surgery done, some of the excess tissue/skin was trimmed away and my eyelid stitched back so that my eye wasn’t so ‘droopy’. Sadly, he did also find that there was a thickening/growth under my eyelid, so this was removed and a biopsy sent off to be tested.

The results of the biopsy thankfully showed that there was nothing untoward, and it was diagnosed as Lipogranulomatous conjunctivitis. Yes, my carer had to do some research into what it was and so did the vet who gave the results (not the eye specialist). I would suggest you do some quick research too if you are considering giving me a home, just so you know what I have dealt with. To put it very simply, it is an inflammatory condition causing small masses under the eyelid, and although other treatments can be tested, the most effective is usually surgery to remove the mass. Thankfully, I had now had this done and prognosis is generally good in that recurrence is rare. My eye already looks lots better and has healed well, it feels a lot better and not uncomfortable anymore.

Another thing to mention, although it is nowhere near as complex! Since my surgery and after having my cone of shame taken off, I have started sucking on one of my back toes. I have been seen by a vet regarding this, the toe was shaved and examined. There was nothing obvious to see, so I was put on a course of antibiotics and pain relief in case of a nail bed infection. I do seem to be sucking/ chewing at it a lot less now, and it doesn’t ever appear sore or irritated, but my carers are keeping a close eye on it in case I do need to have further treatment/ investigations. At this point though, it has been suggested that it may just be a comfort thing, like a baby sucking their thumb. I am a little baby after all, just look at me.