Tip Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Sorry to write in this forum about my cat, but I am sort of going stir crazy. I got this stray kitty from a house that was being torn down when he was around 3 weeks old. Now he is only 5 months old. Last saturday I took him to the vet because his eye looked a little irritated. The vet said it was conjunctivitis (probably misspelled) and sent him home with some drops. Well, within a few days it looked way worse and so I took him back and a different vet (same office) checked him out & said that his little eye has actually been punctured. She sent him home with a different eye medicine and some antibiotics but she said it probably needs to be removed. That was Tuesday, and it looks no better. I called this morning to find out the cost of eye surgery they said she would call me by 5pm, but I cannot wait! I have called around & no one will give me an estimate without first seeing the cat. I am not the richest person in the world so I can't do this. I tried googling for estimates and came back with $500-1500 in price ranges. There is no way I can afford that! What should I do? I mean, $500 I could maybe deal with, I do have a credit card, but I don't know, I'm just freaking out! Please pray for Catman! He is the coolest cat I've ever had, a great mouser, and is black and white just like a BC! Please forgive me, I'm just so worried about this little guy! Has anyone else gone through this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 my husband took this photo the first night we got him and here he is at about maybe 8 weeks anyways- his eyes turned a really pretty green and his coat turned from gray to black. I dont have any recent pics. I've never really been a cat person, my whole life, until I got this little guy, he is my buddy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Check out Care credit - it's a a credit card specifically for medical needs and has either no or a low percentage rate so you don't rack up a lot of interest on big items. Asking your vet about a payment plan would also be a good first step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 thanks Erin- I will look into that. Im still waiting for her to call, if they don't call by 4 I think Im gonna call again..... I know my old vet, although an hour away, gladly accepts divided post-dated checks. I forgot about that option.... anyway, thanks, Im starting to accept I may have a pirate kitty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 okay, I just heard from the vet and she said approx. $333- not the end of the world but it definately hurts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted October 5, 2007 Report Share Posted October 5, 2007 Poor kitty! He is so cute! Years ago my cat's brother, who was also a grey tabby and owned by my friend, lost an eye to a bird attack. He did get along just fine with one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WoobiesMom Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 okay, I just heard from the vet and she said approx. $333- not the end of the world but it definately hurts! Yep, I know what you mean. It's turning into a very expensive vet month here too. I hope your pirate kitty comes through fine! Maybe you can get him some dreds and silver earrings ala Johnny Depp. Seriously, hope everything turns out okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 I know where the kitty could get some extra hair for the dreds! It's turning into a very expensive vet month here too. Yes, your cat had a very interesting vet appointment today I heard! My offer still stands! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WoobiesMom Posted October 6, 2007 Report Share Posted October 6, 2007 I know where the kitty could get some extra hair for the dreds! Yes, your cat had a very interesting vet appointment today I heard! My offer still stands! Declined! Like the OP said, not the end of the world, but ouch! So glad Mr. Icky (the evil ex) screwed up as badly as he did!!!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrid Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I think I paid about $400.00 to have my Rat Terriers eye removed. That included the orbit that was inserted to keep the skin from sinking into his eye socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 Hey guys- an update - Catman had his surgery two weeks ago and just got the stitches out on Monday. He's doing great!!!! A question tho- I am not sure how this happened. The vet said the eye was punctured, so I can't help thinking that my BC could've done this with her puppy tooth becuase her and Catman play together all the time. I try to separate them but the cat seems to like to play like a dog (ha ha Im pretty sure he thinks he IS a dog, lol) Now- Im TERRIFIED of one of them losing another eye! All of thier eyes are at risk, the cat plays with the rat terrier too. They play pretty rough but the cat definately seems to like it- he has plenty of high spots to escape and even my kitchen is blocked off with a baby gate. Do you think I should still let them play??? They seem so entertained, and the way my house is set up the only real way to keep them separated is to put one species outside (usually the cat). Sometimes the cat puts the dogs in a kitty headlock, and I see his claws right on thier eyeballs and I can't help wonder if Im obsessing! Its funny but its not, KWIM? so seriously, any thots on this??? thanks- & my apologies in advance if I don't reply right away- I've been super busy. peace- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 oh yeah- the orbit is a good idea, wish I'd known about it but my vet didnt even tell me! I guess they figured I was going for the cheapest, which I guess I was but if I could do it over I would've had them put one in. Oh well, I guess it dont matter because he's still gonna look like a freak either way!! lol!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK dog doc Posted October 25, 2007 Report Share Posted October 25, 2007 It's not always medically or surgically apropriate to put in a prosthesis. If the cat's eye was ruptured, I'd be hightly suspicious that infection was present; in such cases any prosthetic or internal appliance is NOT a good idea, as it acts as a forgign body and harbors further infection (usually requiring removal of the prosthetic later, best-case scenario; worst-case, uncontrollable sepsis or other severe unmanageable infection, potentially of a fatal nature.) Glad the "WunderKat" is doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted October 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 well thats good to know, maybe they didnt tell me about the orbit for that reason. Im not sure how fast infections occur but it all happened so fast- from looking just like a normal eye to franken-kitty. on a sunday., 9am he climbed in bed with a normal looking, but irritated eye. I brushed it off as something simple & didnt want to take him to the vet that day because only emergency vet was open, but by 3pm his eye was all green so I took him, they gave him eyedrops for conjunctivitis. then by Teus.there was a bubble on it that kept getting bigger, so I took him back, they changed the drops and put on antibiotics, told me to come back in 3-5 days to have it removed if it didnt get better. Friday morning I woke up & it was hanging out of the socket! so he had the surgery that day. so do you think I should separate the dogs from the cat? anyone? or am i being paranoid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK dog doc Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 I can't know for sure, but it almost sounds like what happened was that there was either a small ulcer or puncture that you couldn't see (and which got infected), or that there was an agressive infection of an "intact" eye that caused all this. Severe infections (caused by highly agressive bacteria) can perforate a perfectly healthy, normal eye, one with a completely intact and uninjured cornea, in 12 hours. Normal antibiotic regimens will NOT stop these infections. I wonder if the "bubble" you were seeing was the bulging of the basement membrane of the cornea (this occurs immediately prior to the perforation. The basement membrane is the very backmost layer of the cornea, the cornea being the clear part of the eye.) Normally the cornea has some thickness to it, but if a severe infection had chewed a hole in it, the corneal depth may have been eroded all the way down to the basement membrane. At that stage, a lot of times only surgery will save the eye. I should point out that a partial-thickness laceration of the cornea could produce the same effect, but usually in those cases the cornea is noticeably cloudy and semi-opaque, not normal-looking. I HAVE saved maybe 5 or 6 eyes with these kinds of very severe and agressive infections, but once the basement membrane is bulging, I'm punting them to the opthalmologist, and I mean PRONTO. I've had two or three of those and all of the have kept the eye, thanks to surgery, but it has to be done promptly or else it's too late. Luckily we have a FANTASTIC opthalmologist in AK, and he's been really great about me calling him with an emergency eye that's got some infection digging its way to China through the cornea. The very first eye I saved this way (five or so years ago) I saved only because he was willing to call me back from the Dakotas (where he was on vacation, hunting) and he gave me a recipe to make up a really strong antibiotic eye drop and gave me a protocol for treatment that is pretty arduous, but works. As it happens, I just saw that very patient yesterday. He's 15 now and still visual on both eyes.... thanks to Dr. G's magic eye-drop recipe. At any rate, I'm now wondering if the perforation of the eye had nothing to do with ANYthing except a really agressive infection. I can't know this, since I wasn't there. I'm just wondering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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