[catcoonz]

i have never had this problem before so need some advise please.
came home yesterday to find my healthy kitten has an eye injury so rushed to the vets, seems to have been scratched whilst playing with littermates.
the eye is very sore and blue with a red mark on the eye ball, vets have given eye ointment and antibiotics but is not too hopefull of a recovery and we are possibly looking at a removal of the eye on friday but will get to this later.
my main concern is what type of home do you rehome a kitten with possibly one eye, of course i want the best home for him so if anybody has any suggestions please post, im very worried.

 

[gskinner123]

So sorry about your kitten. Several years ago a 6 week old kittten of mine sustained a claw injury from a litter mate to one eye - I actually saw it happen. Despite immediate treatment and then ongoing treatment for a fortnight the cornea ulcerated. Despite the further efforts of my vet unfortunately the eye had to be removed. It was quite major surgery for a 9/10 week old kitten but he sailed through it and came home none the worse, it seemed. It looked pretty awful at first with a large'ish shaved area around the eye. He was given to one of the vet nurses who'd cared for him during/after his surgery. He made a brilliant recovery... I saw him several times in the following months (the vet nurse lived above the surgery) and it all healed very neatly and looked so much better once the fur had all grown back. Having only one eye certainly never hindered him!

I do hope your kitten's eye heals and doesn't need to be removed... you just never know sometimes, even when the vet's outlook is gloomy.

 

[catcoonz]

thankyou.
there is definite damage to the eye as the vets just phoned, they want to remove the eye which is fine but i want to give him the chance of keeping it, would a few days really make much difference to give the eye a chance.

i am happy to keep him if he will be fine with my other cats but if he will get bullied then i would prefer him to be adopted to a special home.
this is going to cost a fortune i know.

sorry about your kitten, mine is 11 weeks old and did have awonderful home to go to in 2 weeks time, sadly this is not something the new owners want to take on once hes recovered.

 

[catcoonz]

a grim way of looking at this is:

£864 if he makes a recovery.
£564 to pay if he dies on the operating table.
£68 to just pts.

 

[Ang2]

So sorry to read this. Do you have insurance on the kittens? I have a cat who is blind in one eye and lives life to the full. It certainly wouldnt put me off!

Just as an aside, have you shopped around for the surgery costs? It seems like an awful lot for this type of surgery.

 

[gskinner123]

Goodness me, that seems a lot. I know we shouldn't really compare as vet fees vary wildly from one practice to another. The surgery for my kitten was around the £300 mark, six years ago. I'm really not sure what that might equate to today. It's very hard, especially when you have a good vet with whom you have a good relationship, to say that you're going to 'shop around' but if you can find it in yourself to do so....

Or perhaps ask for a consultation referral to an eye specialist vet; there seem to be plenty of them around.

 

[colliemerles]

i am so sorry to hear about your little kittens eye, how awful, i have everything crossed that he makes a full recovery and the vet can save the eye, failing that i do hope you can find him a loving forever pet home, xxxxxx sending you a big hug x

 

[gskinner123]

The reason for mentioning an eye specialist... my own vet, though not a specialist in eyes, does have a particular interest in feline/canine eye problems and is furthering his training in that field. I had (yet another) cat, an adult this time, with an eye injury last year and saw (whilst my own vet was away on a course) the stand in vet... sewing the eyelids together temporarily - for her particular problem at the time - was mentioned as and the next possible step and I knew (or thought I knew) that to be the current standard practice. On seeing my regular vet with her next time for a check on her eye I mentioned this... to be told that was no longer best practice and that a temporary, clear lens was placed over the eye so that the injury/eye could be monitored and topical treatment continued. It can be quite surprising, the level of knowledge and treatment between vets who have a particular interest in something and some further training... and those who don't.

 

[OrientalSlave]

Sounds a huge amount but as someone else said, vet fees do vary. The best chance of the kitten keeping the eye may well be a referal to one of the vet schools, but that would be £££.

If he loses the eye but survives I don't think he needs an extra-special home. He is young (obviously!) and will adapt well. And unlike a human, he won't go around saying 'woe is me I have lost an eye' he will just get on with life.

 

[kelzcats]

Sorry to hear about your kitten i have never had this happen so i cannot comment.

There is always that special person for your kitten if you cannot keep him.

A nice quite home with a good understanding of his needs.

 

[catcoonz]

thankyou, sadly he is not insured but this doesnt matter as i will provide the best veterinary treatment for him.
im happy to keep him if he can get along ok with my other cats, wasnt sure if having one eye would affect him in any way.

ive also had a second opinion today and this vet has suggested to try the eye ointment for 10 days whilst i wait for an eye specialist to see him.
i dont want to rush with surgery if his eye can be saved, so we are doing this for now then once the specialist has seen him will have to do what they say.
i know its going to cost alot but never mind, you cant put a price on a kitten's life.
it would be £300 alone for the stay in veterinary hospital for 3 days but if i can hopefully bring him home and look after him then the cost will be less.

 

[cats galore]

i'm really sorry to hear about your kitten. at least he will get the best care now. it certainly would not put me off having him as a pet but obviously people pay a lot of money for pedigrees and want 'the best'. if he doesn't settle with you - which i'm sure he will - i hope you can find him a lovely home. good luck with the treatment. hopefully he won't need his eye removing and he'll make a full recovery

 

[catcoonz]

i'm really sorry to hear about your kitten. at least he will get the best care now. it certainly would not put me off having him as a pet but obviously people pay a lot of money for pedigrees and want 'the best'. if he doesn't settle with you - which i'm sure he will - i hope you can find him a lovely home. good luck with the treatment. hopefully he won't need his eye removing and he'll make a full recovery

thankyou. i will ensure either way he will have the best veterinary care possible.
of course i understand people paying alot of money for pedigree kittens, but payment is for top quality 100% healthy kittens. payment is not given for special kittens, the best home is the most important and to be honest money doesnt even come close when you have a special baby.

taking my tiny kitten for example, he will be fine and is now eating normal kitten food but as he had been poorly and needed syringe feeding he will be going to a fantastic home free of charge where i am paying the monthly insurance fee for the new owners plus if any vet treatment was needed which the insurance didnt cover this would still be paid from my own pocket. i breed to give others the joy of being owned by a beautiful breed, not to make money as we all know if you wish to make money you had better get a job that pays.

 

[spotty cats]

payment is not given for special kittens

The side of breeding most pet owners never hear about, free or substantially discounted kittens

Hopefully the eye ointment works.

 

[polishrose]

Hope his eye recovers. Personally even if his eye had to be removed it wouldn't have put me off having him.

 

[catcoonz]

im surprised at how many people wouldnt be put off by a disabled kitten, the world is getting better then, thankyou.
so who of you is going to give my beautiful baby a loving home?

 

[colliemerles]

Hope his eye recovers. Personally even if his eye had to be removed it wouldn't have put me off having him.

that is exactly what i was thinking, as long as he has an indoor home, or maybe a secure area in the garden i dont think it would make any difference, if i had allready booked a kitten it really wouldnt put me off if he had an accident like this,

 

[Ang2]

CC, I would strongly recommend that you try manuka honey. It is used routinely in the USA by vets and can give amazing results - far better than prescribed antibiotics. It has a proven track record for healing eye infections.

Man cures painful eye infection with 99p jar of honey | Mail Online

 

[we love bsh's]

I hope he gets better

 

[OrientalSlave]

CC, I would strongly recommend that you try manuka honey. It is used routinely in the USA by vets and can give amazing results - far better than prescribed antibiotics. It has a proven track record for healing eye infections.

Man cures painful eye infection with 99p jar of honey | Mail Online

According to the article he used the cheapest of honey - Tesco Value, 99p for a jar, not the very expensive Manuka honey. It also sounds like he was badly advised about prescription charges, unless he was either getting private ones, or trying 'stuff' to see if it helped. If he needed more than so many prescriptions a year he should have got a 'season ticket' which caps the cost.

Do note also this chap has a false eye in that socket, dunno what putting honey in a natural eye would feel like.

Finally I'm not sure if the OP's kitten has an infection as well, or just the damage.