It never rains but it pours
After the loss of Lucy last week, I find myself back at the vets today with our Poppy.
She has corneal ulcers
When Poppy was a tiny kitten she had cat flu which resulted in ulcers. Many trips to the vet and lots of medication later, she recovered but always had a cloudiness in her right eye.
Then, when she was spayed, she developed complications which nearly resulted in her death. She managed unbeknown to anyone until it was almost too late to burst her internal stitches. The result was a major operation in which she lost a lot of muscle and tissue, had to be confined to a very small cage for a month - which didn't go down well with her as she is hyperactive. Against the odds, she recovered - thanks to our brilliant vets and she is now coming up for 10 years old. In that time, we've only had one trip to the vet when she hurt her paw.
Friday night she came in and was sitting looking up at me, miaowing for her dinner. I thought, but wasn't sure that her eye was cloudier than normal. Couldn't really tell if it was just the way the light was reflecting on it or not so called my son to give me a hand and check her out (DH is hopeless at that kind of thing). Of course, Poppy shut her eyes tight and made it really difficult for us to have a good look. As soon as we let her go, she shot out of the catflap.
On Saturday her eye looked fairly normal, but as if the little minx could read our minds, as soon as we went near her she disappeared out the cat flap again and wouldn't come back when we called her.
Poppy, when the weather is warm prefers to stay outside. In the winter, she's in all the time.
Last night, it tipped down with heavy rain so she came in. Before she had the chance, I shut the living room door and locked the cat flap.
First thing this morning I rang our vet for an emergency appointment.
She has, indeed ulcers - two of them. One quite big, the other tiny. We're not sure if she's had a flare-up of the virus/bug she had as a kitten or if she's had a fight with another cat (she and our Sparky don't always get on and frequently have handbags at 9 paces but usually it's no more than a hissing session). She's not coughing or sneezing, doesn't have a runny nose or anything like that. Her other eye is OK.
Anyway, right now I have a very disgruntled Puss, who is letting the world know she is NOT happy alternating between sulking and trying her best to escape.
On the plus side, the vet (a new one on our practice and he's a really nice, gentle chap - I like him) checked her eye thoroughly and said that the ulcer is superficial and we hope we've caught it in time.
She has been given Metacalm, Auromycin and anaesthetic drops to make her more comfortable and we have to go back on Thursday or if I think things are getting worse, anytime.
If the medicine doesn't work, we will have two options. One is to sew her inner eyelids together and let the ulcer heal or remove her eye. Because it is cloudy and her vision is probably poor in that eye, removal might be the best option but I will be guided by our vet on that. Hopefully, the cream will work.
I really didn't need this so soon after Lucy was PTS but I hope we've caught it in time.
Will keep you posted on her progress.
After the loss of Lucy last week, I find myself back at the vets today with our Poppy.
She has corneal ulcers
When Poppy was a tiny kitten she had cat flu which resulted in ulcers. Many trips to the vet and lots of medication later, she recovered but always had a cloudiness in her right eye.
Then, when she was spayed, she developed complications which nearly resulted in her death. She managed unbeknown to anyone until it was almost too late to burst her internal stitches. The result was a major operation in which she lost a lot of muscle and tissue, had to be confined to a very small cage for a month - which didn't go down well with her as she is hyperactive. Against the odds, she recovered - thanks to our brilliant vets and she is now coming up for 10 years old. In that time, we've only had one trip to the vet when she hurt her paw.
Friday night she came in and was sitting looking up at me, miaowing for her dinner. I thought, but wasn't sure that her eye was cloudier than normal. Couldn't really tell if it was just the way the light was reflecting on it or not so called my son to give me a hand and check her out (DH is hopeless at that kind of thing). Of course, Poppy shut her eyes tight and made it really difficult for us to have a good look. As soon as we let her go, she shot out of the catflap.
On Saturday her eye looked fairly normal, but as if the little minx could read our minds, as soon as we went near her she disappeared out the cat flap again and wouldn't come back when we called her.
Poppy, when the weather is warm prefers to stay outside. In the winter, she's in all the time.
Last night, it tipped down with heavy rain so she came in. Before she had the chance, I shut the living room door and locked the cat flap.
First thing this morning I rang our vet for an emergency appointment.
She has, indeed ulcers - two of them. One quite big, the other tiny. We're not sure if she's had a flare-up of the virus/bug she had as a kitten or if she's had a fight with another cat (she and our Sparky don't always get on and frequently have handbags at 9 paces but usually it's no more than a hissing session). She's not coughing or sneezing, doesn't have a runny nose or anything like that. Her other eye is OK.
Anyway, right now I have a very disgruntled Puss, who is letting the world know she is NOT happy alternating between sulking and trying her best to escape.
On the plus side, the vet (a new one on our practice and he's a really nice, gentle chap - I like him) checked her eye thoroughly and said that the ulcer is superficial and we hope we've caught it in time.
She has been given Metacalm, Auromycin and anaesthetic drops to make her more comfortable and we have to go back on Thursday or if I think things are getting worse, anytime.
If the medicine doesn't work, we will have two options. One is to sew her inner eyelids together and let the ulcer heal or remove her eye. Because it is cloudy and her vision is probably poor in that eye, removal might be the best option but I will be guided by our vet on that. Hopefully, the cream will work.
I really didn't need this so soon after Lucy was PTS but I hope we've caught it in time.
Will keep you posted on her progress.
