Flowerbelle's going to lose her eye

For those of you following her story, Flowerbelle is going to have her left eye removed. Several weeks ago I posted an update, and many of you encouraged us just to have the eye out because of all the stress of medication. She saw the eye specialist, who said there was nothing more to do for her than our vet was already doing.

He wanted to give stitching her inner eyelid closed with medication behind it one more time. She had the stitches out this morning - and there was some improvement, but not much. So we scheduled the appointment. We may have to change it to the following Monday because of our work schedule, but right now she's scheduled to have it removed Friday the 19th. She'll have to spend the night at the hospital.

Because she's had the inner eyelid stitched up, blocking her sight these past few weeks, we can safely say that even if she'd had some vision out of the eye (despite the "blisters" from the Herpes virus), not having any vision out of it didn't affect her in the least. She's always appeared to have trouble with her depth perception, and she's always had trouble following things that move quickly - and we see no noticeable difference between when the eye is open with meds and when the eyelid was stitched closed.

So lovely little Flowerbelle will stop having an ugly "weeping" eye, and she will not be subjected to further meds (seven times a day in the eye) and eye-gunk cleaning (at least once a day).

We really struggled to keep the eye - but we feel so relieved to finally have an end to all of this, and we're comfortable with the decision. I think our little ray of sunshine (or the whirling tornado) is going to be GREATLY relieved soon!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am glad to hear it. Once it heals she will be just fine, and you love her regardless of what she looks like, so she is way ahead of the game. No more nasty eye socket infections either!

Laurie,

You and Gary have done everything possible to save Flowerbelle's eye. If it is going to continually cause her problems, it is for the best. Thank you for keeping us updated on this precious little kitty.
Will be saying a prayer for her on the 19th.

Aww poor little Flowerbelle. Give her tons of scritches for me!!!

I will keep my little buddy in my thoughts and prayers... You and Gary don't beat yourselves up over this though. Y'all are the best parents little Flowerbelle has.

She'll still be a little angel in fur, no matter whether she physically has both eyes or not.

(((HUGS))) I know this was a difficult decision for you two, but I think it is the best for Flowerbelle, and that's what really matters. She'll be back to being a tornado with a vengeance in no time at all!

Hugs to you and your kitty.....I have seen the pictures you have posted....such a cute little kitty

She'll still be the little (or big, now!) beauty. And she'll feel better, too.

Aww. I'm sorry to hear that but I agree - it's for the best. I'll be sending her "get well vibes" on the 19th during her surgery. Pls do keep us posted!

Hang in there and give her some scritches under the chin for me!

give that little fighter lots of hugs for me.. will be sending lots of vibes to her...

Poor little (or should I say big?) Flowerbelle.
I hope everything goes well on the 10th. I will send her kitty kisses and get well quick vibes...

Bless your heart I feel for you . But maybe this is the best for her . She is a beauty , no matter how she looks . She looks like a little to me . I sure will say a prayer for her :angel2:

I'm sorry to hear Flowerbelle is losing her eye. But I know you've done everything you could to save it for her. You and Gary have been wonderful. At least she won't have a sick eye bothering her all the time any longer.

Poor sweet Flowerbelle.

Give her plenty of hugs, kisses and scritches for us.

Here's hoping all goes well and for a full recovery from the surgery.

Poor Flowerbelle, she's been through so much. I'll keep her in my thoughts and hope that she's as pain free as possible until then. Hugs to you Gary and the little mite.

Poor Flowerbelle! .I bet she's like a new kitty once the ordeal is all over, bless her little heart:

It definitely sounds like having her eye removed is what would be best for the little furry. If it's going to make her more comfy and considering that she's not getting much use from it as is anyway, I would have to agree with the removal. And you've said yourself how you and Gary have done everything you can do to try to save it. I hope the surgery goes well. Scritches to little Flowerbelle. :

I'm sorry that Flowerbelle has to have her eye removed. It must have been hard, but I'm sure she'll be a lot more comfortable. Hugs to you and Gary, and scritches for the little girl.

This is sad, but it really does sound like it is the best thing for her. I bet she will be happy to no longer have to deal with the daily meds.

Thanks everybody so much for your wonderful thoughts for Flowerbelle! We've already stopped with the meds, and she is LOVING it! Thankfully she's not in any pain from the eye.

I can't believe it, and I think I forgot to mention it - but she gained another two ounces! She's 6 pounds 3 oz now. She still seems small next to all our other kitties (and we finally bought a scale. Sheldon weighs 14 pounds and is ALL muscle, Lazlo weighs 13 pounds - and he's all muscle too. I actually thought he looked thin - but I guess he's not, LOL! Spooky who has a smaller body and is "chubby," but not fat, weighs 11.5 pounds, and Tuxedo - the reason we bought the scale - he seems really thin and we were worried that he's dropping too much weight - actually weighs 9.5 pounds. He weighed 9 pounds at the docs back in September, so he's OK. )

The other thing I can't believe? She's STILL a complete purr monster! Unless she wants to play - you pick her up, she purrs. You put her food down for her, she purrs. You brush her, she purrs. Between sleeping, playing and everything else - she probably spends a third of her day purring!

She really is a little angel - even when she's in tornado mode, LOL! She's just so much more "kitten" than any of our other gang was - and she's made the entire bunch of cats here more playful. And the nicest thing of all is that all the other cats don't just tolerate it - they play with her. Tuxedo rarely joins in on the fun when "everyone's" playing - but four cats playing "chase, hide, hunt and attack" in our RV REALLY seems like a thundering stampede, LOL! Even more amazing is that there are almost never even ears back, and I can't remember the last time I heard a hiss around here - though little Flowerbelle with her tail all bushed up is so darn comical. I've really got to try to get a picture of her - the front of her body flattened out against the floor - front legs splayed out in front of her, her good eye all pupil, her head darting from side to side - her back end up in the air with a fluffy tail.... Sorry - I shouldn't laugh. "All fear the purr monster!"