3 Kittens With Eyelid Agenesis

[goldsberry]

Hey guys. Someone found 3 kittens and gave them to me. I noticed right away they had no upper eyelids. Took them to the vet and got a confirmation this morning. They referred me to a specialist who wants $750 to $950 per kitten just to freeze the hairs around their eyes. I've spoken with several local shelters and rescue groups and they recommend just removing the eyes. Has anyone here had a cat with agenesis keep their eyes/site? Is it worth it to try? These little ones are only about 5 weeks old. I hate to just take their eyes but I don't know that I can afford the treatments to try to help them. Its just such a hard decision to make.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm at a loss, but once one person posts to a thread, more are sure to follow! From what little I've found, they are going to lose their sight fairly quickly due to dryness, irritants, etc, and no one seems to have a real answer for it barring major surgery. I'm including a couple of articles that seem pretty good, though.

Feline Eyelid Agenesis - MSPCA-Angell
Eyelid Agenesis This one has LOTS of links with it. I did not track each one down. Maybe somewhere in there will be an answer for these precious little guys!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Gosh, there have been members here who've had cats/kittens with this, unfortunately, we usually don't get the final outcome if they have any kind of surgery to fix it. THIS thread does contain some info on it though: Eye Agenesis

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Any update on these babies? If you take them to the Humane Society, will they do the enucleation surgery for free, if comes down to your only option? IF that happens, just know that blind kittens get along very nicely. They adapt to their surroundings quite well. We have a few blind cats here on TCS. Most of them have their own Facebook pages.

 

[goldsberry]

The little boy (first picture) passed away. He suddenly went limp and mostly unresponsive. We took him to the emergency vet but he was mostly just aggitated (hissing and trying to kick) at their poking and prodding. We let him go on the vets recommendation. They suspected some other genetic abnormality was affecting him, and he seemed to be in pain. The girls are doing great. We haven't made any decisions as of yet. Dunn is very cross eyed, but seems to have partial upper eyelids so she's doing the best. Darly is long haired and unfortunately gets lots of hair in her eyes. And for some reason just this morning has been limping? I don't know what on earth she did to her paw during the night. They're on saline drops daily. We aren't (supposed too) be keeping them, so we are considering lettting their owners decide what to do.

This is Dunn (a.k.a. Dunn-Dunn/Dee Dee/DunnyBunny)

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Rest you gentle, Little One, dream you deep! Your little life had meaning, and you are remembered with love by those who tried so hard for you.

 

[Sarthur2]

They are so precious!