A Bad Eye, But She Is Still Wanted (Dani Irwans Story)
AnimalCare 
May 2, 2012 
AnimalCare, NGOs 
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From:
Dani Irwan
Message:
Hi there Dr Chan. I am in great need of your help, advice & opinion
regarding the matter of a stray kitten that I’m currently fostering
together with her sibling & mommy cat. Please bear with me as my story
is quite a long one…
It goes like this. The mama cat is a stray that frequently comes to my
house begging for food, so I’ve been feeding her for about a month or
so. When I first met her, she was already pregnant. Being a stray,
this mama cat is quite feral and fierce. She would run away & hiss
whenever I try to touch her, but having taken pity on her, I kept on
giving her food to eat.
One day she apparently gave birth to her litter of 2 kittens at my
next-door neighbour’s house, in his shoe cabinet. The kittens were
already 3 weeks old when we found out about this. Sadly, this
neighbour of mine is not an animal loving person so he told me that he
will throw away the kittens & the mama cat at a nearby pasar. To make
a long story short (it involves 2 different neighbours, some
trespassing of houses on my part, a span of several days, 2 cages and
hours upon hours spent trying to obtain the kittens & then trap the
mama cat), I am now fostering this little family of cats. They have
been with me for almost two weeks now.
In that time, the kittens have grown bigger & stronger, they have been
dewormed and the mama cat has been vaccinated. I have put up ads on
Facebook, mudah.my & also Petfinder stating my intention to put them
up for adoption. A lot of people called. texted & emailed me stating
their interest, but some only wanted to adopt just the kittens, and
these I rejected as I wanted to keep this family together because the
kittens are still nursing on the mama cat’s milk. Finally, I found an
adopter who wanted to adopt all 3 of them together. After my wife & I
screened her (we visited her house & had a long talk with her), we
agreed she’d be a good owner for the cats & agreed to let her adopt
all of them.
However, suddenly the female kitten (the other is a boy) developed an
eye problem. The left eye to be exact. The problem was very rapid, and
it happened without warning. One day the eye was fine (although
looking back at photos, the eye was squinting/sepet a bit) and the
next day it was already swollen, cloudy & the pupil dilated. I don’t
know what happened or what could be the cause. That very night, I
brought the girl kitten to our local vet in Bangi. The vet’s initial
diagnosis was chlamydia or conjunctivitis. He also mentioned it could
be due to FIP. Fearing the worst (FIP), I became worried & wondered if
anyone would want to adopt a cat with FIP. The vet then proceeded to
give me some medication (antibiotics, pain/swelling relief & eye
cream) and said that in 3 day’s time there should be marked
improvement. I brought her back home & gave her the prescribed
medicine for the next 3 days. However, on the 3rd day (last Friday),
the eye was still swollen and there’s no improvement..the swelling
would go down a bit after giving her the medication but a few hours
after that the swelling would be back again.
So, I brought her back to the same vet for a follow-up on Friday
night. This time around, the vet decided to keep her warded at the
clinic for 2 days so that he could have a closer look & monitor her
condition. Today, Sunday, the vet told me I can bring her back home.
Sadly, the eye is no better. The vet’s diagnosis has now changed to
glaucoma, although he can’t be 100% certain as he can’t do the
necessary tests to fully diagnose glaucoma, and he also doesn’t have
the equipment to do so. This is also the first time he’s encountered
such a case, and his colleagues have no experience with it either.
However, he said he is fairly certain that it is glaucoma. The vet
then proceeded to give me some new medications, real expensive ones
(RM220 for 3 bottles of 2.5ml-5ml eyedrop solutions), that are used to
treat glaucoma in humans. According to him, there are no glaucoma
medication specifically made for cats. These medications are to be
given daily to the girl kitten. From the reading I’ve done, these
medications only provide temporary relief to the cat & only prevent
the eye from getting worse. In the end, she will probably go blind.
And the other eye (the good one) can also become affected, so she
might become blind in both eyes in future. The only real final
solution to glaucoma is surgery, either surgery to remove/block the
ducts that produces the fluid in the eyes or surgery to totally remove
the eye. Both are very expensive, and in the case of the latter, can’t
be done now as she is still a very small kitten.
Although when the adopter first met the kittens the girl kitten’s eye
was already swollen, I have a feeling the adopter thinks that the eye
will be healed real soon & that it’s nothing serious. I’m sure she
doesn’t expect it to be something as bas & as serious as glaucoma, and
that’s why she has agreed to adopt all of them. My fear & worry now is
that the adopter will change her mind about adopting this girl kitten
because of her eye condition, or she might even cancel adopting the
whole family. Really, who wants to adopt a kitten that has glaucoma or
health problems? Who wouldn’t want a healthy cat instead of a sick
one? Furthermore, the medication is expensive and needs to be
continued throughout the kitten’s lifetime. If the adopter ends up
adopting only the boy kitten & the mama cat, what happens then to the
girl kitten? I can continue to foster her for a little while, but what
then? Will there be anyone willing to adopt her now or in future when
she’s blind or have only 1 eye? I can’t adopt her myself, as I already
have too many cats, and one of them is already a special-needs cat
(3-legged, abuse case, front R leg chopped off by someone). If no one
is willing to adopt her, what use is me fostering her? I loathe to
release her back to the street on her own, as then no one would be
able to give her the daily medicine that she needs. She will only
suffer a painful death on her own then. And I will definitely not put
her down just because of her eye problem, no matter what…because
aside from her eye, she is perfectly healthy & fine.
My only plan now is to take the girl kitten to see another vet
tomorrow, to get a 2nd opinion. If this vet also says it’s glaucoma,
then it’s probably for sure. After that, tomorrow night I will go to
meet the adopter & then discuss with her the condition of the girl
kitten, see what is her reaction. I can only hope that she’d still
agree to adopt all of them, but chances are slim.
I’m depressed & frustrated now, because all of this was shaping up to
be an easy rescue & subsequent adoption. Even though the mama cat is
garang, the kittens are real beautiful & cute. But now because of the
girl’s eye problem, everything is in disarray. Throughout all this, my
wife has been very supportive, but I can sense that there’s a limit to
what she will allow me to do. In addition, I’ve been constantly tired
& drained physically, emotionally & spiritually, as I am always
thinking & worrying about them. My studies have also been affected.
Needless to say, we were looking forward to having these kittens & the
mama cat adopted to a new home. Now, it doesn’t look like that will
happen.
Enclosed are photos of the kitten. The first one was taken a day
before I noticed her eye was swollen (the girl kitten is the one on
the right), the 2nd photo was taken yesterday at the clinic and the
last one was taken earlier tonight. Note the cloudy eye & dilated
pupil.
I really don’t know what I should do now. I am at my wit’s end. Thus,
I’d appreciate your advice, opinion and help. Have you seen anything
like this before? What can I do that is best for this family & also
for the girl kitten? What can I do that is best for the cats & also
for me?
Hoping to hear from you soonest possible, thank you Dr. Chan.
Best,
Dani
I advised Dani to seek a second opinion from another vet and said we’ll provide a subsidy if treatment or surgery is needed. I also offered to blog for adopters should this arrangement fail. Also provided PAWS’ cattery as a last ditch option should all else fail.
Hello Dr. Chan, thanks for your prompt response. I appreciate your views & suggestions very much, thank you.
Hello there Dr. Chan,
Just an update about my visit to the other vet in Kajang today, to get a 2nd opinion. This other vet agreed that the girl kitten does indeed have glaucoma She has given me more medication (antibiotic cream, antibiotic pill, anti inflammatory) and this should be supplemented together with all the prior medication that’s already been prescribed by the 1st vet. She told me to continue with the medication for at least another 2 weeks, then we’ll see what happens. She said sometimes kittens with this sort of glaucoma can become normal again after some time, in which case she won’t have to get her eyes removed. Sometimes the glaucoma can affect the other eye too, but sometimes not. It’s hard to say, because she’s still a small kitten, so anything can happen. Again, let’s all hope & pray for the best..and that in spite of her eye problem, the adopter will still agree to adopt all of them tomorrow.
I appreciate your suggestion to get your vet’s opinion in Subang, but I’m staying in Bangi & that’s quite a ways away. Furthermore, it’s pretty much confirmed now that this poor girl is afflicted with glaucoma. We just need to find her the best treatment & the best vet for now.
The vet that I went to today gave me a preliminary estimate of RM250 for the surgery to remove the girl kitten’s left eye. That would be in agreement with the other cases that you mentioned.
Re: adoption post on your blog, okay I’ll let you know once I think it’s the right time to do so, thank you.
Thanks too for the information on PAWS. I’ll keep that in mind. Still prefer other feasible options before I even start considering surrendering them to a shelter.
An update on our meeting with the adopter, it has been postponed to tomorrow 11AM. Let’s hope & pray that she’ll have a soft spot in her heart & will still agree to adopt all 3 of them together in spite of the girl kitten’s condition.
If the girl kitten has been adopted, will she still qualify for your subsidy funding, Dr Chan? Say if surgery on her eye needs to be done in future.
Hello Dr Chan.
Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/05/02/a-bad-eye-but-she-is-still-wanted-dani-irwans-story/
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