My own little ophtho case

The reason there have been no new posts in over 3 weeks is simple, many other issues have come in between me and my blog. The most important was my first hand experience with an ophtho emergency.

I traveled to Chicago for a Pfizer career workshop and hired a cat-sitter to watch my 3 buds. When I returned home Saturday at 12 am, I found Garfield with his eye shut and filled with pus. When I attempted to open his eye he screamed and tried to bite me. I have never seen an animal in such pain. My second attempt to help him was the same. I debated whether it was an emergency, and wished I had my DVM to get him pain meds ASAP. I decided not to call the clinicians grading me at 12 AM Sat night, but did call first thing that morning. Upon exam, he had perforated his cornea due to corneal degeneration and lipid keratopathy. His other eye had extremely thin corneas as well, and is at a high risk of perforating. He went to surgery right away and did very well. An a-cell implant was placed (pig bladder tissue) and a conjunctival graft was sewn to his cornea. He has been a trooper. In order to treat him 4 times a day he came to school with me every day. He purred from his cage and let ophtho examine him without a fuss. He will likely need a second procedure to prevent the other eye from perforating, but we would like this eye to heal.

In an ode to Garfield, this poor cat has a heart murmur with a possibility of developing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, FLUTD with a history of blocking, herpes, and now this serious ocular condition. He is quite the trooper and special guy though. I am so proud of him and how well he is done. He doesn't even mind his e-collar.

Ophtho went well. I do not want to be an ophthalmologist, but I really enjoyed learning about eyes and seeing some successful cases.