Okay, so. These kittens. After a few days of putting Terramycin in their eyes, and the goopiness going away, I came to realize that there was something odd going on with their upper eyelids. It’s hard to describe, but they kind of looked like there were pieces missing – like something had taken chunks out of their upper eyelids, or they’d gotten torn – but their lower eyelids were just fine. I made an appointment with the vet on Monday and took them in.
As it turns out, they all have something called “Eyelid Agenesis”, which basically means that their upper eyelids began forming correctly, but at a certain point they stopped – so where it looks like there’s a chunk of eyelid missing, there’s no eyelid, just fur growing down to the very edge. They all have it, some more severe than others. Terry’s the worst of the bunch – he can’t actually close his right eye all the way, which isn’t good for the eye; it gets dry and you can see that already his corneas are cloudy. There’s obviously some sort of damage to his vision at this point, but he still manages to get around pretty well. Bill’s the second worst, then Sam – and then the other three have much milder cases.
Right now, I’m not sure what’s going to happen next. The vet is going to consult with an ophthalmologist and see where we need to go from here; possibly there’ll be surgery for some if not all of them. For now, I have to put artificial tears in all their eyes to be sure that their eyes stay moist.
So, that’s what’s going on with these kittens and their eyes. Poor little Terry is just a mess, between the hernia, the wonky paw, and the eyes, but he is just the sweetest little guy on earth, and I do believe that all it’s going to take is someone to spend a few minutes with him and fall in love.
Lafayette’s right eye is normal, but he’s got a spot on his left upper eyelid, if you look closely.
Hoyt’s left eye is pretty normal, but if you look at his right eye, you can see about halfway across, the fur grows right down to the edge; there’s no eyelid on that half. Here’s a really good closeup picture, if you want to see detail.
Bill’s got it pretty bad in both eyes. Add to that that he’s pretty cross-eyed, and he’s a mess. He’s a sweet little lovebug, though.
You can see how bad Terry’s got it, too (you can see this picture large if you really want to see the detail). He’s the sweetest boy on earth, though.
Sookie’s got it on her left eye, but her right eye is pretty normal. Is she not adorable?
I managed to not get a closeup of Sam, but he’s got it on both eyes – not nearly as badly as Terry and Bill, though.
And to hear the sad and demanding way Terry howls at me when I’m petting him:
The video itself isn’t that great, but you get the full sound effect of poor baby Terry objecting to my teasing him.
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Previously
2008: Kara lets her Southern roots shine through.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.