Three weeks ago, 5 kittens, approximately 4 weeks old, were found on the Greensboro College campus in a shed the maintenance crew uses for storage. They have since been living in my bathroom where I have been putting my vet tech training back into use, administering the necessary meds and generally making sure they are thriving. Thanks to visits from friends and many of my students, they have aclimatized well to human contact.First the good news. They were tested for FeLeuk/FIV today and the test came out negative – YAY!!! So these kittens will eventually be able to move into established cat households. Unfortunately they currently have a skin infection. The vet suspects ringworm (we are currently running the official test which takes a few days) or at least demodex. Either way it means they won’t be able to go to new homes just yet. I will continue treatment for that here at my house.The big thing is their eyes. Out of 10 eyes between the 5 of them, there is only one good eye to go around. Most likely due to a congenital defect, they have very little eye tissue where their eyeballs should be. This has left pockets where mucus and dirt can gather. To keep them clean, this requires daily eye flushing with saline solution and eye drops. It’s possible that this is all they will need. However, if the eyes continue to be a problem, especially two of them with the least eye tissue and consequently the most pockets for stuff to gather, the best thing would be to remove the remaining eye tissue completely and sew up the eyes. The eye specialist says this needs to be done when they are 6 months to 1-year old so their skulls can fully develop. They are already blind so removing the eyes won’t make any difference to the cats other than they wouldn’t need to be messed with on a daily basis for eye flushing. Another reason the dirt can gather is that they were also born without eyelids. Which brings me to the one good eye among them – the seeing eye!!The one eye (on Phoebe) has vision, but like the others has no eyelid. This means the fur is rubbing against the cornea which will ultimately blind her unless treated. Since Phoebe can shut her eye, the specialist thinks she will be able to cryo-freeze the fur away from the eyeball. This is preferable (and cheaper) than completely reconstructing a new eyelid for her. It may need repeating a time or two during her life, but is a good option that, fingers crossed, will help her keep her good eye working well.As you can imagine, all the medical stuff, plus food and litter have burned a considerable hole in my pocket. I have already spent over $1,200.00 and the amount will continue to rise. I will make sure these kittens get their appropriate shots, get spayed/neutered, and find good homes. Given that these cats are likely to be expensive for the future owners, I would love to raise money to not only cover the bills so far, but also to cover future costs including surgical costs. (A double eye enucleation done by the specialist is approximately $1,200.00). Therefore I have set up this Go Fund Me account to collect donations. Any amount, however small, is greatly appreciated. Please share this with your animal loving friends. And thank you for any help you can give.
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