Eye Care for Animals helps Cheese see more comfortably

Mar 04, 2016

In early February we first introduced you to Cheese. Cheese was a tiny tot who arrived at APA! as a baby kitten with some easily noted eye issues. As he grew & became a healthy boy, his eyes did not improve. After your generous donations, we were able to take Cheese to Eye Care for Animals for a consultation. The hopes were that this would provide the APA! Medical team with a full diagnosis & plan to help Cheese as much as possible.

Dr. Dees at Eye Care carefully examined Cheese's eyes and determined that his right eye is very small with multiple congenital abnormalities. He reported, "...although the eye will not be visual, it should be comfortable long-term without the need of medications or surgery." This, at least, is good news!

As for his left eye, Dr. Dees determined that the upper eyelid is slightly abnormal and was causing numerous long soft hairs to rub against his eye, leading to discomfort and tearing. Dr. Dees recommended cryotherapy (a freezing technique) to permanently stop the hair from growing into his eye & improve Cheese's comfort level. Again, great news for Cheese!

We are happy to report that on February 11, Cheese had his eye surgery and is doing well! An update from Beckie, his foster mom:

"The Eye Care folks were so pleasant and helpful, very easy to schedule and work with, and Dr. Dees was patient and explained everything to me so well when we had our initial visit...he looks great and you would never know he had anything done."

Cats with limited or no vision are incredibly resilient, and Cheese is certainly no exception. Cheese is adventurous, silly, clumsy & makes his foster mom laugh constantly. He is available for adoption and we are certain he will make a fantastic lifelong pet. With his cute antics, super soft coat & bushy tail, we are sure he will find his home quickly.

See Cheese in action: https://youtu.be/PZ8R65vrR3Y
Here's a short video clip of Cheese as a kitten: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11g8DlIz2kk​
And read more about Cheese here: http://www.austinpetsalive.org/adopt/available-cat-details/?ID=29600771

Eye Care for Animals has been a wonderful specialty vet partner for APA!'s dogs & cats with eye issues. APA! is grateful for all they have done to help our animals have their best possible lives!