Baby Ray, with the eyes of his heart:

Our practice has the nicest clients.  This one of the plus features I enjoy about Milan. There are people living here that are passionate about taking care of animals. This tickles me to my core. I revel in the openness and depth of their willingness to provide care and homes for animals. I know there are times when clients are not at their emotional best. Trauma cases and a loved pet being diagnosed with a short term terminal illness are examples of an under balanced moment that comes to mind. I also know some people do not care at all for animals. I understand that and respect the animal less life they choose.  I do not understand those that wantonly go out of their way to injure or torture critters.  I digress as THAT story really gets me wound up in a perplexing ulcer generating manner.

We have a client that periodically brings in a feline for us to treat, medicate and hopefully return to his property.  Ken has brought in kittens cats and even his dog for extended treatments, surgery or extended care. I will treat when there are signs of improvement and the animal has a good chance for quality of life. Except for his dog Blacky the cats are feral barn type cats. The cases vary from chronic upper respiratory infections, severe bite abscesses or a cat needing extended care. Bathing is usually a must as the barn cats have fleas. As those of you that have barn cats hanging around know there are some cats that refuse the touch of human kindness. They will not let you touch them much less pick them up and apply flea treatments to them.

I remember one kitten brought in the first week of August one year.. That had "a severe nasal discharge".  This kitten was a bought six to eight weeks old. His right nostril was distorted up and out. He was showing open mouth breathing as this mass effect was bulging into the space of the left nostril and nasal cavity. I noticed motion in the right nasal cavity so we wiped some discharge off and put some ophthalmic numbing drops in and waited a few minutes. I was able to use forceps and removed a Cuterebra larvae from the nostril. These grub like structures are laid near the opening of rabbit burrows and infect rabbits and kittens as they explore rabbit warrens. I was not surprised finding this larvae in a cat the first week of August. That is the expected time these cases come in. This is the only case I have had that was in a nostril. I have also seen one in the conjunctiva of an eye. Normally these parasites will attach and burrow under the skin from face, neck, and shoulder areas on kittens. They will get to the size of your pinkie finger joint, nail including the bone. Three quarters of an inch long and half inch at the widest. Those that are familiar with cattle grubs and horse Botfly larva have a good idea what Cuterebra larva look like. For some reason it is usually kittens and adolescent felines only that get them. Cats that have them once must develop a resistance to the larvae. They usually heal up uneventfully. This kitten healed fine.

The latest case Ken brought in was a kitten that had an eye infection. Ken sometimes understates the severity of a case as he drops them off. We got the less than two pound kitten out of the crate and examined him. Both eyes were showing an infection resembling a corneal meltdown ulcer. These are not good if the infection has gotten through the cornea and has entered the anterior chamber of the eye. We cleaned up the little flea infested pale orange kitten. We cleaned up his eyes, face and treated him for fleas, dewormed him and tested him for Feline Leukemia virus and for Feline Aids (FIVT) he had negative test for both. Medications were applied but the infection was generating exudates scabs from both eyes. I called Ken and said the kitten needs enucleation (removing eye globes), a third eyelid flap or euthanasia. Ken chose to do the third eye lid flaps. This entails suturing the windshield washer type membrane located on the lower nose side to the upper eye lid. The upper and lower lids are sutured shut producing a sort of biological bandage to furnish a mucous membrane to help heal the ulcer. Usually this is only required of one eye at a time.  After waiting the appropriate days to remove sutures it was apparent this was not successful in either eye. Sugar Bears. I called Ken and gave him the update. Ken is an extremely persistent soul. He kept asking for a couple more days. I finally convinced him that the kitten needed a bilateral enucleation procedure done. Ken said no one is going to take a blind cat and please keep treating him two more days. I agreed and we treated him.

I had another client whose nephew rescued a kitten some one was going to use a hammer on and had already been thrown in a swimming pool. I examined this very nice kitten and we tested him for leukemia and Feline Aids (FIV) He was positive for FIV. I went through discussion of retest him in six to eight months. They already have a cat Chico that has immune system issues (not FIV). They could not keep this kitten.  I asked if they would be interested in a blind kitten that only had two days left. Lynne came back in our kennel area, saw him, picked him up and said she would like him. She named him Ray after Ray Charles the singer. She changed the name to Baby Ray as it seemed to suit him better.

I called Ken and asked if he would sign over ownership to Lynne, Lydia and young Bruce. I mentioned they would appreciate help for the surgery. Ken was agreeable and said he would cover the surgery fee also.

We did the surgery and things went well. The sutured incision sites reminded me of a computer generated smiling cat I see in e-mail messages. Baby Ray's left socket eye did fill up with a seroma that leaked out fluid for three days. Healing is almost complete and I anticipate uneventful healing. Lynne said as long as you tell Baby Ray what she is going to do he is calm. He runs to the door when he hears her car come in and is providing love and affection and one of the strongest animal human bonds I have seen in a long time.

I am reminded of a contemporary Hymn we sing in Church "With the eyes of my Heart".  Baby Ray is more sighted than some people I know. God is with Baby Ray, he clearly sees with the eyes of his heart.

For more information about a specific case, consult your veterinarian.
The outside of a pet is good for the inside of a human.