Save Mr. Smeguls' Eye

I have a cat named Mr. Smeguls that I adopted from a "rescue" in Richland, Wa about 2 years ago. I say "rescue" because it was a gross table with a bunch of cats crammed in dirty crates under it. He was matted so heavily that he couldn't move his legs, his face was raw and bleeding from not having his eye creases cleaned, he had wet food dried in his chin hair, and poop dried in his butt hair. It took a few months to get him cleaned up, but now he's an amazing example of what rescued pets can become!

He's been the most wonderful addition to our home, a wonderfully loving snuggler for me when I'm home alone a lot. Recently he injured his eye and got an ulcer, and now he has a corneal sequestration where the ulcer used to be. I've taken him to the vet and have been informed that my only options are to take him to an animal eye doctor and pay around $2000 to get the sequestration removed, or to pay a vet to remove his beautiful eye (also in the neighborhood of $1500). He's being treated with antibiotics in his eye 3 times a day and is on pain medication for the time being...

I'm coming to you to see if there is some way your organization might be able to help a lovable rescued kitty get his life back. His eye very obviously bothers him, as when he is toward the end of his pain medicine for the day he won't open his eye and shys away if you try to touch his face. He's lost his enthusiasm and won't play with his favorite toy anymore! The vet that I saw said that, without treatment as stated above, his eye would eventually rupture and I would have to either fix it then or put him down... My other option would be to spare him the pain and put him down now.

Financially, we cannot afford to do this... All our other pets are on pet insurance, and we figured since he's an indoor-only cat that nothing would happen to him. Obviously we were WRONG! He is on pet insurance now, but this injury is pre-existing and won't be covered in any way.

Here's a link to his Facebook album if you'd like to learn more about this little kitty. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150181847295551.437114.860220550&type=3

If a thousand people donated just $2, we can save Smegul's eye.