My sweet, gentle cat, Tenderoni, is unfortunately in need of an expensive eye surgery.

She has a sequestrum (dead tissue) that penetrates at least 50% down into the depth of her cornea. The sequestrum can be removed surgically, but the deep wound beneath it is too large for her body to repair unassisted. So additionally she will need a conjunctival flap (also called a Gundersen flap) grafted onto the wound to supply it with blood so it can heal correctly.

The doctors have advised us that the longer Tenderoni waits for surgery, the deeper the damage will go, making the surgery and recovery longer and more difficult. And if we pushed for just a removal of the sequestrum (without the flap graft), the cornea left behind would be too thin and too compromised. In either situation - waiting or trying a conservative approach - we've been told it's very likely her eye will perforate.

To be fully transparent, she is not on death's door or in critical condition. But the longer we wait the chance of complications increases. While we will of course love her no matter what she looks like, perforation would not only result in the loss of the eye but would require complex and difficult emergency surgery. Like people, prevention is better than clean up. An easier, shorter recovery that ends in Tenderoni being healthy and happy is one of our top priorities. the other is her quality of life. her care team said Tenderoni has unusual presentation: not only is her eyelid scratchy and irritated from the lesion rubbing against it, but the inside of her eyeball is painful and inflamed. (we are working on sourcing the pain medicine recommended but it is not easy to find.) Knowing Tenderoni, my sweet, loving daughter is in pain makes me sick to my stomach. I don’t know how to write one of these, i don’t know what to say … but i would give her my own eye if they told me they could make it work, so, i’m trying.

If any one has an questions or wants to know anything else about Tenderoni’s situation, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thank you for reading this and thank you, from the bottom of my heart if you donate or share.