Greetings my pawsome human minions and cat cohorts.
It’s Forrest, your favorite tabby sage coming to you with a tale of two kittens.
Tessa and Tilly are 12-week-old kitten sisters who will soon be up for adoption from King Street Cats in Alexandria, VA. Before they can go to their forever homes, the pair has some healing to do. But don’t worry, the girls are in the loving hands of a foster family who’s helping them recover from surgery to have their infected eyes removed.
I had the chance to have a cat chat with the little ones and I learned they had been found on the streets. The kittens explained, “We were pretty much starving, with lots of fleas biting us. We had terrible colds but the hardest part was we had really yucky eye infections. Our eyes got very swollen and they hurt so so much.”
Rescued and On the Mend
But once the kittens came under the care of King Street Cats and a foster family, things started to get better for the hungry babies. The sisters saw a vet and received medicine to help them feel better, but “our eyes had been ruined by the infections, the only way to make the pain go away and have us finally heal was for both of us to have both eyes removed.”
The kittens told me they were scared when they heard the news, but the pain was terrible and they hated it. And together they decided, “We would be blind no matter what and we thought not hurting anymore seemed like the best thing so we decided to go ahead with the operation.”
Turns out, this was the best option for the kittens. Infections are no joke in little bodies. Very quickly, bad bacteria and viruses can weaken kittens and even kill them. But Tilly and Tessa got the care they needed and now they tell me, “We feel so much better. We are playing, purring and eating lots. We even managed to climb out of our pen. We thought that was great fun…foster mom, not so much. So now we are working on getting stronger and growing up.”
The best news for these kitten siblings? Tessa and Tilly will soon be ready for their forever home, where they will live happy and full lives.
Tessa and Tilly’s tale probably leads you to ask, “What causes eye infections in cats?”
The Main Cause Behind Feline Eye Infections
At the shelter, I used to hear the word ‘conjunctivitis’ thrown around a good bit. I figured out the humans were talking about eye infections. They happen to cats pretty often, especially when lots of us are living together. So, the shelter folks try to stay on top of such issues.
There are several causes behind eye infections in cats, but the most common cause is feline herpesvirus. Often mistaken for a cold, FHV is highly contagious in cats and can cause upper respiratory symptoms as well as conjunctivitis.
During my colony days, I once suffered the upper respiratory part of FHV and I didn’t like it one bit. I may hate shots, but I’m happy for the vaccinations that stop things like that from getting me down.
Help protect your kitties from infections by making sure to schedule regular veterinary exams for your cat. Like I said, I don’t enjoy the doctor, but it keeps me healthy. And if your cat is showing any symptoms of illness, like runny, swollen eyes or sneezing, make an appointment for a check-up.
And now that Tilly and Tessa are on the road to good health, they’ll soon be in their forever home and to their soon-to-be pawrents, I say…
Don’t forget to feed the cats!
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Feature Image: King Street Cats/Facebook