Lara ended in our care in a rather peculiar way. A taxi driver found her in a middle of a high traffic street. Not having the time, or the experience, to take care of her, and acting as a typical Mediterranean son, asked his mother for help! His mother tried her best to clean the kitten's highly infected eyes with what she had in hand - some chamomile tea - and feed her with some milk. Chamomile tea is supposed to have some anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and is traditionally used by Cypriots to treat mild eye infections. Although the sweet lady meant the best, in reality, the infection was too serious to be treated successfully with just an ambiguous herbal remedy!
Luckily, for Lara, the lady was my daughter's hairdresser and even more luckily my daughter had an appointment with her the day following Lara's rescue! Having seen countless cases of cat eye infections, my daughter immediately recognized the severity of the case and brought the kitten home with her.
When Lara arrived we soon realized that she was completely blind! She was hitting on walls, chairs, our feet...on just about anything that was on her path! She was also heavily infested with fleas. We immediately rushed her to a vet, not our regular though who just happened to be abroad at the time. The doctor's assessment of her eye's infection was a bit ..."Ibis redibis" or wishy-washy if you prefer. She prescribed some eye-drops with the instruction to apply them three times per day, for as long as we see fit, but when we asked if she will ever have even some vision restored, we only got "perhaps...maybe...can not say for sure" for an answer!
After almost a week, of eyedrops, and her still hitting any unfamiliar obstacle in her path, we were very pessimistic about the outcome, but we decided to continue nevertheless. By this time, even blind, Lara could find her way to the litter box and her small cushioned box that served as her bed. She also started getting social with the other cats and showed clear signs of her playful character. We adored her! We knew that, regardless of whether she will be able to see or not, her place was with us!
A few days later, on one of her daily visits to the litter box, she was heading straight onto a tennis ball that was left there by the other cats. Suddenly, and just two inches from the ball, she stopped and walked around it! Further, practical, tests proved that she could indeed, in some at least degree, see near to her objects! That was just the beginning of an almost miraculous recovery. In about one months time her vision was fully restored with the only tell-tale sign her third eyelids, which are always partially visible!
Lara was afterwards vaccinated and sterilized. She is now four years old and still living happily with us.
This is a repost from my http://www.catscy.com site