Ulcers
Ulcers, as you can imagine, can be very painful for a cat but difficult to see with the naked eye.
A vet often needs to use a “Woods’ scope” and fluorescent dye to diagnose the problem. Even this relatively simple procedure sometimes is better left to a specialist, however, because if the ulcer is very deep, applying the dye can cause problems.
Your cat might just need some eye drops and the ulcer will heal on its own. In Lizzie’s case, that wasn’t the case. She needed more surgery. Back to Dr. Kirschner’s office. If only the good doctor awarded points for frequent visitors. Lizzie would be eligible for a trip to Europe by now (I can see her now, wearing a beret and sipping wine under the Eiffel Tower …).
Anyway, when people have eye surgery they wear a patch until the eye heals. But you have a cat, so you know that’s not going to work. Instead, the doctor sews the cat’s inner eyelid shut to protect the eye. That works. Unless it’s Lizzie. Lizzie managed to undo the stitch before I could even get to the doctor’s office to pick her up. I guess she didn’t want to miss any of the sights of Paris.
Still, her eye healed fine, but she still has a bit of a cloudy scar where the ulcer was.