To stitch or not to stitch...

((i totally messed up the poll thing .. if a mod could fix it, that would be nice heh ))


i'm unsure what to do...

i've been researching some other blind kitties.. and some have had their eyes stitched shut..
it was to prevent infections and such...

i look at Raz and see the slight discharge coming out of his eyes, and i wonder if that would be best for him...

but i dont know if i could bring myself to get it done.
i know he cant see, but, he can still blink and 'open his eyes' when he wakes up...

i'm at a loss... oppions?

 

i have never heard of cats or dogs getting their eyes stitched b/c they were blind.. very interesting... ive worked at several vets and have never heard or seen that unless it was where the animal has lost an eye in a accident or something but even then they would try to put in a glass eye... i personally if my cat was ever in that situation i dont think i would be able to do it i would just keep a close eye on the kitty and try my hardest to keep the eyes as clean as possible 4 them not to get infected...but everyones different and thats just my opinion... good luck w/ whatever u chosse to do and keep us posted... but that is very interesting... can u give me a web site to look at?

 

Hi. That's a really good question. You may want to ask several vets what they think of this. If he was my kitty, I personally would not have them stitched closed. The reason for this is that although the eyes will be stitched closed, he still has working muscles in the eye area. For now he's able to open and close his eyes, on his own free will. In my opinion, because of those functional eye muscles it may be very awkward for him to want to open his eyes, but he can't if they are stitched up. Not to mention having to put him through the pain of having this done, as well as having to put him through anesthetic. Again if he was my kitty I would just treat the eye infections as they came. One of the things I remember from viewing his pics, was that although he is blind, he has the most beautiful little eyes.

 

If he was mine I would leave it for now, see if he has many problems with his eyes, if he keeps getting infections that make him sad I'd consider it

 

I would treat the infection before doing something as drastica as having the eyes surgically sealed. I would imagine you'd have the treat the infection first anyway...surgically sealing wouldn't eliminate that. But ewwwww on the sealing

 

Nope, I wouldn't stitch his eyes shut because he'll look cuter and more comfy without the surgery. Plus you never know if he can see or sense limited light and dark. I would deal with the discharge and infection as it occurs. Where's Bellack? There's that eye ointment for kittens that they have in pet stores. Darn, I can't remember the name.

 

thank u all so much for your oppinions. i see they reflect my own.
vene, i've wondered that too, about seeing light and dark- at least with his right eye (socket)- the one that's the largest.

FMgurl> it wasnt any websites per say, just been searching the web for blind kittens/cats, and reading their stories. nothing i found was 'official'. i even met a blind kitty in Catster. he had his eyes sewn shut...they had said it was probally to help keep out infections.

but yes, i agree, he still does have the muscles around his eyes to blink and such...i dont wanna put him through that kinda pain either. can u imagine? around they eyes?? how sencitive THAT would be? *cringe*

soon as i get him to a vet and get their oppinion i will keep u all posted about this hard decision. other then cleaning away the d ischarge, i dont wanna mess with his little eyes(sockets.)

 

Black Angus had to have one of his eyes removed and the eyelid sewn shut from herpesvirus. I was absolutely shocked at the "blase" (for lack of a better word) attitude that I got from some people because it seemed horrific to me, however, it's just not all that common around here and that's why I found it so scary. He's healed up nicely and is my pirate cat but still has to have his stitched (shut) "eye" wiped and checked often for any dirt/infection/grunge. You'll probably have to take as much care with his stitched eyes as you would with his unseeing ones, so ya might just as well not put the little darling (and you!) through the surgery on top of everything else if you're going to have to be fairly vigilant anyway. =)

 

Karen> i'm sorry to hear what happened to Black Angus! u've got a good point.. i was just thinking if the eye was stitched close it would seal perfectly but DUH it's an eye.. *chuckles* silly me! eyelids dont 'seal' together stitched or not! what the heck was i thinking?

i dunno.. anyway...

right now i wait till Raz's passed out then get out the warm water and Q tip to start wiping the discharge away from around his eyes. i noticed if i let it go it turns black and very hard, making the fur stick out. nasty!

i'm very careful when i'm doing this and make sure his little head wont accidently move and have him-- well.. not put out an eye.. but hurt himself.

i really hope that as he gets older, i'll be able to wipe away the gook with a soft damp tissue- when he's awake. i wonder if he would grow to tollerate that kinda thing around his eyes?

 

I have a one-eyed cat too. Punk. He lost his eye in a fight a long time ago. For a long while I just didn't do anything b/c I figured nothing could be done but then I took him to another vet and they said that he was uncomfortable so I should get the remainder of his eye removed and have it stitched closed. He always had a lot of discharge, etc.

Anyways, the stitching went without incident. He is now perfectly healthy and happy. The stitching didn't seem to bother him at all. I guess it is up to you. I would get it done if he is having a lot of problems with infections and stuff.

 

The funny thing is that his eye seems to have mostly sealed up because the vet trimmed out the lids and that helps them to knit together, and where his face is black you can't really even tell that his eye is gone. Sometimes they put a 'fake eye' in there or some type of prosthesis and stitch it over that, but with him she just removed the eye, cleaned it really well and stitched it. It was very rough going at first (I think I was way more traumatized than he was) with the stitches, the oozing and the little open parts and the little closed parts, but after a bit it healed up nicely. Since she didn't put the orb in there, there is quite a depression that can get quite gunky. Sometimes when I look at him I have to catch my breath - 2+ years later and it still freaks me out.

I hope Raz will get used to the eye washing - all five of mine hate getting their eyes wiped so it's gotta be a cat thing.

I guess the option is there for you if you need to take it, ie the infections coming too often, just maybe do a bit of research to prepare yourself beforehand for how it will look and what to expect, because it's truly a shock to see a cat with "no eyes". I was an absolute wreck for the first month with worry but thankfully it all turned out okay (cause Dr. Bail's an awesome vet!). But in the end I'm sure whatever decision you make will be the right one - no one knows him better than you.

 

well, Raz has no eyes... just empty sockets.. but i know what u mean. even still his left side is much smaller then the right.. a mere tiny slit. i keep expecting to see 2 bright eyes staring at me sometimes when he looks at me a certain way.

But now i see, shaving the eyelids makes sence.. then it WOULD heal shut. ok i get it now!

Hmm.. sounds awful painful a thing to go through. i've got some time yet anyway... he's way too young yet for ANY kind of surgery.

 

ohmygod, he's ***beautiful***. I just clued in that it wasn't the kittycat on your avatar! I'm going to go back in the newsgroup and read his story if it's still here. If you can keep those beautiful "eyes" clean (but we all know how hard that is with baby cats cause they're into everything!!) then hopefully things will go okay. Oh, my heart is aching, he's so SWEET!!