I’ve posted about Pharoah’s condition previously. He was and remains a feral cat. He was born with an auto-immune virus common to feral cats that affects his right eye. I’ve been able to keep it under control with Lysene treats and granules that I mix in his wet food. But from time to time he has a flare-up that impacts his general well-being.
Two different vets have told me the only resolution is to remove the eye. But as a feral cat he won’t let me get near him with any medication that would be required after the surgery so that is out of the question.
A month or so ago he disappeared for a couple of days and I began to wonder if he had gone somewhere to die quietly, as cats will do.
I discovered he was living under the daybed in my office. It is pitch black under there and even with a flashlight I can’t get in far enough to see anything.
The only way I found out was because, being the good boy he is, he was coming out to use the litter box upstairs then disappearing under the bed again. I put his wet food under the bed and he was gobbling it up, so I knew he was not planning on leaving us any time soon.
After a couple of weeks of this he came out from under to nap on top of the bed. His eye was really scary looking… I won’t go into details. It seemed as if all the crud that was making him ill had come out through the eye. Then it cleared up.
As you can see from the photo above, which was taken just a few days ago, not only is he back to “normal” but his eye is looking better than it has in a long, long time. I have my fingers crossed that this is the last bout with the virus.
The other news is that on Saturday we will be celebrating the second anniversary of our bad boy Frankie’s adoption. Doesn’t he look like a little angel in the photo above? Only when he’s sleeping. The rest of the time he terrorizes the household.
I knew what I was getting into when I first adopted him. I went back to the shelter three times to make sure there wasn’t a more suitable cat, but there he was jumping up and down in his cage making sure he attracted my attention each time. So what could I do?
The attendant, I am sure anxious to get rid of that trouble maker, assured me he would settle down in time. TIME? Like the end of the world, maybe?
Unfortunately, the lotto ticket under Frankie’s ear did not turn out to be a winner. I keep trying.
I cannot ignore Freddie. After I took the photo of Pharoah, Freddie came running over and stuck his face in the lens. Really, I can see this portrait hanging in a museum of contemporary art, what do you think?
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