I work for an eye doctor, and humans who get corneal ulcers usually get them from some type of infection---bacterial or fungal. They can happen if there is a scratch or abrasion to the eye that gets bacteria or a fungus in it, or in humans, sometimes contact lenses and/or solution can contribute to them. We had a patient who lost an eye last year due to a fungal corneal ulcer. They are NASTY. In the early stages, it would have been very painful for Spook. But they can reach a point where the nerve endings in that area are dead, so nothing is felt. That's one of the things that bothered me about Spook when I first saw his eye. He didn't appear to be suffering any pain from it, and that's usually when it's pretty far along. I was expecting the Vet. to say the eye needed to be removed.

I was also expecting the cost to be a lot greater than she is charging for it. That's why I wanted to have the Vet. look at him before I took him to the Humane Society. I wanted to hear what a Vet. had to say about the eye, and the prognosis, and the cost, so that if the Humane Society said they would have to euthanize him, I would be able to tell them what the Vet. had said, etc.

The $196 she is charging covers the surgery and anesthesia, today's initial office visit, Spook's first feline leukemia virus shot, the fecal exam for worms, the flea treatment, the roundworm treatment, nail clipping, etc. And I didn't call ahead to make an appointment---I just went there and walked in. She isn't charging emergency charges, which add to the cost and which she would have every right to charge because of the urgency of the situation, if she wanted to. She said he's real close to having it rupture. THAT would be a lot worse than it already is. I think she gave us a price break because he is a stray and we aren't planning on keeping him at this time---we just want to do whatever it takes to give him a good chance of finding a furever home.

Anyway, remember the Vet. in your prayers---appreciation for her and her obvious love for the most vulnerable creatures that are brought to her!