I am devastated -- my FeLV boy Dublin had major dental surgery yesterday to remove the rest of his teeth due to severe stomatitis and feline resorptive lesions (his third dental surgery in six months). He came through OK it seemed, and his bloodwork turned out to be very promising (his mild anemia around December had reversed with his hematocrit in the middle of the normal range). But something seemed off with agitation and his eyes and the vet realized that Dublin seems to be blind. He did all the ocular tests they do and nothing physiologically can be found wrong -- no detached retina, no bleed, no evidence of hypoxia, etc. But only his left eye is even minimally reactive to light. The vet believes the blindness to be related to the FeLV, although I'm still totally confused about the suddenness of this all.
Dublin has always had something weird about his eyes -- the pupils stay mostly dilated and while they constrict a little it's definitely not like a normal cat. I wondered if he had an eye problem and could see well even before I adopted him and learned he was FeLV+. But he seemed to see fine. While Dublin is physically stable he is apparently extremely agitated and the vet wants to keep him at the hospital until he settles down and begins to adapt. He was with him until 10:30 last night and says that Dubbie has scarcely been out of a tech's arms since. (He is the most loving, people-oriented cat, and is not stressed just from being at the vet -- it's almost a joke how much he likes it there.) I am crazy with distress and also with anxiety about bringing him home (have another cat, pretty rowdy, and a dog), though everyone says blind cats can do well. I'd appreciate any encouragement -- or in particular any insight into a FeLV-blindness link. Anne
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