The recent ophthalmologist visit

I forgot to record the results of the appointment with Dr. B on 1/13/09.

It started with unloading The Puffer from his carrier - for some reason, his kitty pi wouldn't slide out, and he wasn't about to leave the carrier without it, so it took two of us to tilt the carrier almost straight up and down and convince him to come out. One of the things I like about this ophthalmology practice is that they always put a nice soft towel on the stainless steel table. Then the technician gathered up her equipment, and with a kind of odd tone, asked me if I'd hold Scruffy's head so she could put the strips in his eyes. I said yes, but was a little surprised, because normally, the tech does everything. Anyway, I held his little chin, she stuck the strips in his eyes (and WHY didn't I have my camera turned on for THAT spectacle?), and Scruffy never moved a muscle. When she had read the strips, she said, in a surprised tone, "Well, he wasn't nasty." I said, "No, did you expect him to be?" And she showed me his folder, which had a big orange sticker on the front of it which said "FRACTIOUS"...... He's been treated in this clinic for more than two years, and has NEVER been "fractious" in the office. But then, I remembered Dr. B. saying that my poor kitty was extremely uncooperative when they were trying to get him ready for the surgery. And then I realized that he's generally gotten pretty crabby lately. I wonder what's causing that? Old age? Arthritis? The misery in his sinuses? Transference from his negative experiences at the regular vet's office?

On to the examination. Despite my concern about the larger amount of dark brown tissue in Scruffy's left eye, Dr. G felt that it is not related to the melanosis/oma. He thinks that the large dark area is possibly an indication of: 1) some burned tissue left from the laser treatment; 2) dark brown pigment underneath the iris, which has been thinned by the laser to the point where the pigment is visible; and 3) there may still be more post-surgical healing. There was no "re-elevation of the brown iris laser site since the last exam." (Elevation is considered to be an indication of malignancy, apparently.) There appeared to be no change in the vision in that eye, although there was increased dryness and inflammation. (Which I felt bad about - I had noticed a few days before the appointment that Scruffy was squinting, which is a sign of discomfort and inflammation - who knew? I had plenty of the Flurbiprofen eye drops left - I just didn't know that they should be used.) Pressure in the eyes was good - 13 in the right eye, and 14 in the left. The treatment was to begin giving him the Flurbiprofen eye drops and the atropine ointment again.

The bad news is that the melanosis in the right eye is "slightly wider (but not elevated." In about 9 months, the growth in the right eye has gone from being a pinpoint to being a noticeably larger brownish area that sort of resembles Saturn. Dr. B's intent is to watch it closely. It took only a year and a half for the first melanosis to go from virtually invisible to having tentacles and requiring surgery.

The next appointment is April 8, 2009.

A few more pictures:

Scruffy weighs 12 pounds, 11 ounces.

Which would be just fine, if his little legs were two or three inches longer... Knowing how rotund he is now, I have a hard time picturing what he must have been like when he weighed 14 pounds, the week before he got the Depomedrol shot that gave him diabetes.....

And he's had the most miserable sinus stuff going on for weeks now. Clavamox (pills, this time, instead of the messy liquid) hasn't touched it. Wherever he sleeps, there's a little puddle when he moves his head, because his nose runs and he sneezes and sprays all over the place. He looks just miserable.