MAY I help you?

I have a "site meter" here. It's an interesting way of keeping track of how many people look at Scruffy's and Milk's blogs - I was amazed to see the number of places all over the world where people had seen the names of my cats! Every country you can think of. (Google is an amazing thing!) Many were just here by accident, and a bunch seem to be attracted by that horrible "cheezburger" picture that I don't know what to do about. But, unless someone leaves a comment, I really don't have any way to communicate with anyone specificly.

That said, a person that Site Meter says is from Buffalo, New York - but who seems to be reading Scruffy's blog in what I think might be Dutch (?) - has been here a LOT. Frequently, several times a day. Everytime I see on the record that there was another visit, I wish desperately that he or she would leave a comment about what they're looking for - if there's any way at all to help, I would be very happy to do so. I would guess that this might be a person with a cat that has iris melanosis, judging from the pictures here that he or she is looking at. Anyway, it's a disease with a limited amount of time to have treated, and if there's any information I might have, or some other way to help, please leave me a comment. It doesn't need to be posted publicly. I'd love to hear what you're looking for and to try to be of assistance.

Another visit to the ophthalmologist

Well, rats. I can't find the papers from Scruffy's appointment on April 8. I don't remember the numbers, but his eye pressure was good in both eyes, and unlike the last appointment, his eye didn't appear to be irritated or to be too dry. The eye test with these strips is done prior to each examination, and measures the amount of moisture in his eyes. It doesn't seem to bother him at all....







This is the most current picture of Scruffy's left eye, which Dr. B. says is doing satisfactorily. The vision is still good in it, there is no indication of glaucoma, and it continues to be his belief that the brown goblet-shaped "attachment" at the lower edge of his eye is not the tumor that was previously there. There is no thickening of that brown tissue. As is easily visible, the shape of his pupil has changed, however. Dr. B. feels that that is the result of an adhesion that has developed that is pulling the pupil out of shape, and limiting the ability of his eye to react as effectively to light. I have noticed that he squints now in bright light.

I am still to give him a drop of flurbiprofen every other day, to combat the tendency toward inflammation. The drops seems to bother him more now than they did previously - he flinches and fusses after every drop; Dr. B. said that we can change him to another kind of eyedrop if it becomes too much of a problem. I think it's tolerable for now, but when this bottle is empty (which should be fairly soon), we'll change to the other drop.

There was NO change in the size or shape of the melanosis in the right eye. Thank God.

One final issue was the ever-present sinus problem. (Which has been different from his customary herpes episodes ever since it began last summer.) It occurred to me to worry that maybe some of the melanoma cells from his eye might have drained into his sinuses and could be the source of the sniffing/sneezing/dripping stuff. Dr. B. said that it was possible, although unlikely, and that at some point, if it continues to be intractible, Scruffy could/should have another chest xray, and possibly xrays of his sinuses or an examination of them. He wrote a prescription for Baytril, which The Puffer has only actually gotten one dose of into his system. He throws up within minutes of getting the pill, no matter what time of day I give them to him. I give him 1/4 of a cholortrimeton tablet a couple of times a week, which does help to dry up some of the dripping. It was "sinus" infection that gave him diabetes, way back in the fall of 2004; the vet we were going to then gave him a shot of depomedrol for it, and three days later, he was grabbing food off our plates and started losing weight. He hasn't exactly led a charmed life, has he?