On Monday May 14th, Weasel was found wandering around the maintenance rooms on the bottom floor of the School of Education Building. He was 1.3 pounds, with scraggly fur and red, itchy eyes. His meows sounded like a cross between a frog and a baby, which is what first got our attention. When the maintenance crew asked if someone would take him, he ended up in the Graduate Assistant lab. He spent the next few hours at the vet, where they found him to be underweight, but otherwise relatively healthy for an 8-week old kitten. The only cause for concern was his eye (check out the header picture at the top of the page).
Weasel suffers from a rare birth defect known as eyelid agenesis. This means that the outer half portion of his right eyelid never formed properly, so his eyelashes are constantly rubbing against his cornea because he can’t blink without a lid. His unprotected cornea can get ulcers and infections easily, so his eye must be constantly moisturized with artificial tears. (Luckily, he’s been an absolute champ about this and does not squirm when it’s time to put the drops in!) Although he is too small and fragile now, the vet has warned that he will have to have reconstruction on his missing eyelid in a few months so he does not lose the eye (or keep it and go blind). As you can probably guess, ophthalmic kitten surgery does not come cheap. We will find out more about the costs involved as his next follow-up appointment…stay tuned here for updates on Weasel’s condition and his new everyday life as the UNCG LIS Department’s new mas”cat” (get it?).
mrfantasticweaselfox 