Help Rami Get Eye Surgery

My name is Melissa. Rami is my cat, and he makes my life better in many ways. Last year Rami, Matilda (his sister) and I had to say goodbye to Sunny, the oldest of my 3 cats. Rami seemed to miss her greatly, which made sense, since they spent a lot of time near each other. He lost 4 lbs, almost a quarter of his body weight, in just a few months. That's a lot for a cat to lose, especially in such a short time. The vet couldn't find anything, labs looked good, he was eating and drinking etc as expected. It may have been grief, it may have been any number of things. Thankfully he seemed to stabilize.

In early December 2023 his left eye started tearing, and just looking smaller. I took him to the vet where he was prescribed antibiotic eye drops. 2-3 weeks later it was only minimally better, so after checking in with the vet by phone we went back. They did a fluorescent test to check for cuts and other damage. Thankfully it was clear. They prescribed antibiotic and steroid eye drops. They didn't help either, and were apparently very painful. We went to the vet again in early/mid January, having been in phone contact weekly or more often. We had switched back to just the antibiotic drops.

The vet suggested that Rami should see an ophthalmologist vet, so the issue could hopefully be resolved. When I called the specialist clinic I was told that the visit would likely run $300-500. I wasn't able to do that immediately, but we recently went to see the eye vet. She examined Rami and said he had entropion. It's where the lower eyelid flips up and the lashes irritate the eye. It's more common in dogs than cats, and more common in younger than older cats. One of the causes can be weight loss, due to a "hollowing" of the face, which is likely what happened with Rami. The specialist gave an estimate of $1600-2000 for the surgery. She said it would be the simplest of this type of surgery, and that some regular vets could do it too. (I've checked with the vets we see. They do not do this surgery.) If the surgery is not done he would remain in discomfort, likely progress to corneal ulcers, and might very well eventually lose the eye.

I appreciate you reading Rami's story. He'll be 13 next month, and he excels in sleeping in front of my face, purrs, trills, drinking from the sink, snuffling my hair, sniffing out treats, and many other things.

Thank you.

PS: I've updated the goal amount to include the original visit with the eye specialist, the fee charged by the platform and supplies for after surgery.