Cavalier Rescue of Florida: Emergency Medical Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

To help pay for eye surgery for Carter, who needed to have one eye removed due to glaucoma and cataract surgery in the other eye.

This grant helped us pay for a very expensive surgery so we could help Carter. Medical bills are our highest expense, so this grant really helped us meet the needs of Carter and our other rescues,

How many pets did this grant help?

1

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

This grant supported eye surgery for Carter, an approximately 10-year-old ruby Cavalier King Charles mix. He arrived in the care of Cavalier Rescue of Florida on Oct. 1, 2018. Carter was found as a stray by a good Samaritan, who could not keep him. It was evident that Carter had been living on his own for some time. He was fearful, had extremely long nails and needed advanced medical care. We were contacted to take Carter and we jumped into action! Upon coming into rescue, he went to a veterinarian for a complete checkup, was examined by a cardiologist and visited an ophthalmologist. He has a heart murmur, concerns with both eyes and was neutered and had a dental cleaning.

When looking at Carter, it was very clear that he had problems in both eyes. His left was completely blind and no longer functional. His right eye had a prominent cataract. He was likely completely blind. Following his visit to an ophthalmologist, we learned that he had glaucoma in his left eye and, due to a lack of treatment, his eye had essentially died and the inflammation had changed the structure of his eye socket. For his health and safety, the eye had to be removed. We were optimistic that his right eye could be treated for the cataract, allowing him to see again.

Carter underwent surgery to remove one eye and a cataract in the second eye. Sadly, the cataract surgery was not successful. Carter began experiencing uncontrolled pressure in the eye and eventually lost the second eye. Carter is still recovering from his surgeries and learning to navigate the world completely blind. We are looking for a very special family for him once he is well enough for adoption.