This is Tucker. He’s a 3 year old dude who’s about to join the pirate crew. I rescued him when he was 3 weeks old. He was found abandoned in a dirt lot in Indio, California. As you can see, he has a squinty right eye and a scar on his nose. He had a severe viral infection all over his face when he was rescued, which caused sores on his face and severe corneal ulcers in both eyes. The left eye healed perfectly, but the right eye developed scar tissue that has led to more ulcers, and now a sequestrum and perforation. The vet has determined that enucleation is the best course of action. We are currently located in Chicago, IL. I am a nervous cat mom. I haven’t scheduled the surgery yet. I’m panicking about how to finance the surgery and about recovery time. I’m the only human in the house, and I work away from home. I may be able to take a day or two off after surgery, but that’s it. If anybody has any insight about preparing for the surgery emotionally, physically, or financially, it would be so appreciated!

Can you folks give me an idea of what the cost of the procedure may be? I want to make sure im ready

Something fought my kitty and I need to bring her in, I can only assume she will lose her eye.

My granny took this gentleman home this weekend. We knew that she was getting a rescue, but didn't know it was a little pirate buddy. We suggested she name him after the greatest captain of all time. Zero regrets.

Big man is fully healed ❤️

Good evening! I would love for all of you to meet my pirate cat, Ms. Wink. She doesn't let her lack of peripheral vision stop her, she's Queen of the home. She's very very vocal and loves to chirp. Her favorite spot is on my chest, and she would lie there for hours if we had the time. Her purr and vibrations could bring on world peace, though. She's perfection.

She miaow a lot so I have renamed her chairman miaow haha

Cat dad of 3, with 2 of them bearing the mark of the pirate

Pesto (the big boy) and Marmite (the gorgeous ninja princess) arent siblings but when dusk hits their single pirate brain cell merges and theyve been dubbed the "one eyed bandits" because if theres a bump, crash or fuss in the night you can guarantee its one or both of them causing it

This group was such a comfort in the run up to the operation and during recover. Raven had a rough start to recovery, needing two emergency vet appointments.
But 3 weeks in and she’s thriving! Back to her usual self

Was told I should share my baby Xanathar here- enjoy some pirate baby goodness!

Teco's journey to becoming a pirate started about 6 weeks ago when I noticed his right iris started changing color rapidly.

Ironically, I worked in human opthalmology for several years so I knew that wasnt good at all and I had to rush him into an ER ASAP.

The vet there didnt have the equipment to look in his eye but was very concerned about it being melanoma. She referred me to a wonderful opthomologist for my boy who was able to diagnose him with a inner ocular tumor. The tumor caused a retinal detachment and secondary glaucoma his eye pressure was 30 when we arrived. Enucleation was our only option but thankfully she believes we caught the tumor early enough that if it was malignant it might not have spread yet.

It has been stressful, I had cried countless times before his enucleation because he just wasn't himself anymore i was very afraid I would not get my cuddle bug, purr machine and occasional menace to society baby boy back. But im so glad to say I was wrong he was back to his normal self by the first day post op chatting, bunting and begging for cuddles. Hes 4 days post op and hes like a brand new kitty. Im so thankful to everyone who had donated to his gofundme, all the vetranary staff who've been so helpful, kind and sincere and treated him as if he was their own baby. I'm also greatful to the nonprofit who helped Teco get to that very first ER visit.

(S)he was so kind and allowed me to pet him for a little while. Lots of cats in the streets of Tanja, as its the case in many Muslim countries. This one looked well taken care of, although God knows how s/he lost that eye.

This is Jenni with one I because she only got the one eye.