Luke is an Orange Tabby in Raleigh, NC, who needs $450 for Eye Surgery.

Luke and his three siblings were rescued from a rural North Carolina shelter. They were sick with an upper respiratory infection, eye infections, and severe diarrhea. They were underweight and very sick. The shelter is unable to help with medical issues and they were due to be euthanized, so we picked them up and placed them in our foster care program.

Luke is a tiny kitten. He is very loving, but he is struggling as his eyes seem to hurt him. He was not as playful with his mates, not eating a lot, he was over his upper respiratory illness, but it seems his eyes were never fully opened. After 2 weeks of eye drops and no improvement, he went back to the vet.

The vet confirmed there is something very wrong with his eyes, but she did not know exactly what and contacted a specialist at North Carolina State Veterinary Medicine to see if they could help identify his issues. The vet at NC State determined he has a significant problem called Upper Eye Lid Agenesis.

Dr. Davidson explained this is a complicated issue and his only hope is a surgery to repair his eyelids. Luke's eyelids did not fully form and he will need a graft from his lip tissue to add eyelid tissue. Currently, he is too small for the surgery and we need to wait until he is older. For now, he will need an eye lid injection to roll the lashes away from his corneal to prevent damage.

This surgery is very expensive and much more than we can fund without help. But without the surgery, Luke will suffer for life with eyelids that are not formed properly and causing corneal damage. Please help Carolina Cat Rescue give him the chance at a pain free life.