A woman is urging all cat owners to remain vigilant after she realised an eye problem was worse than she thought.
Pamela Williams, from St Helens, said her cat Ozzy had developed a small spot on his left eyeball which they put down to his age. Being 12 at the time, the issue did not seem to bother him and they let him go about his days.
But five years later, during the covid lockdown, his eye gradually began to "cloud over" which was getting worse over the course of a few weeks. Taking him to the vets with the assumption it could be a cataract problem, they were soon hit with some devastating news.
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Ozzy, then 17, had glaucoma and would need to have his whole eye removed. Had they gone to get the small spot checked earlier, it is likely it could have been treated with eye drops as Pamela has issued a stark warning.
She told the ECHO: "His eye started going cloudy and I thought it could be his cataracts so we took him to the vets and they said it was glaucoma. I didn't even know cats could get it.
"I asked what happens now and they said he would need to have his eye removed but had he gone in earlier, he could've had drops so my husband has been feeling really guilty."
Eventually, Ozzy went for his surgery in September last year, but Pamela was told due to his age, he may not make it. But despite all, Ozzy is now recovering at home.
Pamela added: "They told me there was a chance he wouldn't make it because of his age and the anaesthesia, I was crying but the girl said she would keep an eye on him and call me as soon as he was out of theatre and bless her, she did."
Now, Pamela is sharing her journey in the hopes of making other cat owners aware and she tells them to trust their gut.
She said: "It's like having a child. If you think something is wrong, go with your gut feeling. My husband felt awful because I said should we take him and we thought there was a splinter in his eye but it got worse over the years.
"Now, he's 18 and had his operation. We have to keep an eye on his other eye now. We feel guilty every day, he's like our baby of the family. Just be aware. Someone has already messaged me to say their cat has a mark on its eye and she was taking him the vets."
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