Life as an Eyelid

My friend Ty owns two cats which he got just over a year ago from the local feline rescue. Ty and his girlfriend Neddie have me over for dinner on a regular basis, and during such visits, I of course like to sneak a few pets in and maybe lug the heaviest cat around as long as his patience holds. Then we go about our evening.

While I have been content with this arrangement, Ty and Neddie had been on the lookout for a young stray cat to snatch up and give to me. After several dead ends, Ty found the tiniest kitten in their parking garage basement. Ty fed it for a few days, meanwhile instilling fear in me that something awful would happen to the kitten unless I took it (Ty saw a smush on the road and told me it was likely to be "Parkie", and daily we feared that the security guard could no longer resist the temptation and made a lunch out of the cat). While I continued to refuse the cat, suddenly I found myself going over for dinner and ending up at home with a roommate.



The kitten had a swollen eye, and so I spent the following day trying to secure an appointment with any vet that could fit me in at the earliest. After the weekend, I managed to go to the vet and found out that the cat was born without eyelids, and that the cat would need eye drops at minimum 4x daily amidst antibiotics, heartworm medicine, and future surgeries to proceed with domestication. With a delicate tone, although still not quite delicate enough for my hyper sensitivity to eyeballs and eye-related trauma, the vet discussed the painful ramifications of failing to administer proper treatment.

So of course I get the lemon, my defective cat. For the next 3 weeks, the cat stayed in my apartment with weekly visits to the vet. I realized quickly that I needed a standard, off-the-shelf cat that I can feed and water and leave alone for 80% of it's life. Ultimately, the vet was able to find a home for the kitten with a woman who "collects" disabled cats in a commune. I figure the cat is better off with fellow blind and eyelid-less cats that won't make fun of her instead of being a prisoner in my apartment with dry eyes. And I am better off living my life without having to be any cat's eyelids.