eye patch or shield for cat

[mynobby]

HI I am looking to find an eye patch or shield for a young kitten.
We rescued him about 3 wks ago now. When I first picked him up he had a significant conjunctivitis & underlying "globe rupture"(per our vet.). He's doing great these days after antibiotic treatment, has gained weight(up from 2lb3oz to 4lb2oz) & is loving life.
My concerns are that we are a multi cat family plus a dog. He can open that eye up all the way now but doesn't have the sight to know when to blink or duck if something is coming toward that side. His iris is attached to the lower front of the globe now. I'm thinking if I can start him early wearing some sort of protection then he could adjust easier. We don't have to enucliate at this time...& don't want to down the road either if we can prevent it.
So does anyone know of such an item small enough? We call him, "one eye'd Willie" (I'm thinking maybe black leather....LOL).
with thanks

[LisainCAN]

Hi there and welcome!

I have a senior Border Collie we rescued two years ago from a backyard breeder. Her right eye had been kicked by a horse and shrunken in the eye socket, though we could only see the eye cavity. She had terrible entropion too. It had been like that for years. As soon as we got her, we had her spayed (after having had over 100 pups in her life) and the eye sewn shut after a surprise enucleation when the vet found the shrunken eye. Due to our girl's age and hard life, she now also has a cataract on her good eye so she is almost completely blind. At first though, when she had more sight in her left eye, she would use that side to her advantage. Yes, we all had to learn how to renegotiate how not to approach her suddenly from the right or to remember not to ask her to do anything (like come to us if we are standing outside her field of vision). As the sewn socket healed, we had some truble with infection until it cleared up beautifully with some derma cream. We live in a busy household with other dogs and cats but we never put a patch or a bandage on her eye. I think that the likelihood of anyone or any critter hitting something in the eye is remote at best. I also believe that a patch would make the cat feel strangely to wear that and the cat may not like it. Though the eye may look differently, I assume the lids work so even if dust should go in the compromised eye, the lids would close naturally. Just my two cents but I think you'd be surprised at how well your cat will do wthout the vision in that eye and without a patch. Also, I do not know the extent of the damage but who knows, maybe some small sight could be restored over time.

[critters]

Well, we always did a Third Eyelid Flap on my eye monsters when there was danger of the eyeball rupturing. After healing, though, we've never used patches or anything. With a TEF the eyelids are closed and act like a natural bandage and support to the herniating eyeball.