Cotswold animal shelter issues ‘urgent’ funding plea for surgery to save Prince Louis’ eyes

A Cotswold animal shelter is asking the public to help it raise enough money to save Prince Louis, a stray Maine Coon cat, from blindness. The large princely four-year-old has seen better days and needs the public’s help to ensure he gets to see better days again.

The charity says Louis arrived in an “awful state” with filth matted into his fur, wheezy lungs, and with pus coming from his eyes. He also had a heart murmur and was badly cut and scratched from fighting with other tom cats.

Now the centre needs the public to help them raise money for the extensive medical treatment he needs to return to his princely self, having already received emergency medical veterinary treatment when he arrived at the centre. Louis’ treatment included blood tests, antibiotics for his flu-type symptoms, eyedrops, painkillers, and de-matting to what he would tolerate, but he still needs much more help to get back on his paws.

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After surviving through all of the difficulties of being a stray tom cat, Prince Louis’ eyes have developed a condition called entropion, which causes the eyelid to face inwards and rub against his eyeball causing scratching, irritation, and continuous infections in both of his eyes.

Alongside neutering, vaccinations, and a further brush, Louis requires urgent corrective surgery on his eyes. This will enable him to have a pain-free life but also protect him from further infection or even sight loss if he is left untreated.

In their appeal, Cotswold Dogs and Cats Home said: “Louis has also sadly been diagnosed with a heart murmur, and he requires a heart scan that will sadly cost the centre further hundreds of pounds. This will assess whether he has underlying heart disease and give a fuller picture of his needs.