Back in June, two tiny kittens came into our care with severe eye abnormalities. Both were born with bilateral upper eyelid agenesis – big words for something very simple and very sad: they had no upper eyelids at all.

Without surgery, their eyes would have been permanently damaged and incredibly painful. The options were heartbreakingly limited — complex reconstructive surgery when they were older, or being put to sleep. Of course, we chose to fight for them.

Last month, they had part one of a two-stage reconstructive surgery. It’s called a Modified Mustardé procedure (yes, it’s as complicated as it sounds!). The first stage involved performing a rotary blepharoplasty – essentially rotating part of the lower eyelid and stitching it into the upper area to form a new lid.

As if that wasn’t enough, Maggie also needed an additional operation called a superficial keratectomy to remove a dermoid – a little hairy lump growing directly on her eyeball.

Both girls have recovered beautifully from this first stage, and in December they’ll have stage two, when the new eyelid flap can hopefully be separated and fully functional.

👉 Part one of their surgery cost £5,000.

👉 Part two will be around another £2,500.

That’s £7,500 in total.

The last six weeks have brought a wave of complex and costly cases — several amputations and other major surgeries — and it’s left our vet fund completely drained. We simply don’t have the funds to cover Maggie and Ivy’s operations, and unless we raise this amount, we won’t be able to take on any more surgical cases until well into next year.

If you can spare even a few pounds, please click below to donate. Every penny truly makes a difference to Maggie, Ivy, and the next cats waiting for their chance.