Simba’s story

Simba is our one year old golden retriever who is loved by all that meet him with the most perfect nature and unique character, Simba enjoys going on walks and playing with his soft toys whilst being in the company of people.

Sadly we as family noticed simba had a problem with his eyes early last week so we took him straight to the vets, they were unsure of what was causing his eyes to weap and look discoloured so started simba on a course of antibiotics and asked us to take him back to be reviewed the following day, so we did, the following day simbas eyes had deteriorated further and turned a blue colour the general vet was alarmed by this so instructed us to take simba to the animal eye center, of course we followed this advise.

After a short time at the eye clinic we had the news that simba could potentially loose his eyes without surgery that day. This of course was a huge shock as this had happened in 24 hours!

We were informed that Simba had cataracts in his eyes which had exploded causing him to be instantly blind, the specialist vets have never seen this as it is so rare and there is no explanation as to why this has happed to our much loved pet with him being so young and also the cataracts exploding, as a family we made the difficult decision for simba to undergo surgery with a chance of saving his eye sight but with the information this operation could lead to complications ultimately having to have both eyes removed, but we wanted simba to have the best chance at leading a normal life which meant that simbas lenses in both eyes had to be removed and replaced with artificial lenses and that the fragments from where the cataracts disintegrated also had to be removed.

Simba made it through the surgery, we thought he would be able to come home, but his eyes had built up to much pressure meaning that he wasn’t able to come home that day and had to be monitored through out the night by a vet.

We had a phone call the following morning to say that sombas pressure in the eyes had come down but unfortunately there was another complication, simbas stitches in his eyes had started leaking meaning simba had to have a second operation to redo his stitches, simba being strong and with his youth behind him made it through the second operation and was able to come home to us that afternoon, but he is not in the clear yet…

Simba had to continue his treatment at the moment he is visual but this has to be monitored at all times as the slightest change could mean that simba can no longer see, he is currently having 15 eye drops throughout the day along with one dose of pain killer and 2 tablets, which he thankfully is taking in his stride.

To be able to have simba home we have had to take always his beloved soft toys to prevent his eyes being touched by them and simba is no longer able to go outside unaided or for his long walks which he enjoyed daily, but as a family we will do what it takes to ensure simba has the best recovery possible.

With simbas story being told it is with no doubt that this costs a lot of money , being responsible owners we have pet insurance for simba but this will only cover a fraction of the cost so far simbas vets bill is up to £6500 and will soon increase as he will require check ups for the foreseeable future. Therefore we are asking if anyone would be willing to donate to simbas recovery we as a family would be very grateful, thank you for taking the time to read simbas story.