Lily - Cat of the Month July 2026

This month, we’re celebrating a very special patient: Lily, who has shown incredible patience and resilience during a challenging eye condition.
Around two months ago, Lily developed a serious condition affecting the surface of her eye called bullous keratopathy. This occurs when fluid builds up within the cornea, causing blister-like swellings to form. 

Photo: Lily's eye at presentation

These can be painful and, in severe cases, the cornea can become dangerously thin and at risk of rupturing.
There was a real possibility she could have needed an enucleation – surgery to remove the eye – if the cornea ruptured or could not be stabilised.
Instead, Lily and her owners embarked on a long and intensive treatment journey.
Her owners had to administer multiple different eye drops, several times a day, for weeks. This required a huge amount of dedication and perseverance, particularly as Lily also needed to remain indoors and wear a Buster collar during the worst part of her illness to protect her eye from further damage.

Photo: 3 weeks into treatment

Lily’s owners deserve an enormous amount of praise too. This has been a very emotional and worrying journey for them. They faced the possibility of Lily losing the eye, and a significant, unexpected financial burden, without the protection of pet insurance. Despite all of this, they never gave up. They followed every treatment instruction carefully, administered all of Lily’s medications, brought her back for repeated examinations and did absolutely everything we asked of them to give her eye the best possible chance of healing.

Photo: Lily resting up on vet Claire's consult desk

Lily, meanwhile, has been an absolute star. She has tolerated her eye examinations remarkably well and has coped amazingly with her treatment, confinement and collar. Together, Lily and her owners have made an incredible team.
We are therefore absolutely delighted that, after two months of treatment and careful monitoring, Lily has finally been given the all clear! Her eye has healed sufficiently that she no longer needs intensive treatment, and the risk of rupture has passed.

We would also like to say a special thank you to Abi, a veterinary ophthalmology specialist in training, who kindly provided invaluable advice and guidance on the best way to manage Lily’s condition. Having access to specialist advice was hugely helpful when faced with such a serious and unusual eye problem.