 Most of you know that Wendell has been blind for a couple years now. We suspect he had glaucoma, or a painful eye disease caused by increased eye pressure. This can occur secondarily to retinopathy, a complication of diabetes, which Wendell has lived with for a long time.
Despite daily medication and monitoring of his condition, his eyes became badly inflamed over the last couple of weeks, and it was recently discovered that his right eye was developing a melting corneal ulcer. This particular type of ulcer weakens the cornea severely and can very quickly allow infection to develop and, if left untreated, can cause the eye to rupture.
 Eye rupture is exactly as it sounds, the eye breaks down, deflating and releasing the fluids that live inside. It is a very painful result that can not be repaired. Given the extent of Wendell's eye condition along with several other factors, it was decided among Kari and the Jungle Friend's caregivers and staff who love him so, so much, to remove Wendell's eyes.
During the surgery, Wendell's right eye easily ruptured once pressure was applied, due to the weak spot created by the ulcer. This likely would have happened on its own in a matter of days had we not removed the eye.
His left eye was also in trouble- once it was removed, we opened the eye to explore the condition inside, and discovered that the lens was hardened and luxated, or slipped out of its proper position, which can also be a painful condition.
Both eyes were infected due to the extreme pressure caused by the glaucoma, the eyes were unable to drain excess fluid, creating a buildup, and because the lenses were hardened, the eyes were not able to breathe well. This created an environment
perfect for bacteria, causing a buildup of pus. By removing the eyes under anesthesia we were able to properly clean the sockets and prevent contamination from the infection trapped inside, something that could have been very dangerous in the event of a rupture.
We reunited Wendell with his loving companion, Kooda, and she has been grooming him non-stop since his return. We believe that Kooda's tender loving care will e the best medicine for sweet Wendell.
We were able to eliminate a source of pain and infection easily with one capture, one sedation, and one surgery. We believe that once Wendell heals, he will be even happier, if that's possible.
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