Colton Update
I received an email recently from Karla Siebert of IERAL (Iowa Equine Rescue & Awareness League) regarding Colton. They took Colton to ISU (Iowa State University) on Monday to get his eyes evaluated.
According to Karla, he did amazingly well, for never being away from foster care for the past 14 months! Below is part of Karla’s email.
“Dr. Betts, thought both eyes were candidates for the corrective cataract surgery, so we agreed to start with one and then see how that goes. Interesting enough, Dr. Betts felt that Colton has been blind possibly since birth or shortly after.
On Tuesday, the surgery was suppose to happen, however Colton’s blood work came up odd. On Wednesday they retested the blood, and they moved forward with removing one cataract from one of his eyes.
I spoke to Dr. Betts last evening and he said the cataract was extremely yellow, old, and hard, meaning it had been there for a very long time. The eye was swollen more than usual, because of the size of the cataract, but felt Colton would do well.
I will get a report from him today as well, and hope to pick Colton up on Saturday, if all goes as planned. Colton will be at Dr.Abraham’s for at least 30 days for recovery, will have a tube for draining, and drops will be administered.
This experience will be very interesting to say the least. This horse is 7 years young, and probably (according to Betts) has never been able to see. Colton is a very calm Arabian who I think will adjust fine to his new world, but we will wait to see, how things go.
We’ve been approached by an anonymous donor wanting to match “new” donations for Colton starting Monday of this week up to $1000.00. So, if you know anyone who would be willing to donate to Colton and his ability to see for the first time in his life, please have them send donation to IERAL C/O Colton, PO Box 8726 Cedar Rapids, IA 52408.
The surgery is estimated to cost $3200.00 per eye, with the 30 day recovery. We have had some donations for Colton, so thank you for supporting him prior to his first surgery, and we need to continue on with recovery and 2nd eye surgery, after the 1st of the year.
Tags: IERAL
That’s wonderful news that they may be able to give Colton some sight back! I’d be interested to know how he responds to his new sight!
Thanks for this very informative post. Wow, I would not have guessed he was blind since birth. Wonder what causes those cataracts. I too am anxious to hear how he responds to having some sight. Please let us know. Angela
I’ll keep the posts coming on Colton. Karla has been great to continue to email me and let me know what’s happening.