~sigh~
I may want something that's hard for anyone to give... assurance that my old cat does not have a problem that will necessarily call for extreme measures.
He has glaucoma. That's not new. Glaucoma, and cataracts that have left him virtually blind. He got it a few years ago in one eye, and recently, I see clouding in the other eye too, and lots of evidence that he can no longer see much, if anything, beyond maybe light and some blurry shapes.
That's not really the problem. He's still been getting around pretty good. He still demands (not asks, DEMANDS) to go outside, and while I worry about him out there, he rarely goes far, and seems to be able to navigate around the yard by Braille. It's interesting to watch.
He's become a little confused sometimes, but we figure, as long as he's getting around, and hoping he doesn't injure that eye, that he was fine.
Now... fast forward to today, there is the appearance of some blood in the lens of his eye. Don't know if he has injured it or if something has ruptured or what. It's watering a little, but clear. It doesn't seem overly sensitive, we can pet over the eye and he doesn't flinch, other than a blink reflex and an instinct to not like his eye covered. I don't think it hurts.
So, I know as well as any of you that the right answer, (if money were no object), is to take him to the vet and have it checked out. Let me just give you some reality background and ask if you really think I need to force a decision based on this development, because if we end up in a tough spot, it may not end well for the cat.
When the lens first clouded over I took him right into the vet, and the vet and I talked about options, which was an eye specialist (cough) in town, or removal of the eye, which was quoted at $600 three years ago. Well, jeepers, the cat is in his upper teens, I'm not made of money, it didn't seem to be hurting him, so I took him home, figuring if and when the eye got sick or injured or painful looking, we'd make a decision then... which would most likely be to to put him down. I've got a lot of critters to care for on a limited budget, I can't sink lots of money into this old kitty, much as I love the crabby old cuss.
The crabby part brings up the other issues that aren't to be ignored. The cat has become increasingly hostile about being picked up and moved around since going blind. While he'll still jump up on my desk and sit with me often, I think it makes him feel disoriented and scared to be carried. He's BIG - twenty pounds at least, and he's clawed, and he becomes really p*ssed off really fast if we try to carry him anywhere. Taking him to the vets to be examined would be very difficult, and stressful for him, and I'd like to avoid that, too, if it's not absolutely necessary.
So I guess my question, for those with some life or work experience in cats and glaucoma and eye problems, is, do I need to freak out about this blood spot in his eye? Is this something that is ever a fairly normal part of an eye with advanced glaucoma and/or cataracts, that will happen, bleed, and heal on it's own? Or his he headed for a bad infection or worse, where his eye is going to either completely break down or burst or something really bad?
He is not suffering now, but I don't want him to suffer later because we did wrong by him, either. I need to know what's reasonable to do.