Stray Kitten Struggles to Survive Outdoors with Ruptured Eye

Smoky illustrates the plight of friendly stray cats, who have been lost or abandoned, struggling to survive outdoors. He was one of two kittens we rescued in 2025 with a severely injured eye.

SPCA NOVA received an email in March 2025 from a kind woman who had been hiking two days earlier. While returning to her parked car, she encountered a friendly, underweight, dirty and injured kitten in the parking lot. As she opened her car door, the kitten literally jumped inside. Based on his condition, especially his severely damaged right eye, it was clear this kitten needed help.

Good Samaritan Rescues Kitten

Not knowing what else to do, she let the kitten settle into her car then proceeded to find the closest vet office. Luckily, she was able to walk right in and get immediate assistance.

The kitten, whom she named Smoky, was estimated to be about nine months old. Weighing only 6 pounds, he was clearly underweight. The vet said the kitten’s severely damaged right eye needed more attention than he could provide. As an interim measure, the vet dispensed an antibiotic eye ointment and recommended further medical attention. Not sure how to help Smoky further, she took him home to give him food and water while exploring next steps.

Finding Help for Smoky

In her desire to help Smoky, she searched online and sent messages to multiple rescue organizations, including SPCA NOVA. As soon as we received her message, we knew this kitten needed immediate attention. We scheduled a vet appointment that afternoon.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how sweet and friendly Smoky was. He acted like he didn’t have a care in the world. Despite having been lost or abandoned outdoors, with a severe eye injury, he was friendly and curious and didn’t mind being handled by the vet.

The vet noted swelling around Smoky’s eye, a green discharge indicating an infection, and an abrasion on his cornea. The vet recommended we continue the antibiotic ointment and take Smoky to see an ophthalmologist to determine next steps.

We were able to get an ophthalmology appointment very quickly at South Paws Veterinary Specialists & Emergency Center. Despite everything Smoky had been through, he continued to be friendly and curious and not bothered by being handled by the veterinary staff. Everyone immediately fell in love with him.

The ophthalmologist determined the damage to his eye was caused by trauma. She also told us the initial injury had healed and the wound was about two to three months old. We were horrified to think that Smoky had been suffering for so long. The initial injury and infection that developed must have been very painful. The vet indicated that Smoky had no vision in this eye and that the eye needed to be surgically removed. If left untreated, the constant inflammation would cause ongoing infections and could lead to a rare cancer of the eye.

We scheduled an appointment with the ophthalmologist to have his damaged eye removed. We began Smoky’s additional vet care, including vaccines and a fecal test. We were surprised he tested positive for so many parasites – tapeworms as well as Coccidia and Giardia. These parasites can find their way into a cat’s intestinal track by ingesting infected fleas and eating and drinking contaminated water and prey outdoors. He also had an ear infection that was treated with antibiotics.

Adding everything together, it was clear that poor Smoky had been living outdoors and fending for himself for some time. We honestly don’t know how such a young kitty had managed to survive his ordeal.

Smoky Recovers, Finds Forever Home

Luckily, Smoky’s eye surgery went well. The veterinary ophthalmologist and the surgical team also did the neutering so he would not have to undergo two separate surgeries. Smoky recovered well from his eye surgery.

Smoky was adopted two months later by another kind woman who was looking to expand her feline family. Now called Captain Peanut (or just Peanut), he settled into his new home easily – bringing with him a whirlwind of energy and curiosity. At first his new feline sister, Lucy, was skeptical but it did not take long for her to realize they could be best buds. Peanut and Lucy play, groom and cuddle with each other endlessly. A happy ending to what could have been a tragic story.