iris color change

Question
QUESTION: I have had my cat Scottie for 11 years now (since he was 3 mos. old).  When I first got him, he had two green eyes and then his right eye iris turned brown.  At the time I was told that this is normal and can happen with kitten vaccinations.  Now, 11 years later, he developed glaucoma in his right eye and the eye specialist wants to take the eye out to biopsy based on the iris color (for possible iris melanoma).  Being that his eye has been dark brown for 11 years, what are the chances that he has had melanoma in that eye all this time? His bloodwork came back as extremely good.
ANSWER: Hi Gail, thank you for this question. The eye specialist would be the better person to answer this question for you, HOWEVER, I personally would say NO, he did not have melanoma all this time. If he had Melanoma for 11 years he would have serious problems long before now. It is possible that when the eye colour changed it may have changed the structure of the Iris somewhat causing it to be more vulnerable to problems. But, it sounds like he is in good hands now and I would follow the advise your specialist is giving you. Your cat will bounce back very quickly and get along quite well with only one eye! They are not like humans that let their emotions slow down their healing !
Teresa

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Teresa!  That was my thought as well, that he didn't have melanoma for 11 years.  The reason I am asking is because to biopsy the eye, they have to take all of it out and therefore would not be able to put in a prosthetic eye (which is what we want to do) and would just sew the eye closed.  To put in a prosthetic eye, they need to keep the eye wall and muscles in tact and therefore would only have the orb to submit to biopsy. The eye specialist has only seen Scottie once and could not determine the cause of the glaucoma (which is why he's suggesting biopsy).  But based on the fact that his iris was always the same brown--the cataract and then glaucoma only started about 6 mos. ago.  His IOP pressure is 75, which is why we know we need to enucleate the eye. If Scottie was your cat, would you go for the full biopsy or the prosthetic?  

Answer
hi Gail, If he was MY cat I would go for the biopsy and the eye sewn shut. It may seem odd now to think that your cat will have only one eye but you will be surprised how quickly you get used to it! And a prosthetic is not going to help his vision. It is just for appearance. If it was a child I would say to do the prosthetic because our eyes are so visible on our face and there are emotional things going on with us. For your old cat I would just get that eye out and sew it shut. Then you will have the eye checked to make sure there are no problems that are going to be ongoing with him, and if there are, then you have caught it early for the most successful treatment. I worked for vet hospitals for many years and saw lots of dogs and cats lose an eye for various reasons. It is amazing how quickly they bounce back! After all he has probably not been using that eye for vision in the last 6 months anyway. Also when an animal loses and eye  it is not as noticeable because of the fur, especially if you have a dark colored cat. They even continue to "blink" at you. It is hard to explain but the muscles around the outside of the eye (where are black bags would be after a late night) continue to move. So when one eye looks up the other appears to also!! Of course you will realize there is no eye there but someone that just glances at him might not notice at all !! Again this depends on the color of the cat. If he is white with large copper eyes then it will be more noticeable !! haha
Perhaps your specialist could give you the name of a patient that has had the surgery done recently and they can share their experience with you....
This is a long answer but to re cap. I would not have a prosthetic put in. For the extra money I would make a donation to a homeless animals shelter to help with required surgeries they need done on their abandoned animals
Teresa