Surgery may restore sight for ‘Nee’ the Gibbon after over 10 years of blindness

‘Surgery may restore sight for ‘Nee’ the Gibbon after over 10 years of blindness’

Great news at WFFT today for ‘Nee’ an elderly, male, white-handed Gibbon who will be given the chance to see again after over 10 years in the dark! Nee is a well-loved, long term resident of the centre and has been completely blind due to cataracts since rescue. Today Nee attended the veterinary ophthalmology clinic at Chulalongkorn University for an electroretinogram test (ERG) which confirmed that his left eye still has a functioning retina. This means that Nee is a suitable candidate for for surgery to remove the cataract blocking vision in that eye. The surgery will take place next month at Chula with the top veterinary ophthalmologists in the country. There is a long road ahead however with the challenges of anaesthesia, surgery and post-operative care in an elderly and difficult patient but if even a small amount of vision can be restored to one eye, then the impact on Nee’s quality of life will be immense!