Simon Thomsett

Category: Cataract Operation for Rosy, Crowned Eagles | Date: Aug 08 2008 | By: simonthomsett

Rosy’s trip to Nairobi. Chapter 4

This morning, I took Rosy to Nairobi to meet up with Dr Nonee Magre before going on to see Dr Tony Walia, an eye surgeon from Kikuyu Eye Hospital. The drive in took 3 hrs. Rosy was very hot and stressed, sitting hooded on a blanket-covered spare wheel in the back of the car. Although it is an acknowledged fact that the Mombasa road is a total mess, the bouncing and flapping of Rosy in the back seemed to reinforce just how terrible it truly is. Stuck in standstill traffic for half an hour surrounded by amazed on-lookers and street hawkers (selling maps, dubious DVDs, awful sentimental paintings, toy helicopters, sun glasses, and a thing that sheds cabbage), I managed to calm a hot temper by answering questions, some of which were fairly well informed.

Stuck in the traffic, I opened my emails on my cell phone. Laila told me that donations were coming in for Rosy! I have yet to see the blog or know what is going on, but thank those who are helping. More than anything, it is great to see that people care about an eagle.

Outside of his breeding shed, and away from his mate for the first time in years, he tried to gather his hurt pride. He squeezed my glove hard and his talons went right through 3 layers of saddle hide leather! Girl, his mate, kept calling every ten minutes. Rosy would call back. The territory call of a Crowned Eagle is melodic and wild. Here, confined by jesses and tied to a block and blind, it was upsetting to see. But it does mean he has every wish to hold onto to his title as the master of this territory.

What was very disturbing was the extent of his blindness. I could sweep my hand to an inch of his face, and he saw nothing! Yet yesterday he sat on a small stump in his shed and fed unaided. He must have learnt how to feed himself by touch. He must have located the food by listening to it landing, or it being eaten by Girl. In the shed, he was like a blind man in his own house. Outside, he is out of place.

I put him on a perch, but he soon leapt off it at me in an act of defiance. In the late evening, I put him in a small mews for the night. I became reflective last night and retired far too early to bed.

Dr. Nonee was very helpful and led the way to Dr Walia’s house in Westlands. He had injured his right elbow and was taking a few days off work. Surrounded by his family in his garage, with and arm in a sling, he immediately said that it was cataracts. It was the first confirmed diagnosis by an eye specialist. He noted that the pupil reflex was fine and that the “visual pathway” was good. Like other surgeons, he was amazed at the size of the eye, saying that the lens diameter looked to be over twice that of a human. He suggested that we go through the following stages:

1. Return Tuesday to get his eye measured at the Kikuyu Eye Hospital. This would require sedation and the use of an ultrasound placed on his cornea.
2. Send the measurements, realizing the limitations of the measurements, to make comparisons with other species of eagles that may possibly have had lenses made for them. Using the most likely measurements and comparisons to other similar lenses, ask a (as yet unidentified) company in USA to make them ASAP and post them back. In the meantime, put Rosy on atropine ointment to dilate the pupil so that he might see something.
3. The operation itself, all supposing the lenses make it and are of the flexible type that can be rolled and fed through a small incision, should not be too difficult. The date for that depends entirely on the speed of postage and manufacture of the lenses.

The drive back was not as bad, and although it did consume the better part of the day, it was a first step in the right direction. In weighing up all the variables, I favour this option for the primary reason that Kikuyu Eye Hospital is a three or four hour drive at most. South Africa is too far, besides my application letter outlining the situation and requesting assistance in the issuance of CITES has not been acknowledged, and is never likely to as the export differs in important details. A possible choice of going to the Kenya coastal eye hospital at Kwale will require a traumatic 250 mile drive. There would be no place to house him either. 

I was encouraged at the interest that both Dr. Nonee Magre and Dr. Walia showed in Rosy. The decision is now made to go ahead with this option.

PS. While feeding Rosy, I let Tim and Lucy (the lanners) off to play. Only Tim came back in near darkness. This is Lucy’s first night out.

Tags: Cataract, Crowned Eagle, Operation, Rosy