Emporia kitten found with eye ‘popping out’ makes recovery, now ready for loving home

Editor's Note: This article contains graphic descriptions and photographs of an animal experiencing a medical crisis that some may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

EMPORIA, Va. (WRIC) -- A kitten who was found in Emporia with his eye nearly "popping out" has since made a remarkable recovery and is now ready for his fur-ever home.

Recently, an Emporia woman made a panicked call to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after finding a 5-month-old tabby kitten in a terrible state.

She told the animal welfare group that one of the kitten's eyes was "popping out," describing it as "swollen and oozing 'like an inflamed blueberry,'" per a March 17 press release. The other eye "wasn't far behind."

Bartimaeus "Barti" the kitten, saved by a Good Samaritan in Emporia, at the time PETA took him into their care. (Photo: PETA)

"The caller who discovered him had no transportation and no way to get veterinary care, but she made the call that sent PETA fieldworkers rushing to the scene to pick up the nearly blind kitten," PETA said in the release.

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The kitten was taken to PETA's Norfolk shelter to receive emergency medical care for both his eyes and a severe respiratory infection. Ultimately, his right eye needed to be removed -- but "an intensive regimen" was used to save his left eye, which has "healed well" since.

As he embarked on his healing journey under the foster care of a veterinary assistant, PETA gave the kitten a suitable name: Bartimaeus, "after the blind man whose sight was restored in the Bible," per the release.

As of Tuesday, little "Barti" is now in far better shape and ready for adoption.

Barti has been neutered and vaccinated. However, PETA noted that anyone interested in adopting him should know that, in addition to providing him general veterinary care, he may require further visits to animal eye care specialists.

If you live on the East Coast and would like to adopt Barti, you can reach out to PETA via email at adopt@peta.org.

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Though PETA celebrates Barti getting his happy ending, the nonprofit stressed that not every animal is so lucky.

“While Barti is now recovering safely indoors, so many other cats left to fend for themselves outdoors suffer and die in awful ways,” said PETA senior vice president Daphna Nachminovitch in the release. “PETA urges guardians to keep their feline family members indoors, safe from cruel people, contagious diseases, predators, speeding cars and the many other dangers that can befall them.”