Tom update:

He's back from the first vet trip. It was confirmed that he indeed had a broken back right leg paw at one time, that didn't heal properly probably. That'll cause some arthritis, and will likely give him some trouble later. All of his tests came back negative- for FeLV/leukemia, mites, fleas, worms, etc. He had his first FeLV vaccination shot too. His ears are healed as much as they are going to, and he can hear fine.

His eye was my main concern. The good news is that he may not be permanently blind in the left eye. He does have conjuntivitis (inflamation of the eyelids) but that's secondary to the main problem. You may not realize this, but the eye has two chambers - the large one behind the lens and iris and the front one. The vitreous humors in the eyes are made in the back of the eye and move to the front chamber where they eventually drain out. Somehow,his ducts have gotten blocked and the front part of the eye is huge. His pupil is closed and pushed way back into the eye. So we will need to give him drops to open the pupil and open the ducts, (as well as amoxicillin for the infection of the eyelid), and he'll go back for a recheck to see if that helps.

Giving a cat eye drops is never fun. Considering how much blood I got to shed in the doc's office trying to hold him for the vet, he's not going to like the procedure at all. It will inevitably involve a towel or a blanket, and both of us. He has drops 3 times a day, and the amox twice. He will not be a happy cat. But hopefully, at the end of that time, he'll be able to see with both eyes.  ¶ 11:50 AM