GEORGE SHORTLY AFTER HIS RESCUE
As you all know George was a very sick little lion when he was rescued. Because of poor diet and living conditions, George had developed cataracts in both eyes, rendering him half blind. 2015 Will be a different year for this little cub.
Reading Kevin's news below, you will see reference to Naiobi. She is one of the lionesses. at Kevin's sanctuary. She also suffers from cataracts. We had hoped that she too could have them removed at the same time that little George has his own eye operation.
Please read the report from Kevin Richardson below.
Just a quick update on the check up that George and Naiobi had yesterday. All went very well and we had a successful days filming, catching up on George and Yame and several other key elements to the film. As we all know George has juvenile cataracts most likely caused by the poor diet he was on.
The good news is that they are still pretty translucent and after receiving some eye drops that dilate the pupil you could clearly see the retinas reflective layer bouncing light back.
In the good doctors opinion leaving them is not an option as they will only get worse. So it's off to theatre for George.
We are arranging dates as when best it suits the doctor and obviously the filming of the procedure as well.
George was an excellent patient and was extremely calm once he figured out we weren't trying to hurt him. With Naiobi it's slightly more tricky as the doctor will need to put her under to check the health of the eyes between the lens and the retina.
This is done by ultrasound.
Most likely we will do this when George gets knocked under to head off for his surgery at Ondestepoort. However the doctors initial feeling was that Naiobi looks healthy and happy and that surgery on her could be risky, so most probably she is best left alone.
Anyway we will make a more informed decision once we can ultrasound the eyes. All in all a good day with promising news.
Kevin
GEORGE - A LION CUB THAT HAS COME A VERY LONG WAY AND SOON HE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE PROPERLY AGAIN
