TOMMY the dwarf kangaroo has had his eyesight restored, after a successful operation at Greenfields Veterinary Clinic.
The little roo, who is believed to be the first known kangaroo to have dwarfism, underwent the surgery to remove the cataracts in his eyes last Wednesday.
To restore Tommy’s sight, veterinary surgeon Robert Harris had to break both cataracts – which are damaged lens tissues – into little pieces.
“What you do is shatter the cataract and suck it out,” he said.
“It’s essentially the same surgery as in people.”
And just over a week after he underwent the one-and-a-half hour surgery, Tommy has regained 60-70 per cent vision in his left eye, which Dr Harris said would likely grow to 85 per cent.
“He’s got good vision in the left eye but there’s some inflammation in the right, which is quite normal after surgery,” he said.
Tommy was brought into the Mandurah Wildlife Rescue when he was about six weeks old and weighed just 80grams.
Although he could see at the time, he gradually lost his vision after developing cataracts in both eyes.
Mandurah Wildlife Rescue co-founder Reini Bos said Tommy was enjoying being able to see again.
“I took him on the lawn and he went round and explored in a circle and then he came over and jumped up on my lap, which is what they do to their mums when they get scared,” Mr Bos said.
Mr Bos said Tommy would never be released into the wild because of his size.
“He’ll stay with us as our mascot, he could never go back because he wouldn’t fit into the hierarchy,” Mr Bos said.