Blind for years, a beloved MS Coast monkey can see again and is living his best life
There was no way to warn the blind monkey. But once the sedative wore off, he could see.
On his first walk outside, he moved slowly and carefully. He inspected the grass and stared at the pond. He is a 24-year-old creature who spent years without sight but two months ago laid down for a surgery and now watches the world with eyes clearer than most people ever thought they could be.
“He just wanted to be in my arms so bad” after the surgery, said Cody Breland, who founded and owns Wild Acres Hands on Animal Experience in McHenry.
His name is Kiki, and he is a golden spider monkey who got cataract surgery in May and now can see his home at Wild Acres for the first time thanks to donations from adoring fans across the Coast.
He arrived at Wild Acres two years ago, already blind, and had mostly stayed in his house, felt his way around and walked bent over, to protect himself from an unknown world. He had startled when approached. He often sat at the bottom of his cage with a blanket over his head.
But since the surgery, Kiki’s habits have changed. He uses his four tiny fingers to explore people’s pockets. Sometimes, he sticks them in open mouths. He stares at his beloved owner’s face and swings from branches. And soon, a chiropractor may even realign his spine to help his posture.
For two years, Breland pleaded as vet after vet declined to treat Kiki. But one day, a woman from Louisiana toured Wild Acres and told Breland she knew someone and would call right away.
“I was like, whatever we need to do,” said Dr. Jana Korsch-Dismukes, who in her Alabama veterinary ophthalmology clinic has operated on mostly dogs, but also some raptors, a flamingo, a sea lion, a turtle, a rat, a bearded dragon, a chinchilla and a couple of bunnies.
“Let’s get this ball rolling,” she said.
And so after funding from tour groups, Boomtown Casino and what Breland estimated was $2,000 from TikTok, where Kiki has amassed thousands of views, he can see.
“All these things had to line up at the same time,” said Bre Anderson, a Wild Acres manager. “Thank goodness it did.”
Korsch-Dismukes performed two surgeries, one for each eye, and restored immediate vision. She used the same cataract procedure performed on people. But monkey surgery can pose challenges. Primates may scratch at their healing eyes, Korsch-Dismukes said, and you never know how they might react to sudden vision.
Kiki just opened his eyes wide.
“He just looked like, ‘Who turned the lights on?’” Korsch-Dismukes said. “That never gets old.”
He didn’t scratch, but he had to re-learn depth perception, which was so off “he would think you’re about to smack him,” Breland said, if you made a sudden movement from far away.
But Kiki took it all in. He petted a goat. He took naps in the hammock. He held hands.
“It was very cute,” Breland said. “He would just look around.”
Breland said Kiki likely came from somewhere in South or Central America, and was bounced between two private owners in the U.S. before someone gave him to Wild Acres two years ago. His species can live up to 40.
He is one of 52 animals (not including the birds) who live at Wild Acres. There’s Dexter, the Patagonian cavie, and Gus and Sissy, the capuchin monkeys, and JJ, the black bear, who celebrated his birthday with a Luau last weekend. There’s Tyson, the capybara – “everyone’s crazy about capybaras right now,” Breland said – and Shuri the leopard. And there’s porcupines named Danger, Lady GaGa, Mr. Pokes and baby Quillianna.
Breland founded Wild Acres in 2018 with a Zebra, a camera and not much else. But it grew because he wanted to take care of animals and create a place where people could escape their worlds and leave with more compassion for creatures than they started with.
“I’m passionate about my animals,” Breland said. “I live it every day.”
