Any eye experts here

Flibble

Flibble

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Hi I had a horse vetted on Friday and she failed her eye examination.

She rode fine for a week had her vetted and he said (please be aware I was upset so may not have facts correct):

Her left eye had one of the worst cataracts he had seen and that there was a large black mass in front of the lens which indicated a trauma or injury to the eye and believed she had had uveitis which was likely to recur and could lead to loss of the eye itself. He said the only way to be sure would be to have an opthalmologist report.

I know horses can cope with one eye but as a human who suffers from eye issues it was all too much for me so we stopped the vetting.

To be hones if she had one eye and was priced accordingly then I may have had a go but I am a worrier and every time she had a watery eye or something of that nature I would panic and I would worry myself and possibly the poor mare into a corner.

This lovely girl was only rising 6 so I would be interested in anyone elses opinion or experience.

Please bear in mind when you reply that unfortunatly I have major issues with my left eye and had it operated on in April.
 
I battled with my horse for 4 years with Uevitis. To be absolutely honest with you it was a nightmare. Like you I too am a worrier. He had flare ups on average every 6 weeks, I had to be very vigilant. As soon as he haf a flare up I had to put drops in four times a day for a week and give him bute. Every attack does more damage to the eye. My boy also had cataracts which are secondary to Uevitis. It is also very painful for the horse and they could end up being kept in a dark stable.

Sadly my horse was PTS with something unconnected ( we think) But no way would I buy another horse with the condition. I had the vet numerous times and brought Guardian masks which block out 95% of the suns rays, but still he had flare ups. It was caused by the wind pollen & snow.
 
Having had a horse with eye issues I can safely say that it was a nightmare. He needed drops in his eye every 2hrs for two weeks which was reduced to 4 times a day. It flaired up every summer and I had to be very aware of eye as soon as any change occured and had to put drops in. It has made me paranoid about illnesses in them and I constantly worry about things now.
I would say I was glad to have owned him and gone through the experience but I wouldnt like to have another horse with eye issues like that.
 
I'd echo what others have warned about uveitis. My horse developed the autoimmune disease superficial keratitis after his previous owners didn't bother to tackle a chronic but bog-standard conjunctivitis. One side effect of this autoimmune disease is that uveitis starts to develop on top of everything else. I battled for 6 months to save my horse's eye but he had to have the eye removed after he was accidentally stabbed in his bad eye by the pointy end of the very tube of drops that was helping him. And that takes me onto my first point: uveitis is a chronic condition and this horse is only 6. You would face years and years of every day (or more often than once per day) drops and creams needing to be applied to the eye/s. Some horses resent this and it becomes almost impossible to safely administer the drugs. If this happens, the horse would need a fine tube stitched to the eyelid and running down the neck to the withers. Drops are then administered at the withers so that the horse tolerates it better. Whether or not you could ever safely turn out a horse with such a line is a moot point. Secondly, my horse now has only 1 eye and he manages extremely well. But if anything should happen to the remaining eye, he would be blind and would have to be pts. Thirdly, remember that both eyes, and anything remotely to do with them would be excluded forever from vet insurance. The total cost for the 6 month battle and eventual removal of my horse's eye was well over £4,000 and that was 7 years ago. Sadly, I'd say walk away.
 
Yeah uveitis is heart breaking - I wouldn't from personal experience.

It'sanageable but if you have the choice I would avoid it - it's debilitating and restrictive
 
Yes horses do cope very well with Uveitis. My first mare went blind in one eye and 90% blind in other eyes. she coped very well i still rode her as when she felt the contact she rode like a normal horse. This was 80*s so less known, i had her half her life with this disease. She had it when i bought her but loved he so didn't care.

Now i am going through it again ( i don't care its all learning curb and horses get repeat tendon issues so i see don't difference )

My mare now developed Uveitis last year I bought her a guardian mask .


now I find an ulcer starts it off .


This weekend gone i actually got it on the mend on my own without vet..

My mare starts head shaking when its starting i then


put atrophine in her eye morning lunch and eve ( still pupil dilates) this usually gets done 4 times i e .

1 morn - eve- lunch .


I then just put in cloromycetin ( however u spell it)

now her eye is open just a few days for ulcer to go.

she still has 99% of her vision.




If you are prepared to do this then to me its like having our cycle once a month annoying but controllable. I should be able to save her sight in the one eye.

I am prepared to do this small thing for her. before her laminitis in July at the age of 23 she was still doikng sponsored rides so its not effecting her at all.


My vets are happy to give me the Atrophine . this way I get get the medication in her within an hour or less which is the key factor. her head shaking is a great warning.

Its only restrictive if you don't manage it and get meds in too long after the initial warning.
 
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could also be Periodic Ophthalmia.

the commonest type of Uveitis
This is similar to Uveitis and is the commonest type:

cause unknown suspected causes are
infection with leptospira bacterium
viral infections
 
we have a horse who had this, he had the drops to open the pupil, special antibiotics specific to the eye, little needles, acupncture? round his eye, and creams several time a day, he recovered in two weeks, i asked the vet if it would reccur, he said not after the treatment he has received, and he has another horses he treated 10 years ago who are fine, this was after i sacked the first vet who said because the eye had gone small and the pupil was closed that he was blind and that was that!!!!!!

the eye looks normal size, virtually normal colour he is ridden and no one even thinks about it, or notices as the difference to the other eye is minimal, he behaves normally, it happened two years ago.

is possible that its a coincidence that she has a cateract.
 
I'm surprised that the vet said it wouldn't return, as Uvetiis is a recurring condition. My horses eye looked perfect normal apart from the small cataract. He had it when I brought him unbeknown to me, so I dealt with it as I had no choice. Had I known beforehand I wouldn't have brought him. If you do go ahead then be very vigilant and treat as soon as it flares up. I found giving bute for a couple of days as well as the drops kept his attacks short.
 
did'nt make it clear that our horse had intramuscular anti-biotics, two different sorts, and the vet in question works a consultant at the world renowned cirale, a centre of pathology to which come horses from all over the world, many to be diagnosed correctly, and he did say that with the treatments today it is possible to have no recurrence.
 
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