Blocked tear duct

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JenHunt

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think Ron has a blocked tear duct - weepy/runny eye that is otherwise unaffected, worse in windy weather, or with flies about. The gunk is just normal greyish snot type stuff and water, only problem is that he rubs it and the skin around it gets sore/chapped.

As vet is out on Tues for jabs have asked him to look at it. He's said that he should be able to flush it for us while he's there.

please can someone tell me what it entails, how long it takes, and roughly how much it will cost (not that that's the issue, I'm just wanting to be prepared!)

thank you!
 
mine has a blocked tear duct, was flushed out but did not completely clear but it is easilymanaged by wiping with damp cotton wool daily all year round. she does not have any soreness or loss of hair. i put a fly mask on for the summer and quite often wipe am and pm to make sure i keep it all clean. my vet just put a tube up the nose and used a mug of warm water, it only took about 5 mins. the vet suggested keeping it clean as the best option as he felt that surgery was not necessary and he wanted to use it as a last resort.. this was 6 years ago and its been very easy to manage. hope this helps...
 
jenhunt said:
think Ron has a blocked tear duct - weepy/runny eye that is otherwise unaffected, worse in windy weather, or with flies about. The gunk is just normal greyish snot type stuff and water, only problem is that he rubs it and the skin around it gets sore/chapped.
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Maybe an conjunctivitis type issue rather than blocked tear duct as the blocking will present usually as a consistent tearing and not really vary with the weather, flies etc. Plus, blocked tear ducts cause tear overflow, so you will see watering only usually, not a grey-white discharge - that's is more consistent with conjunctivitis IMO. Either getting the vet to check it on Tues is ok - but get it looked at sooner if it looks sore - he may develop an ulcer if he rubs it.:(

please can someone tell me what it entails, how long it takes, and roughly how much it will cost (not that that's the issue, I'm just wanting to be prepared!)
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If flushing is needed: I usually sedate the horse lightly, use a sterilised soft catheter and push gently saline liquid through. The catheter goes into the nasolacrimal duct at the nostril end. Most horses tolerate this really well IME.
It's not much cost to do, sedation, and exam fee maybe and the catheter possibly (if not resterilised and so not reusable) - I guess I'd charge about £25 roughly for sedation and then maybe a few quid extra for flushing if I was there for a jab anyway...not a huge amount. (Other vets may vary ;)!!)

I suspect more likely you may end up with eye ointment instead though!! :)

Hope that helps.
Imogen
 
My horse Sunny had conjunctivitis for years and years before I bought him from the riding school that should have known better. Got the local vet out to give Sunny a New Owner's MOT and asked about the chronic conjunctivitis. We discussed flushing the tear ducts as we weren't sure if his right one was patent. Vet said it often doesn't help much and recommended just bathing the gooey eyes with plain water on a regular basis. Hah! 3 weeks THREE WEEKS later, he developed what turned out to be superficial keratitis which eventually, after a 6 month battle, meant that his eye had to be surgically removed. Never, ever underestimate eye problems, especially chronic things. At the specialist hospital where Sunny had his eye removed, I was told that chronic conjunctivitis is a recognised precursor to superficial keratitis. If my local vet had bothered to tell me that, then I'd have treated the conjunctivitis very differently. And yet again, I'll make a plea to everyone to be ultra careful putting drops and creams into a horse's eye. The bloody tubes ALWAYS have sharp pointy ends and one jerk from an anxious horse and you can turn a worrying situation into a medical emergency if you stab the horse in the very eye you are trying to treat. Creams are best applied to the end of a clean finger, then squished into the eye. Blunt fingers don't trash corneas. Drops are harder but you pull the bottom eyelid outwards until a little pouch is formed, then hold the tube PARALLEL to the eye (not at rightangles) and dribble a bit into the pouch. Good luck x
 
thank you to all of you!

IB - I shall be sure to ask about the conjunctivitis as well! He hasn't lost any hair, or rubbed anything raw, but as you can see from my sig he's got vitiligo, and the pink skin is a little pinker on that eye. when I say he rubs it, he kind of wipes it on his leg, or the rug over his door :rollseyes: Would he not show conjuctivitis type symptoms in both eyes?

BoF - sorry to hear about your lad losing an eye, but I guess it shows how serious these things can be!
 
My horse had a weepy eye and I was told he wasn't beathing properly and instead of blowing down his nose what wasn't being discharged was draining out throught the tear ducts.
Anyway I invented this:
Make a 'tea' out of fresh nettle heads or leaves
Tblspn of Echinacea
Tblspn dried licorice root
Tblspn garlic granuals
Scald in boiling water leave all day to steep put in evening meal. I can only say that after a fortnight of this there are no more tears.
Tastes good for humans as well.
 
Dear God Doncella - I thought you were going to say rub your potion into the eye lol!!!!!

No disrespect at all hun so please don't take offence, this is just an observation. Whenever people are tempted to try home remedies for a health problem with their horse (or cat, dog, hamster, alpaca, you name it) I would ask them to ask themselves whether, if they had the same health problem, they would use the home remedy or go to their GP. If you had a potentially serious eye problem, would you mix yourself a herbal remedy or would you want your GP to see it to make sure there wasn't a more serious underlying problem? Eyes are so very precious it's wise to always err on the side of caution x
 
Second Box_of_Frogs, never underestimate eye problems. When bathing use disposible wipes (unscented etc.) and use only once then discard, it's so easy to spread any infection and cause one by bathing with contaminated sponges/wipes. I don't wipe my horses eyes as routine because of this.
 
My horse has a similar 'dry eye' type problem that has been checked by a vet regularly, I wouldn't use the disposable wipes at all as even unscented still have moisturisers in that can irritate the eye. I use eye bright which is a herb that come as tea leaves you can make up some tea with it and bathe the eyes daily using cotton wool. It is fantastic and i use it on myself if I ever get sore eyes. It seems to lift any grit or dirt out and soothe the eyes so you don't keep rubbing them.
Obviously just for maintenance and not to replace antibiotic eye drops and only if you've checked there isn't a more serious problem.
 
Yes, you are right about disposible wipes bensonthewonderhorse, the bought ones are not a good idea. I didn't make myself clear, lint free material that you throw away after use. Gauze is quite good.
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
Dear God Doncella - I thought you were going to say rub your potion into the eye lol!!!!!

No disrespect at all hun so please don't take offence, this is just an observation. Whenever people are tempted to try home remedies for a health problem with their horse (or cat, dog, hamster, alpaca, you name it) I would ask them to ask themselves whether, if they had the same health problem, they would use the home remedy or go to their GP. If you had a potentially serious eye problem, would you mix yourself a herbal remedy or would you want your GP to see it to make sure there wasn't a more serious underlying problem? Eyes are so very precious it's wise to always err on the side of caution x
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I asked my vet to look into the horses' eyes and got the usual rubbish. 'Here have some antibiotics, have some cream and give me loads of money'. At the moment my vets are a load of pants. Horse had the vets cream and antibiotics and nothing happened, all summer his eyes wept and wept and the vets scratched their heads. They couldn't treat his cranial twist either, so I got a chiropractor in who explained why he wasn't breathing properly. Horse drinks my tea and his eyes cleared up, cranial twist has been treated, horse now fit and well.
 
so... just a little update for you.

Vet came out today and while Ron stood and snorted at him he had a good look at both eyes, put the horrid orange/green dye in them and had another good look.

There is a small abrasion on the surface of the eye, but it does look like the tear duct is blokced as even after half an hour nothing had come down his nose. Vet has given us some antibiotic ointment for his eye to clear up a bit of conjunctivits and he's hopeful that the reduced pressure on the tearduct should allow it to clear.

otherwise, he said Ron's looking fit and well for a 17yo.
 
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