Corneal Ulcers - Any info greatly appreciated.

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sazzle44

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Just wondering if anyone has any experience or information on corneal ulcers? Just been to see a horse with a fairly large cloud along the bottom of his eye and was told it wouldn't effect his vision at all. I'm not sure about this, obviously he still has plenty of vision, but would this not impede a jumping horse? If we do decide to go ahead with the horse, then obviously I will have my vet look at it, but just wanted to know if it's even worth returning for a second look. Thanks very much for any replies :)
 
I think what you can see is scaring on the cornear. Ulcers need veterinary treatment and if left can cause damage to the eye. They can be very uncomfortable. I have most of my experience an small animals but I'm sure the same would go for equines. Eyes are very sensitive and delicate structures and should be treated as such. If it is scaring I would get your vet to check it out. It could also be a few other things but best getting a vet to look.
Hope this is of some help.
 
My big mare has had two corneal eye ulcers, one was small and one was quiet big dont no what caused them, but she had very bad conjunctivitis with it and she could barely open her eye so swollen the inside of the eylid was on the outside if that makes sense. But its didnt scar at all she has two perfect looking eyes (touch wood).

My vet was concerned it could be an eye diesease (cant remember correct term) as she had had it twice in a small period of time he was going to send me to be reffered if she got it again, as it can be quiet serious as they normally lose the sight completly.Thank god she didnt get it again and its been a year since!

If your really interested in this horse just make sure your vet has a good look, maybe see if you can talk to the vet the owners used when he got the ulcer!
 
Take great care. Corneal ulcers (are you sure it's not a cataract?) can be bad news because of the lack of blood supply to the cornea. My horse had had bog standard conjunctivitis for years and years before I bought him. Previous owners had never bothered to get it properly treated. Both eyes were constantly thick with creamy muck, poor lad. Within a few weeks of my buying him (and after a local vet had pronounced it nothing to worry about) he developed a corneal ulcer which progressed with horrifying rapidity to an autoimmune disease called superficial keratitis. A terrible disease - we battled for 6 months to save the eye but in the end it had to be removed. The specialist equine hospital told me that chronic conjunctivitis is a well recognised precursor to superficial keratitis - and make no mistake, there's NOTHING superficial about this diease! There WILL be an underlying reason why your horse's cornea is milky and scarred. It may be an old injury or it may be a progressing one but if the cornea is damaged and unable to resolve itself, then at best it may mean trouble in the future. PM me if you want any more info on my horse's trreatment. If you do a search on my posts, there's a ton of stuff about Sunny on there, though some may have been archived a couple of years ago.
 
Thankyou for all your replies. I've been reading a bit about it and it's quite interesting. I'm pretty sure it isn't an ulcer, but it's certainly a cloud and quite a big one at that. The owner hasn't got a clue where it came from as she's a dealer who got him from Holland a fortnight ago. I got the impression he's had a bit of poking about in his eye as he was a bit twitchy when I put my hand near it but not anywhere else.
Speaking to others it sounds as though it's scarring which could be from a scratch on the surface or an ulcer or something. I'm just a bit concerned about it. The eyes and eyesight is obviously very fragile and to jump foxhunters on a horse with one eye would be quite a challenge! I'm not sure it's worth the risk. He's a lovely horse, but I don't know if I can take that risk as their eyes are so difficult to protect. hmm...decisions to be made. Thanks for the info guys :)
 
My horse failed a vetting from an eye ulcer, the owner at the time mentioned that the horse's eye was running alot. A small ulcer the size of a pin prick was found & then cream & eye drops were used. Had the same vet out to have a look & after a week it had gone & two years later never had a problem.
 
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