Equine conjunctivitis

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Noelle'sBlackBeauty

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Hello. I am new to this forum and am excited to be here. I have an 8 yr old TWH gelding, he is my first horse and I love him very much :-)
My problem is that he has been battling a bad case of conjunctivitis for almost a month now. The vet has been out twice, the 2nd visit showed he had a small corneal scratch from itching the eye, so we switched eye ointments to the triple A without steroid. Th eye got better for a few weeks but in the past few days the conjunctivitis has come back, almost as bad as the first time. Swelling, itching, just a little tearing, does not seem to be light sensitive. I've been putting in ointment, giving bute 2 G per day, fly mask when he goes outside.
I am worried that this may be chronic or something more serious than conjunctivitis. Has anyone dealt with this before? what have you found to be most effective? How do I know if I need an antifungal or some other new medication? How long does conjunctivitis usually last?
Thank you for ANY advice or suggestions!
Noelle
 
If this condition is not clearing up then I would ask for an immediate referral to a Veterinary hospital. Anything related to the eye should be treated with the utmost seriousness and urgency. Please don't leave it to get worse - it could end up with the loss of an eye.
Sorry to lay this on thick but I think it needs to be said.
Good luck.
 
As Zussie said, you need an urgent referral to an equine eye specialist. Chronic con-junctivitis is a recognised pre-cursor to a terrible autoimmune eye disease called superficial keratitis. I bought my horse with existing chronic conjunctivitis in both eyes that his previous owners (a riding school) hadn't bothered to clear up. God knows how long he'd had it! Within 3 weeks, the cornea in his right eye had turned milky white and that was the start of a 6 month battle to save the eye. We eventually lost the battle, partly due to further catastrophic damage to the cornea caused by the end of the bloody ointment tube scraping right across it! Take great care when applying drops and ointment to a horse's eyes...one jerk from the horse and at best you can turn a simple situation into a medical emergency, at worst you can puncture his eyeball! Best to apply creams on the end of your clean finger, drops are more tricky but hold the tube PARALLEL to the eye (not 90 degrees to it) then pull the bottom eyelid out into a little pouch. Squeeze some drops into the pouch. Good luck x
 
Thank you all for taking time to respond to me :-)
I wonder if it is my horses new stall that might be aggravating his eye... The hay is stacked above the stalls but he never had this problem in his old stall.. I feed him out of a nibble net hay bag and thinking that may aggravate or even cause the problem? So for now his hay is fed on the floor of his stall so he is not pulling and causing hay to fly around his eye.
My vet thinks the first round of conjunctivitis did not clear up completely so he wants me to continue the topical ointment WITHOUT the steroid, and to treat longer this time... My poor horse, it really doesn't seem to be bothering him bc all of his behavior is otherwise normal.. I am giving 2g bute per day ( how long can I give bute before causing stomach issues?) fly mask during the day, warm compresses and ointment as often as possible 4-5 x's per day..any other advice is greatly appreciated .. I will have vet come back out in day or two if not clearing up ... Nothing i won't do for my boy, I love him so much!
Thanks again!
 
Mine has had conjunctivitis a number of times. Eventually, the vet suggested allergic conjunctivitis. At the time, he was on hemp bedding and he always slept lying down with his face in the bedding (I used to have to wipe the bedding away from his eyes).

I put him onto Miscanthus and it cleared up. Unfortunately, I forgot about this and used some Aubiose this Autumn and it came straight back!!

I think they coat the bedding in something to stop them eating it (or possibly to make it smell nicer).

Just a thought.
 
NBB it's worth persevering with this because chronic conjunctivitis can turn really nasty. I'd ask your vet to take swabs from the eye to check for virus, bacteria, fungus infections. Depending on the causative agent, antibx may not be the right form of attack! There's also a suspicion of a link between conjunctivitis and herpes so worth considering that too. If you can't sort it in the next couple of weeks, you really do nees a referral to a horse hospital/clinic where they have an equine eye specialist x
 
Get bright eyes herbs from right as rein, on the internet, give 1 scoop a day infeed, it clears all of these things up, i use it on my two, i was amzed how quickly it cleared up any discharges and seasonal weepyness. Being a herb you can keep using it for 2 weeks then use it again when things flare up, i just use mine all the time.
 
i've had horses with conjunctivitis and cleared it up quickly, however one horse had uveitis, after some visits the vet said as the eye had shrunk and looked awful that he was now blind, i decided to call another vet, who used two topical ointments, injected two different intramuscular antibiotics specific to the condition and used acupuncture around the eye, the horse now has a normal looking eye which is not completely perfect if you look very closely, its very slightly opaque, and his vision is not 100 per cent however he can see very well enough to function normally, i never think it about it now, and he has had no relapse.

i agree with taking further urgent action, find a specialist, also i would damp his hay if you think the dust is adding to the problem, best of luck.
 
forgot to say the horse was kept indoors in the dark and turned out at night, also i put the creams in his eye 5 times a day, i used my little finger and washed my hands first.
 
Noelle'sBlackBeauty said:
Hello. I am new to this forum and am excited to be here. I have an 8 yr old TWH gelding, he is my first horse and I love him very much :-)
My problem is that he has been battling a bad case of conjunctivitis for almost a month now. The vet has been out twice, the 2nd visit showed he had a small corneal scratch from itching the eye, so we switched eye ointments to the triple A without steroid. Th eye got better for a few weeks but in the past few days the conjunctivitis has come back, almost as bad as the first time. Swelling, itching, just a little tearing, does not seem to be light sensitive. I've been putting in ointment, giving bute 2 G per day, fly mask when he goes outside.
I am worried that this may be chronic or something more serious than conjunctivitis. Has anyone dealt with this before? what have you found to be most effective? How do I know if I need an antifungal or some other new medication? How long does conjunctivitis usually last?
Thank you for ANY advice or suggestions!
Noelle
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I think you should ask your vet to check for uveitis , having had 2 with this painfully problem you must get it checked as failure will cause more damage to the eye as you must have it dilated by the use of atropine.
 
I agree you need to be double sure this is not uveitis (sp sorry) sounds similar and a bout can last a long time not treated correctly. The horses sight could be long term damaged. Tbh I'd be seeking the advice I'd another vet to be sure x
 
Hi all! I am very happy to report my boy's eye has cleared up 98% :-)!!
What a relief!! He feels better so I feel better and I actually took him out on the snowy trails for a short ride today--he loves the snow.
I was in my last squeeze of my last tube of eye ointment when I rec'd 2 new tubes from m vets office today so I am going to continue treatment for a few more days...I took out all the things in his stall which I thought he might irritate or rub his eye on (hanging food dish, nibble net) I'm also getting some Vetericyn Pink Eye Wash to keep on hand for future breakouts--anyone use this product?
Hoping and praying it does not come back otherwise I will need to see an eye specialist.
In any case he is back to his alpha full of himself self :D which I love to see!
 
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