Eye problem, panicing please advise

[Daphnelia]

Found welsh mare tonight with a cloudy eye, the skin around the eye is quite swollen, its a bit teary and she is very squinty with that eye. I took her straight to the vet and they've put her on 3 types of eye drops, 1 is steroids, 1 is to open the pupil, and I think the other may be anti inflamatory. She is also on two sachets of bute a day. The vet in question wasn't terrible forthcoming with information, and Im sitting at home now thinking of millions of questions I wish I'd asked. Has anybody had a problem like this before or know anything about it? How long it took to heal, any long term effects etc.
Thank you

 

[Thistle]

Could be the starts of uveitis (see www.horsemask.com for info)

of could be something much lass sinister like a mild infection or irritation.

The good thing is that you saw the vet straight away and got the treatment started.

 

[Llwyncwn]

Totally agree with Thistle. Hopefully tonight Sunnymum, who has a new username ... Box of Frogs will respond. She has vast personal experience with her 'fat one eyed cob' as she likes to call him.

Hurry up Barb, this one is urgent !

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hi Eggnog - you have done totally the right thing in getting the vet out straight away. A cloudy cornea is a sign of a damaged cornea. It is more difficult for the eye to fight off infection as it has no blood supply. The drops to make the iris expand is to stop adhesions forming when hopefully the eye is healed. Its probably atropine. The steroids is to strengthen the immune response and the third is probably antibiotics as you say. Has she had eye probs before, eg weepy eye, conjunctivitis, always tears running down her face, sensitivity to light? If not and she's just managed to poke herself in the eye on a branch then she'll probably make a full recovery. If its uveitis you could be in for a long haul but its not all doom and gloom. My horse Sunny had chronic conjunctivitis that his previous owners (a riding school for gods sake) hadn't bothered to clear up. 2 Christmases ago - I'd owned him for TWO WEEKS - he suddenly developed a cloudy, swollen eye and we battled for 6 months to save the eye. In the end there was no infection we could detect but it had become an auto-immune disease, ie his body THOUGHT there was an infection so attacked his own eye. In the end he had had enough and the eye was removed. Now for the good part, and hold this in your mind. We won our first ever walk & trot dressage this year. 6 DAYS after the surgery, he had a run around the outdoor school and loose jumped himself TWICE over 2 jumps. He pops jumps now and is just about the safest horse on the yard. He takes me happily hacking and is as happy as a pig in clover. SO...even if the worst comes to the worst (which it probably won't) you will STILL have your happy horse. Keep smiling, keep the vets closely involved and PM me if you want any more info or wanna talk or wanna know the fabulous specialist vets who treated Sunny. (I'm away 23 Dec to 28 Dec) And lastly...DON'T PANIC!!!!! xxxxx

 

[Harvers]

You have done completely the right thing, but try not to panic! last year my horse, had an ulcer on his cornea - same symptoms as yours, called the vet you came straight away and he scrapped the eye back to get rid of the ulcer and encourage the healthy cells to grow and cover the hole - The vet said most horses recover in about 48 hours but keep up with all of the drops 3 sets for a week and keep him in a dark stable, because of the atropine to open the pupil and he would come back in 2 days - anyway, I am not that lucky and 5 weeks later and many more scrapping, eye dyings and vets visits he was completely better!! never had another problem with it since - touch wood!!

Good luck and I hope your horse is ok! I think your vet should have given you some more information tho!

 

[ivenoidea]

FHC's eye recovered very quickly from a minor ulcer, but the dog has just been signed off this morning after four months of treatment for her eye ulcer (-around two dozen visists to the vet).

You were absolutely right to get the vet in straight away and should hopefully have avoided infections etc causing further damage/erosion.

Hope she gets well quickly.