Eye Removal .. Anyone experienced this with an old horse ?

[Eaglestone]

The super chap that I ride out regularly, for my friend, lost the sight in his Right eye in February when he stuck his head in a thorn bush and it penetrated his eye.

He has been doing really well on Steriods, up until now, however he has now developed Ulcers on the eye and the Vet feels the best option will be to have the eye removed

My fiend has really been against this course of action, as she feels that he is too old, at 28 and being a big Suffolk Punch X, to have such major surgery and does not want him to end up with other limb related problems, due to the mear fact of going through a major operation.

If you have had an old horse put through this operation, can you tell me how they got on?

His only failing health issue is the fact that his front teeth are now virtually non existent …. the front ones have stopped erupting

Thank you as always

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hi Eaglestone. The ned in my siggy is Sunny who had to have an eye removed at the age of 20. The op only lasts about an hour and the anaesthetic is "lighter" than that necessary for eg colic surgery. I was very worried about it for my veteran but he was fine. They told me that after he'd come round and they led him back to the stable, he was already a happier boy coz post surgery pain is very different from the relentless 24/7 agony of an ulcerated eye.

After the surgery, a veteran ned will probably have the wound site packed with dressing and an external pressure pad stitched OVER the eye socket. This stops the build up of fluids and blood at the site. In veterans there is less fat so fluids build up more readily. Ned will look like a Frankenstein horse coz the pressure pad has big black stitches. DO NOT WORRY!!! Ned not really bothered and I was able to graze Sunny out in hand the following day. The only gory bit was every so often the site would obviously feel odd to him and he would shake his head! If you have a vivid imagination, it's best to turn away at that point!

After a day or two, the surgery staff will remove a couple of stitches and start to pull the packing out from behind the stitched up eyelid. Sunny's wound healed so well it all came out in one go but some neds have it withdrawn over a few days. When they're happy that the site is healing ok, the pressure pad is removed. At this time you can see the wound site. Tell your friend to be brave and hug her ned hard and kiss him on the nose. He is the same boy, eye or no eye. I gave everyone at my yard the rule that NO-ONE was to feel sorry for Sunny or cry when they saw him. The ned doesn't care he has only one eye, he just feels happy that it doesn't hurt any more. But owners get very upset. At first, the wound site will be convex (curving outwards) a little but over the next few weeks it will gradually sink inwards and become concave. The skin of the eyelid covers the eye socket. I clean Sunny's with a damp flannel screwed up into about the size of an old fashioned gents shaving brush. Doesn't bother him at all!

After the surgery, your friend will need to be her ned's missing eye for a bit. She'll need to remember that he will think if he doesn't SEE anything that side of his head, then there isn't anything there! So move feed bowls well away from the wall, speak to ned when you're working round him, get farrier/etc to put a hand on him so he knows they are there. Be aware that he will need to do a BIIIIG turn if he needs to look at something that is worrying him and this may mean bumping into people, cars, other horses etc! After a bit, ned will have worked it out for himself and will be a happy bunny. My Sunny is still the safest horse on the yard and hacks out happily, looking after his creaky old mum. The day after he came home, he had a run around loose in the school. Someone had left some jumps up and Sunny was SOOOOO pleased to be home and not in pain that he loose jumped them back and forth a few times! 20 yrs old? Only one eye? Phhhhh! Who cares!!!

PM me if I can help further hun xxx

 

[Eaglestone]

... I was hoping that you BOF would give me some invaluable advice, as previously

I will let my friend know and thank you very much

 

[BallyshanHorses]

we have an old hunter who at 26 is the picture of health.unfortunately a few weeks ago he developed yet another eye ulcer.we took blood and used the plasma to syringe into his eye every 3 hours for the last three weeks.its gradually improving but it looks very sore.we are all knackered and he hasnt improved much.just wish they had bitten the bullet and taken the eye out all together.he will never regain much sight if at all so i think it is best to get it removed to ease the pain.

 

[stranger1612]

If the horse is given a general anaesthetic for enucleation then it will not be "lighter" than that given for colic surgery, it may be quicker but I have seen some slow enucleations take longer than a quick laparotomy. In fact the (theoretical) risk of a vagally mediated bradycardia would make some vets ensure the horse is on the "deep" side. I would suggest that if the horse is in anyway temperamentally to a standing surgery then it is done this way.

 

[blackcob]

Not experienced actual eye removal but just wanted to reassure that horses cope very very well with just the one eye - mine is blind in her right eye and to be honest nobody has ever noticed (including show judges) and it's never caused her any problems. She doesn't bump into things or anything silly like that!

 

[Eaglestone]

[ QUOTE ]
Not experienced actual eye removal but just wanted to reassure that horses cope very very well with just the one eye - mine is blind in her right eye and to be honest nobody has ever noticed (including show judges) and it's never caused her any problems. She doesn't bump into things or anything silly like that!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you all for your help and advice

And thank you BlackCob for the reassurance

.... he has been blind in that eye for quite a while now and is coping really well

.... however due to the Ulcers that is the reason for the question on removing it

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Thanks for that info stranger1612. I was just repeating what the vets advised me. I too was worried about the potential effects of a GA on a veteran horse. They explained that they expected Sunny would tolerate the anaesthetic well and that the enucleation would be over quickly (about an hour) and therefore the anaesthetic could be adjusted accordingly. That's why I put "light" in quotes lol! At no point was it ever suggested to me that the operation could be carried out with Sunny standing and under sedation, and this was at a specialist hospital. I suppose the important thing is everything went exactly as planned and the vets advised that Sunny was much, much more comfortable immediately. I'd had a terrible 6 month battle to save the eye and he'd been back and forth to the hospital 3 times. Obviously, no GA is ever guaranteed 100% safe but I do hope Eaglestone's friend found other people's experiences helpful as she wrestles with making the right decision for her veteran ned.

 

[Eaglestone]

BOF
My friend has found your experience very useful and she will now be talking further with the Vet .... she is struggling with the shear fact of putting P through such a huge operation and the effects on him

She has known him since he was 5 ish and she was about 10 and he is now 28 .... so I do feel for her ..... and that horse is so special to me too, as he helped me through the roller coaster ride of Motor's recovery from Laminitis ...... I have had the pleasure of riding him now for 2 years and he is a game old boy

This is me on him last week

 

[Troth]

Hi
So sorry to hear that. I've sent a post about my horse, Copper, who had to have an eye removed a couple of years ago when she was 22. She's fine now. Assume the post will appear soon.
CopperNewint.

 

[gothdolly]

I cant help in any way but wanted to say how helpful this post and the replies were as one of my horses was today prescribed with steriods to deal with an eye ulcer problem and the vet was telling me all about treatment options etc.

 

[Eaglestone]

[ QUOTE ]
I cant help in any way but wanted to say how helpful this post and the replies were as one of my horses was today prescribed with steriods to deal with an eye ulcer problem and the vet was telling me all about treatment options etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now it is strange that you have been prescribed with Steroids for the Ulcer ...
When P first puntured his eye with a thorn (it went cleanly through and sealed itself up immediately) he was on Steroids 3 times a day .....

However when the Ulcer was diagnosed, the Vet took him straight off the Steroids, which he really needed, as Vet said you cannot treat with Steroids at the same time

 

[gothdolly]

Oh dear, perhaps I misunderstood? I was panicking yesterday so I maybe didnt quite grasp what the vet was saying. My mare is poorly (colic/laminitis/teeth problems) and we were discussing putting her on pergolide and extracting teeth and then discussing Domi's eye problem. I think that maybe the vet said there might be an ulcer, and I didnt fully understand as I was so worried about them both!