eye ulcer any advice please

[talie2rose]

Hi my mare has a ulcer on her eye about the size of a 5p all the membranes are swollen, I have drops from the vet but I understand that this is quite a common problem so any help would be so much appreciated as she is now being a pain putting her eye drops in. Today she is actually opening the eye and we have a blacked out fly mask on her. thanks all

 

[hoggedmane]

My mare had an ulcer the size of a 50p a few years ago as she had poked a stick nearly all the way through her cornea. She also had two operations on the eye to remove dead tissue from the cornea and scrape it to make the regrowth adhere to the underlying cornea. She had several types of drop to be put in 5x a day. She also had a mask on all the time. She too wasn't keen on the drops but I got someone to help and we twitched her to make it as quick as pos and to make sure we got the drops in the right place without poking her in the eye. BY day 5 I could put the drops in in the field without anyone holding her so my advice would be to persevere but try not to get her in a state when you are doing it. I'm not a fan of twitching but we did it as quickly as we could and after a few times she seemed to realise it was beneficial.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Hi T2R. Do you know how your mare got the ulcer? Had she had problems with conjunctivitis prior to this? My horse Sunny (ned in sig) developed a very nasty ulcer on his cornea (long, long story) and I had to learn a lot about it in a very short time. You have to be hugely careful putting drops or ointment into a horse's eye. One jerk from the horse at the wrong moment and the pointy end of the tube can cause an immense amount of damage to an already damaged cornea. It's easier with ointment: you just put a dollop of ointment on your clean finger tip and squish your nice blunt finger tip into ned's eye. It's harder with drops but can be done. You need to pinch the lower eyelid and pull it out so it makes a little pocket away from the eye. You drip the drops into the pocket. Sometimes with greedy neds a polo or 2 before and after can make them tolerate it more. But tbh, there are plenty of eye friendly ointments rather than drops - I still use Orbenin - that's not quite right but your vets would know what I mean. If it's still impossible to get the drops in, your vets can stitch a thin tube into the corner of the horse's eye and down the line of her mane. You then apply the drops to the far end of the tube, ie down by her withers and she will no longer be suspicious and impossible to treat.

Hope your ned makes a speedy recovery but if you need any more info please do PM me.

 

[talie2rose]

I think she has poked it with dead dock weed as i saw her rubbing her head in it and from then she has had this problem. The vet has given me atropine and antibiotic eye drops to be put in every 2 hours. The vet was explaining that the pupil has retracted from the damage so need to keep her stable as dark as poss to open it back up along with the atropine. She is living in 24/7 atm, and its now day 3. I am so run down with worry, the vet is coming out again today to discuss putting in the tubing on the eyelid for the eye drops to make it easier. She is being so good considering i have only had her 2 months, im lucky that she loves her food and shes gobbling the bute up in her feed and i can tease her to tilt her head to get drops in but other times she really puts up a fight. Im worried that if i dont treat it right that she could lose sight in that eye :-(

xxxx

 

[ticobay831]

I had this with my yearling, he was mouching in a hedge and got a hawthorn in his eye, it was very difficult trying to get the drops in, my vet suggested the tube thing but i didnt like the sound of it and didnt want to put him through it, so i persivered.
I had to stand on a bucket and rest his head on my shoulder gently pull down his eylid and drop the drops in, after a few goes he was very good and just stood there as long as he got a good scratch on his forehead afterwards

He had to stay in a good few weeks because of the light then we got him a gaurdian mask (as we were worried hed get a fly mask off) and he was allowed to go out.
He kept it on for about another month untill his pupils had gone back to normal and he was fine, never had any more problems at all, that was about 3 years ago.

Try not to worry im sure she will be fine, just take your time with the drops and try and stay calm, the gauardian mask is brilliant as well.
http://www.guardianmask.com/

good luck

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

T2R - she may have been rubbing her head in the dock leaves to try to relieve an existing problem. Putting the tube in won't bother your horse hun and would make it easier and safer for you to help her. It is a worry because eyes are difficult to heal as they don't have a blood supply. If you're in ANY doubt whatsoever, ask for a referral to a specialist horse hospital/clinic where they have a resident eye specialist. No disrespect at all but local vets rarely see the range of problems that the large clinics do.

Not sure where you're located but Sunny was treated at Bushy Equine Clinic near Dursley in Gloucester and they were superb.

 

[talie2rose]

hi a quick update, disney had the tube put in last night, vet said there wasnt any improvement to the eye and diagnosed uveitis. just been down this morning and there seems to be air in the tube i have tried to flush the antibiotics through but there doesnt seem to be anything goin in? goin to ring vet this morning and say i would like her to be referred, vet mentioned liphook which is about 2 hours away from me in dorset. I want her to have the best care, vet seems to be concerned as she has quite a bad infection in the eye, she showed me a yellow area which she said was pus. I have emailed a lady in cornwall about the guardian mask, where did you get yours from sonnysunshine and how much did you pay?

xxx
thanks for all your support

 

[CBAnglo]

You should ask Nats_UK for advice - her horse has had so many eye problems this year, including surgery for a luxated lens so she is well versed in treating ulcers!

 

[ticobay831]

I ordered it directly from the website it was about £60.00 i think, i know it sounds allot but it was well worth it, the eye parts are velcroed on so you can just leave the one eye covered, they are really good and he never got it off once unlike fly masks he always manages to get them off

I left the link on my reply if its not working let me know

good luck

 

[talie2rose]

Disney is now in horsey hospital at liphook. I have just got back and im shattered but atleast my girl is in good hands. I am absolutly going to get a guardian mask and keep it on 24/7 i dont want her to go through this again. I just hope i have caught it in time

Thank you for all your advice and ill keep u updated on her progress

xxx

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

She's in the right place hun. Uveitis isn't a good diagnosis but today's veterinary medicine plus the guardian mask, you're doing the best possible for her. My horse Sunny lost his eye after a 6-month battle to save it. A catalogue of preventable disasters: disinterest from his previous owners and a truly tragic incident when the yard staff where he was on full livery stabbed him in his bad eye with the end of one of the tubes of ointment that was supposed to be helping him. And they didn't tell me it had happened. I had to learn an awful lot about eyes in a very short time. If I can help in any way, do let me know. In the meantime, got everything crossed for your D x

 

[ticobay831]

Hope all goes well for you
big hug xx

 

[Black_Horse_White]

Just a thought but are you in touch with your girls previous owners? With you saying you have only had her for 2 months. As Uveitis is a reacurring illness maybe she has had attacks in the past. Hope your girl is home soon and feeling better.

 

[talie2rose]

black_horse_white vet said this uveitis was caused by a recent trauma and they are no signs of scaring on the eye from previous damage.

waiting for a call from vet today but yesterday they said they are still very concerned about the large ulcer as its not improving. vet is preparing me for worse i think

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

T2R - if the worst does come to the worst and you need to know what's involved re surgery, post-op care etc etc, PM me. To put your mind at rest, my horse Sunny was literally jumping for joy a few days after the surgery to remove his eye. I think he was so amazed NOT to have the terrible 24/7 pain in the eye. His first gentle 10 mins turned out in the outdoor school, he thundered round the school bucking and farting, loose schooled himself over the jumps twice and generally told the world what a happy boy he was. We are now doing easy-peasy dressage competitions with him and he is the safest hack imagineable. He can do a bit of anything and having only one eye hassn't stopped him doing anything. My farrier knows loads of one-eyed neds. The lady who owned the riding school where I learnt to ride still had her one-eyed ex-eventer at the school. He'd been cheerfully eventing with one eye! The only down side is my biggest dread that if anything happened to Sunny's remaining eye he'd be in big trouble. Good luck hun - do let us know what happens xxx

 

[Black_Horse_White]

Thats good news then fingers crossed its a one off. Keep us informed and good luck.