Eye Ulcer

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DougalJ

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Posting on here too as more viewing than Vetinary. I am posting on here for a friend who has her horse at out yard with a horrible eye ulcer. Both eyes have been weeping for a few weeks now and the first vet visit prescribed an anti-biotic eye cream which has been all used now for a week. Yesterday I noticed that the eye was not improving and then this morning the poor horse looked like he had been in the ring with Mike Tyson.... Big swelling around one eye.
Vet out again this afternoon as diagnosed an eye ulcer. He is making up a solution to put into the eye which now waiting for. Just seeing if anyone has had any experience with an eye ulcer with their horse and the outcome. I've looked up that this can clear or can be very serious too!
 
Quite a few years back my son's pony had one, vet gave antibiotic ointment and she had to be kept inside for a good few weeks during the day with a fly mask on to keep the sunlight out of the eye, she was allowed out overnight though but had to be in before dawn. Did end up having couple of visits from the vet but it cleared eventually with no recurring problems.
 
I've had a horse with a eye ulcer and it took months to heal. He was on 4 months boxrest with no sunlight as the light can damage the ulcer.
To start with he was given an antibiotic drop and EDTA as the horse was a nightmare to get bloods from. This went on for a week and eye went downhill. So we had to fight to get blood so we could use his own plasma in the eye along with the drops. The plasma went in the eye every 2 hrs for around 2 weeks and eye still wasnt improving. So they went and contacted a speciallist. He said no need for hospital as horse was cooperating with eye drops but thought trying a contact lense might work. So lense went in but it drew the eye to abcess so lense came out. After the eye abcessed it repeated for another 3 times. turns out the eye was abcessing due to the eye healing but sealing inflammation behind and it came out due to abscess. So after 3 and half months we were comtemplating pts and also would he cope with eye removal due to having bad sight in other eye. But eye abscessed one final time and this time he had a little sight and it eventually healed. But he was blind behind in that eye. Just over a year later he was pts for another reason.
Sorry for the long story and it might not make sense but hope its of some help. There are some pics of the ulcer on this site. But can post more if you are interested in seeing them.

What are you waiting on from the vet? Hope it heals quickly for your friend.
 
My mare had an ulcer in her eye last year. It wasn't so much swollen, just very very watery. I took her in to the vets and it was diagnosed as an ulcer. The vet said it was very shallow and was confident it would clear up with the right treatment. I had to put drops in for a week or so (not easy to start with!) but it cleared up no problem and there has been no problem since. I was really worried at the start - she's spooky enough with two eyes but hard to imgine she'd be rideable if she lost an eye but in this case, the outcome was a good one.
 
Thanks for all the answers. I help look after my friends horse in the week,so I noticed yesterday after applying yet more anti biotic cream that he looked more weepy but not swollen. He was fine when we turned him out last night and then this morning we were all shocked to see him with this golf ball eye! The vet has taken bloods and making up a serum with this that we have to squirt in this eye...this is the best bit "hourly for the next 48 hours" if you can! I will get the update tomorrow morning.... I've come across most ailments in horses over the years, but never an eye ulcer so any advice is great, big thanks!
 
DougalJ said:
The vet has taken bloods and making up a serum with this that we have to squirt in this eye...this is the best bit "hourly for the next 48 hours" if you can! I will get the update tomorrow morning.... I've come across most ailments in horses over the years, but never an eye ulcer so any advice is great, big thanks!
Click to expand...

Oh you guys will have fun with the hourly bit. Mine was every 2 hrs for 2weeks. So least its only 48hrs. the serum is good stuff for the eye as its full of the horses own antibodies which help fight it and should make the eye heal quicker. Hence why you apply it so often.
It may be worthwhile to take pics of the eye everyday so you can keep a track of it and send them on to the vet. Sometimes saves the call out for vet just to check the eye. I was left to pay a £2500 vet bill for ulcer.
And if you guys are worried at all over the weekend call the vet out or phone for advice.
 
My old horse had an eye ulcer about three years ago, he ended up going into the vets for around 2 weeks so that they could do the antibiotics 2 hourly and also had a contact lens fitted to help with the healing. All worked fine and no problem after.
 
Big thanks for all the advice! Flick is doing much better this morning with the regular treatment he has been given and then continue hourly today and tomorrow. The swelling has gone down so much which was a relief to see this morning.
Another ailment to add to the list of experiences with what having horses brings you. We will be keeping a watchful eye (excuse the pun) on his eyes now as we know he is prone to this.
 
One of my stallions had an eye ulcer about two years ago. I bathed it a few times a day with warm, salty water and then dabbed the surrounding area dry before applying some Golden Eye Ointment. It was completely gone in 3-4 days.
 
This is what happened to my angel when she got her lycra hood stuck in her eye. (seperate post) Her eye looked a lot better after just a couple of days and almost normal 2 weeks on, she is jumping ok but tilting her head as she only has partial vision. Sadly due to how she got the injury it doesn't look like she will regain full sight. The ulcer cleared up well though, maybe soem more cream?
 
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