Eyes and Flies

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ace87

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Well the rhyming title had me giggling for a moment - (monday morning please excuse me!)

My cheeky chappy seems to have a big problem with his eyes in the summer months. I got him May last year and his eyes were a tad runny but as soon as it gets hot and theres flies they're horrid and swollen and his 3rd eyelid gets inflamed and his eyes stream puss and goo.

My first point of attack was a full face fly mask, which is okay but they still look dreadful but prevents the real pus setting in. Then I dowse him in fly spray/repel stuff. Again it helps but it doesn't get rid of the problem. Then I have to put a headcollar on him to turn him out otherwise he gets said mask off and his eyes get horrid.

Last year he got said masks off twice and I had the vet up to give him anti inflamatories and anti biotics both times. Eyes cleared up but were never just okay.

This year it's starting already so my plan of attack is thus - piriton. As of now - I NEED ADVICE ON DOSAGE - He is a 17hh french trotter. Also Global herbs flyfree supplement. Masked no matter what the weather is. And I have invested in some new masks so I have 5 now.

I also plan to keep him in on really hot days and put him out at night when its cooler/less flies. He is fine when he's in so long as it's cool in his stable.

Any advice is VERY welcome, I refuse to let this become a problem this summer, particularly as I want him out competing and just generally don't want him to be in any discomfort etc.

Vets advice was just "put a fly mask on him" useful eh?

Thanks in advance! (sorry i've not articulated this very well it is monday morning!!)
 
i would keep on with the fly mask and also carefully rub some sudocrem around his eyes.

wiping the eyes with a used teabag twice a day is also yery good although it sounds daft,but i have always found this to clear up yukky eyes.
 
Ace87 you're right to want to tackle this problem before it gets any worse. I'm horrified at your vets advice: eyes are very fragile and very precious. The cornea has no blood supply (obviously ha ha) so is very slow to heal and all sorts of problems, some minor, some not, can arise from a chronic condition that isn't successfully treated. Weepy eyes with an inflamed conjunctiva = conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis that is NOT controlled is a recognised precursor to an autoimmune condition called superficial keratitis. Superficial keratitis is what cost Sunny his eye after a ghastly 6 month battle to save it, 3 lengthy stays in hospital and £4k+ in vet bills.

Please, please note that anything you can buy over the counter or can concoct at home will only SOOTHE sore eyes. They won't clear up an infection. If your ned has regular weepy eyes it may be that he has borderline/poor tear production or dodgy tear ducts. Sounds as if there's some predisposition there to begin with. To clear up conjunctivitis you need special antibiotic drops/ointments. Sunny's remaining eye is still highly dodgy and my vets - after consultation with the eye specialist in Dursley, leave me with a 12 month supply of antibiotic cream that is greasy so is kind and soothing to eyes. This means that at the first sign of something starting, I can give Sunny 3 days of the cream and it's resolved before it has a chance to become life threatening. I would have thought your vets could offer the same, a couple of tubes of whatever they recommend for eyes. A word of warning - Sunny finally lost the battle to save his eye when the yard staff stabbed him right in the cornea of his bad eye with the tube of ointment that was supposed to be treating it. When you have to put anything in a horse's eye it is safer to apply it to the end of a clean finger and squish that into the eye instead. Blunt finger ends can't puncture an eyeball if the horse jerks, as eventually they will. You can also buy a no-prisoners face mask from America which completely protects the eyes from everything from flies to wind to sunlight and probably nuclear fallout too lol. Can't remember the name but someone on the Forum will know it.

If it was me and you struggle to keep your ned's eyes free from infection during the summer, I'd ask for a referral to a horse eye specialist to get to the bottom of it before it gets worse. After the epic battle to save Sunny's eye, I'm paranoid about eyes. PM me if you need more info xxx
 
I have a similar problem, with my old shettie, who it is thought has blocked tear ducts. The way I keep on top of them is by bathing them EVERY day. I have spent a fortune on chloramphenicol drops in the past, but have found that ointment is so much more effective - I rarely need it with the daily bathing, though. You can buy ointment online, which I do following vet's advice. Eye masks are just not acceptable according to my shettie. He's caused more damage to himself getting the things off than the infection has!! He's been checked for corneal ulceration and all that jazz and the diagnosis was simply that due to his age, his tear ducts don't function well enough to clear any debris. Certainly when I wipe around his eyes, he's a dirty little sod!
 
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