Flushing the Nasolacrimal Duct

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 August 2002
Messages
4,035
Location
Beds/South Cambs
www.farandride.com
Our shetland pony is due to have his nasolacrimal duct flushed tomorrow and I just wondered if this procedure is generally straightforward? I noticed a while back that his eye was weeping constantly but couldn't see anything that would be irritating it. Vet found that the duct was very blocked and tried to clear it at the nose end but was struggling, so gave me some ointment to put in the pony's eye to try and help. Things seemed better but after stopping the course of treatment the eye is weeping again and so flushing is the next step.

I've never seen it done before and the vets said it can be quite "fiddly" so I just wondered what to expect really. I imagine it's fairly simple and performed under sedation, so the pony will be fairly back to normal after the sedation wears off? Ours live out 24/7 but I will have a stable prepared so they can perform the procedure in there and he can rest up a bit.

Many thanks.
 
With rabbits at least it's fairly straightforward just involving threading a little catheter into the duct opening and flushing it through with a syringe and once you've found the opening it's quite quick. It's fiddly in that it's a small hole so fairly hard to find and a bit of a pain to thread the catheter into especially if the lightings not good or the animals keeps moving. Once sedation wears off doubt pony will be fussed in the least.

Best of luck for tomorrow.
 
We had one of ours done this summer. It didn't take long once she was sedated and it cleared her weeping eyes immediately. I imagine it will be a bit more fiddly with a Shetland for the vet to get in the right position to get the tube in but I wouldn't worry about it as it is a pretty straightforward procedure and when he comes round from the sedation he'll be fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top