How are you meant to get eyedrops in a horse??

Kokopelli

Kokopelli

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As title really can't get them in his eyes. So frustrating, have tried feeding him, have tried twitching (don't want an argument on this) and he's not having it.

Vet said if we can't get drops in by Monday and there is still no improvement he'll need sedating and an injection in his eyelid which I don't want to do as will cost too much.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated. :)
 
Me and my friend had to tag team doing her horse, she had the drops holding his nose on one side, i was on the other hanging on the other side with some very yummy treats to distract him, it took a while and some swinging about but i would enlist a friend to help :D we managed in the end with a very figety 4 yo! Good luck :)
 
Use your fingertip. Make sure your nail on that finger is trimmed short. Put the drops on your finger, take your hand under his jaw and up the side as if cuddling him, then gently rub your fingertip on the inside of his eyelid. If needs be, twitch him and go at it from the front.
 
I was doing it tonight with bf and we got some in just but took 30mins!

Finger sounds good as then I'll be less worried about poking him in the eye with the drops, will make sure my hand is super clean first though :)
 
Throwing head up springs to mind as the common problem. You have to be so fast try to get someone to put arm over nose if you cant do it yourself to keep head straight and squirt fast..dont dither).. If drops are too haphazard I would apply ointment type(if available chloramphenicol are) and stick it on a bit of gauze and wipe over and smear it into eye(easier said than done).
Injection in eye seems rather drastic! ?!
 
Try this - recommended by my vet in similar situation. Make a tisane with dried white camomile flowers, let it cool and then soak cotton wool in the tisane. Wipe the eye with this, it doesn't matter if you don't put it actually IN the eye, it will soak thru the eyelid. You can slosh about around the eye as much as possible, and cos you're not trying to get in the eye, they seem to object much less. Even if you succeed over the weekend in getting the drops in, using the camomile tisane won't hurt. It works every time with my 17.2hh Trakehner, and as I'm only 5'1", it's a boon.
 
Why are you giving him eye drops has he got conjuntivitis?

My pony was so difficult to get the eyedrops in even vet and me combined found it very difficult. So as most horse eye drops are twice a day for a week or 10 days the vet got some sheep eye drops (not liscensed for horses) as they apparently clear up eye infections in sheep after only one or two doses. The sheep eye drops cleared up the eye infection in my pony with just one dose thankfully as he it would probably get harder to put them in the more times we did it as he would know what was about to happen!

Maybe ask the vet if you could try the sheep ones if the vet is flexible and does not mind using non liscenced for horses things.
 
I stand at the head facing forwards same as the horse, put an arm under jaw and up over nose to keep still, other hand slides up face and over eye putting thumb and finger alongside lashes, then with a gentle pressure down move thumb and finger apart to open eyelids, someone else who is ready with the bottle near the eye quickly squirts drops in.
 
For opticlox (sp?) I always put on finger now or tissue as the tip of the tube scares the bejesus out of me should horses head move. Never let them see tube and try to keep it away so they can't smell it, pop a treat under their nose and get it in their eye while distracted.
I never do it alone either, don't need to e distracted with holding the horse at the same time.
 
If its conjunctivitis then I recommend vetericyn, as this was in a lovely spray bottle so you just sneak up hold it there and spray in the eye before the horse twigs what you are up to

This nailed conjunctivitis in less than 2 days

However otherwise I use latex gloves, put the cream on the tip of your finger and try to flip up the lid / hold it open and squish cream in

Never use a hard tipped cream on an objecting horse, as you can stab them in the eye really easily
 
With great difficulty! But I have found with my 16h boy that the more I try to restrain him, the more he will resist and fight.
I've had to dose him with meds for the last two years with a syringe and if I even put a headcollar on him, he sticks his nose in the air.
Try to keep your head down and try to relax and breathe. Try to gently get the drops in quietly and without fuss or force and you might find the horse will be more likely to co-operate.
The horse will panic if you try to hold the head down.
All I can say is good luck;)
 
Oh I had a right palarver trying to do this too, blob on finger into corner of eye whilst distracted with food if possible, and lots of attempts, sigh! I also put a fly mask on to avoid any dust or anything interfering.
 
The answer to this query is very very carefully. My veteran lost the battle to save his eye through being stabbed in his bad eye with the tube of ointment meant to be saving him. Almost all eye ointment tubes come with very sharp pointy ends. God knows why! A sudden jerk from the horse at exactly the wrong moment is all it takes. As posted above, with thicker, creamy ointments, wash your finger until it is completely clean, don't use the gel stuff they use in hospitals that you just rub into your hands. Wash and rinse thoroughly. Squeeze the ointment onto the tip of your finger and squish the finger gently into the eye. Blunt fingertips don't tear the cornea. With runny drops this isn't possible so here's what you do. Put the headcollar on the horse for control. Wash your hands. Grasp the lower eyelid and pull it out into a little pouch, away from the cornea. Holding the drops tube PARALLEL (NOT 90 degrees) to the eye, drip a few drops into the little pouch and let the pouch go. You may need 2 people to do this. If you absolutely can't do it, the horse may need a fine tube stitched from above his eyelid, down his mane to his withers. You squirt the ointment/drops in at the withers end and it goes straight into the eye without the horse knowing it was you doing it! But it may need to be stabled while it has the lavage system in. The yard staff stabbed my veteran in the eye with his Optimmune ointment and then didn't tell me about it. The specialist showed me the damage with her maginifying thingy. A massive lightning bolt jagged tear right across the cornea. In the space of 1 week, we lost all the ground we'd made and after a further 6 week battle and another lengthy hospital stay, the eye had to be removed. Take great, great care when applying ointment or drops to a horse's eye x
 
It's not conjunctivitis vet thinks he's been in a hedge or something similar. If there was no improvement by Monday he would come and sedate anyway to have a closer look.

Thanks for all the tips everyone, about to go up for attempt 2 soon. Also can't remember the name of the drops (they're antibacterial) but its a course of 3 days so may alread
 
I've spend ages cunningly and lightly massaging around the eyelid until I was able to put ointment in approx. the right place - from a clean finger only, as others have said.
 
This made me laugh as I just drop them into the corner of my horse'e eye with no drama. He just stands there and blinks helpfully for me. Sorry, but it's true! Still he does trash his water buckets on a weekly basis so not all perfect...
 
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