Poorly Eye

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Bugly

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Last October my 18 year old horse developed a slightly weepy sore eye. He was not happy to have the lid full open (3/4 open max) and there was a slightly milky appearance of the eye. I kept close watch for a week and bathed with cold tea, after 2 weeks it had calmed down. By then, the sun had also gone as we were no into November and he was no longer wearing his fly mask. During the winter months (6 months) he has had absolutely no problem with the eye.....until...........

a week ago it's started again, he has a tiny pale grey blob about 2mm in diameter on the surface of the eye and again the eye has a slight milky film and is sore. the weeping is very slight, a bit more than the average eye but not reason to panic. There is no other discharge.

He started wearing his fly mask all the time 3 weeks ago, I wonder if it's either something to do with that or UV as the sunlight has increased again. I've bought him a new mask that's larger just in case the old one was pressing on the eye.

Has anyone got any bright ideas before I call my vet?
 
Definitely need to get the vet out...eyes are far too delicate to leave to get better on their own.
What started as a slight infection could lead to much worse...even a slight infection will need medication anyway.
If he is reacting to UV then the problem is at the back of his eye - retina...which will not be able to improve with just time.
 
The little grey blob could be a small corneal ulcer, either bacterial or fungal. I would definitely get the vet to look at it as it might get worse left unchecked, and the flies will soon be here for summer.
 
Bugly - as others have said, vet right away. Sadly, I have a huge amount of experience with weepy eyes. My 22 yr old veteran had a history of chronic conjunctivitis for years with his previous owners (a riding school - don't get me started!) and I'd owned him THREE WEEKS when something happened in his stable (will never know) and one of his normal weepy eyes flipped over into something MUCH nastier. I'd had the vet out to look at his eyes as we all know that an untreated CHRONIC condition can turn into something much nastier. Anyway, an ulcer developed on the cornea, milky little patch in the middle that wouldn't clear and an immediate referral to a specialist centre or he would have been in big trouble very, very fast. We sort of stabilised it and ned came home but with an assortment of creams and ointments to go in his eye but horror of horrors, the yard staff managed to stab him in his bad eye with the sharp point of the ointment tube. Eye took a turn for the worse and to cut along story short he had to have the eye removed after a 6-month battle. Moral of this story? (1) cold tea may soothe tired eyes but it can NEVER clear an infection (2) act fast on ANY eye problems and don't let them get chronic because irreversible changes start to happen within the eye itself (3) NEVER put ointment or drops into a horse's eye without very, very careful planning coz one jerk from the horse and you've badly damaged his eye. The clean end of your finger is much, much safer. Your ned may have a cataract or uveitis or keratitis. None of these is good. Sensitivity to light is indicative of an urgent problem. Get the vet out immediately and don't be afraid to press for referral to a specialist centre. If I sound paranoid, it's because I've experienced the tragedy of a horse losing an eye at first hand. My boy doesn't have any spares now. x
 
Here is an update;

thanks to your fantastic responses I called the vet and he was able to come this afternoon. He diagnosed an ulcer. He popped a dyed swab in which turned the eye green and the ulcer was clearly visible. he then gave him a shot of antibiotics and I have to put a green antiseptic gel in his eye three times a day for a week.

I'm so pleased it's not UVitis as I knew a horse who went blind because of it.

I've just checked Henry and given him another treatment and just even three hours after it looks alot less sore for him and he's happier. I'll be keeping a very close watch however (couldn't say i'll keep an 'eye' on it!).
 
Bugly - that's great news. How are you putting the gel in ned's eye? If it's a tube with a pointy end be very, very, very careful. It is MUCH safer to wash your hands thoroughly and then apply the gel to your finger tip (assuming you don't have huge long fingernails!) and then gently squish the tip of your squashy finger into ned's eye. I know. I've been there! Good luck and let us know how ned does. PS - does vet have any ideas as to what caused the ulcer in the first place??? x
 
I've been blobbing it on the top corner and pushing it down with my finger. No, the vet wasn't sure. I wonder if it was the fly mask though?

i deffo dont have big long finger nails!!!! they are cropped to perfection due to the amount of dirt off the yard usually lurking under them!
 
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