Recurrent Equine Uveitus - tell me all

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CazD

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My mare has just been diagnosed with recurrent equine uveitis. The vet says she has a cataract developing in the affected eye and has only limited vision in that eye. She is 5 years old and I have owned her for 18 months. The runny eye she had this week is the first symptom she has had in the 18 months I've owned her but I feel really guilty about her - is this something I should have picked up before? Please advise me and tell me everything you know.
 
I can only comment as a person who has uveitis...I have had it for 7 years now.
Below I have looked on web for info and there are quite a few sites about it...example below. It can look rather gruesome and it is a serious condition.
In human cases it can be from various siutations ie. virus infection, injury to the eye...mine is my immune system attacks my eye for some reason (no-one knows why this happens).
I first had an attack where my eye looked like it had an infection..so i thought drops would be sufficient...before I knew it I was in an eye hospital and being talked through this condition which is incurable...bit of a shock! It can go in remission...so you dont have an attack for years...or can be 'active' pretty much all the time.
It is basically inflammation of the eye - inside of the eyeball. It can cause reaction to light (it hurts to look at light/daylight), eye goes red and can swell up.
Steroids are the main medication (anti-inflammatory)- and I believe this is the case for horses - in eye drop form and eye drops of atropine (which dilate the pupil are used - as the pupil can get stuck - mine doesnt work properly and is misshapen now).
It can end in the eye being removed as it is very painful...which I believe most horses cope with very well...tho of course it is a real shame if it comes to this.
I am on many drugs for it now as mine is aggressive...steroids, ones stop my immune system working, change my bone marrow - but this is human treatment.
I would strongly recommend an equine eye specialist to see your horse...it is a condition which can be managed but it is best to have a specialist involved.
Being a sufferer myself..I am sorry your horsey has developed it...it can be helped but you need to be aware of all angles... it may be worthwhile contacting an equine hospital to see what information they can provide you with.

http://www.yourhorse.co.uk/nav?page=your...esource=1667947
 
Brill info from Sparrow. My horse - after YEARS of bog standard conjunctivitis that his previous owners didn't bother to deal with - suddenly developed an autoimmune disease called superficial keratitis and a linked uveitis. The horsemask option is worth investigating coz if you believe what they say, it might control your horse's eye condition. Be aware they are an American site though and they are not veterinary surgeons so don't expect miracles. Atropine is indeed to try to keep the eye wide open and stop adhesions forming inside the eye which can prevent the iris from working properly, or at all. The condition can get very painful. When my horse was on one of his 3 lengthy stays in hospital there was another horse in for a similar condition and he had to have a GA just to look at the eye. My boy was so good despite a desperate battle to save his eye but he had to have it removed after 6 months of exhaustive and invasive treatment. Be aware that putting a horse on steriods (a valid treatment for any mammal other than a horse!) can bring its own problems as it will increase the appetite and can bring on an attack of laminitis. Also, be aware that if your horse has developed uveitis (moonblindness) without any other primary cause then my understanding is that it CAN (though not always) affect the other eye too. On the plus side, 1 hour after my veteran came round from the GA to have his eye removed, the vets tell me he was immediately a happier boy as he was out of pain. I was grazing him in hand the very next day and he came home with self-dissolving stitches after about 5 days. After a few half-funny, half-sad incidents where he thought that if he couldn't see anything out of his blind side, therefore there was nothing there, he has adapted brilliantly and is the safest horse on the yard. You do have to think ahead for them though. Like Sparrow, I would recommend immediate and urgent referral to the best horse eye hospital you can find. I don't know where you are in the UK but my horse travelled from S Wales to Bushy Equine Vets in Dursley in Gloucester and they are totally brilliant. PM me if I can give you any more info. Got everything crossed for you x
 
Our event mare (daughters pony) has a wierd form of uveitis. For the last 3 years it has been triggered by the same factors that trigger coldsores in humans.

The opthalmologist says she probably had a herpes virus as a foal and it is lodged at the back of the eye, like in humans it lodges in the nerve cells leading to the lips.

We manage it successfully (so far).

She wears a mask when turned out, she has a grid on her stable door so she can't put her head out.

She goes on to night turnout in the summer.
We use an aerborn riding fly mask on her bridle and try not to exercise her in certain weather conditions.

Despite all this she has a successful event career, competing at BE Novice. She has no problems with her sight.

Sometimes she gets it in 1 eye, sometimes the other.

As soon as there is any inflammation I use maxitrol (steroid) drops, 2 doses 4 hours apart is often enough to see it off. I also give her a bute for the pain if she is not due to compete.

The form she has is not heridatary (she is 14) and if she deterioates to the point where she can no longer compete I will breed from her.

MSM is a good natural antiinflammatory and can also help.
 
Yes..with steroids I have to watch my weight too!!!
It really is not widely known about in the human or horse world...but an eye specialist is a must...
 
Oh gosh, my friends horse had this years ago. As it was a few years ago, i'll write what i can remember, but he was PTS in the end.

MB was a beautiful bay WB gelding. Think he was about 17hh- he was a big lad. My friend had hoped to do dressage on him.
I think the first thing that my friend realised was wrong with him was when he galloped upto her, after she'd shouted for him, and he nearly knocked her down, as he hadn't seen her.
She got the vet to check him and he diagnosed REU.
Unfortunately, on further investigation, it was found that he was completely blind in one eye, and had limited vision in the other- as he was such a big lad, he was PTS.
 
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