Swollen, watery and a bit gunky eyes

T

tye_bo

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 April 2007
Messages
742
Visit site
My mare's eyes (well one eye) started last week being watery and swollen and getting a bit of gunk in them and when it started a pink from her eye was showing. My friend who rides/looks after her has been bathing it with cooled boiled water and has put a fly mask on since then the pink isn't showing but the other eye is now watering. We've tried putting fuc...something cream it in but doens't seem to help much. I don't know what's causing it but would hazard the flies as they do seem particually bad at the moment.

I know eyes are serious but I don't want to panic and call the vet if there is something I can do myself first.

Any ideas?
 
Ellie's eyes do this, she has hay fever and wearing a fly mask definately helps. Getting one on her is another matter however!

Her eyes still water with the fly mask on but they aren't puffy and swollen. I'm sure others will come along soon and comment but I'm pretty sure its and allergy - keep the fly mask on and it shouldn't get too bad.
 
MoM gets this a bit at the moment. She is prone to gunky eyes and we use eyedrops called Tobrex that we get from the chemist. (I think it will be called something different in UK but active ingredient is tobramycin). It was recommended by our vet and works wonders if you can apply it once a day for five days.

ETA Having looked it up it seems to be for bacterial eye infections, I don't think it would do any harm if it's not an eye infection, but it might be worth a try anyway.
 
Thank you guys! It's the first time I've ever seen her have it, saying that my hayfever has reared its head this year and I thought I'd outgrown that so maybe the pollen is particularly bad. I suppose its the time of year where the farmers are out doing stuff and although we were on this yard last year, we have changed fields.

She doesn't mind the fly mask on (although got it off yesterday apparantly!) so will keep that on. Some drops would be cool that I can buy over the counter.
 
Friends mare has just had exactly the same thing and she tried to self treat it but ended up getting the vet out and it turned out to be conjunctivitis (sp?).
 
I think it's Fuciderm cream you are talking about. My lad gets bad eyes with the flies. Definitely use a fly mask and I also bathe them with used cold tea bags and they seem to help.
 
If you think its conjunctivitis go to Boots and ask for antibiotic eyedrops, you can buy them over the counter, they're the same as the vet perscribes just hell of alot cheaper! It cleared our 2 up with no probs.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If you think its conjunctivitis go to Boots and ask for antibiotic eyedrops, you can buy them over the counter, they're the same as the vet perscribes just hell of alot cheaper! It cleared our 2 up with no probs.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what tobramycin is, an antibiotic for bacterial infections (conjunctivitis) in humans. We're big on using human remedies on horses (as sanctioned by vet) over here. Quite often we get a prescription from him to go and buy meds at the chemist as it's much cheaper.

Fuciderm, if it was that, is not what you need at all, it's for skin conditions, not eyes.
 
Ellie suffers with this something chronic - it's the flies that cause it mainly I think. The best remedy I have found it cold weak tea - sponge it on gently with cotton wool, it makes such a difference and is really soothing
smile.gif
 
One of ours has been suffering, on and off with this.

A few weeks back her eye was the size of a small country!

We just bathed it, twice a day with cold tea and it was sorted within a couple of days.

It is still a little bit watery now and then but cold tea and fly mask has kept it under control.

No idea what has caused it. Never experienced it before.
Pillow
 
Had vet out to similar condition yesterday, 3 days of self treating hadn't cleared it.

He gave her an anti-inflam to bring down the swelling and some Maxitol drops to apply.

It's done the trick, her eye is much better today.
 
I'll second the cold tea method for bathing, I think its called tannin thats in the tea mixture that helps sooth, until you get chance to go to chemist
 
Weve had a gunky eye,swollen ,running ,and it was foaming, never seen anything like it in my life 350 pouds later. DONT YOU JUST LOVE EMMMMM.xxxxxxx
 
we had this last yr with a sec a mare and this yr with a friends pony, thinking they were allergic to something in the field as tried most stuff and only moving fields worked, also friend last yr had this problem with an older pony his swelling was that bad he looked like he had tennis balls under his eyelids after the vet coming out time after time and being no closer to the cause they looked up the symptoms on internet it turned out he had cancer and was pts.
 
Mine had this last week. I didn't like to take any chances as it's eyes we're talking about, so got the vet to come and have a look. she checked for scratches to the eyeball (which can turn very serious) but it wasn't that so gave me some drops, 24 hours later he is cured. Think it was conjunctivitusy/allergy related.

I've been around the block a fair bit but I didn't want to take any chances putting stuff in his eyes I wasn't certain what's wrong. I'd err on the side of caution and get the vet to have a look if it isn't better overnight.
 
Saffy suffers with this sometimes. I could see the pink bit in her eye and it was quite watery. She had been wearing a fly mask when it started, so I assumed it wasn't flies. I think it may have been the dust an lack of fresh air getting to her eyes (she lives out to the mask was on 24/7). I took the mask off for a few days to see what would happen, and it seems to have cleared up. There are still flies around, but not quite as many, so although she's getting slightly watery eyes, they don't look sore anymore. I think I'll be saving the fly mask for really bad fly days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top