Uveitis - experiences please!

Hippophilia

Hippophilia

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My 26 yr old TB mare had a bout of conjunctivitis in the summer which seemed to clear up with antibiotic ointment from the vet. Over the last few months I have noticed a lot of tearing from the eye (clear, no pus and not thick) but there is no swelling or anything else wrong that I could see so I put it down to a possible blocked tear duct. Now she seems to be photosensitive and holds the eye shut when out, but there has been no change in her behaviour either under saddle or on the ground. The vet thinks it may be uveitis and is coming out to examine her on Monday.
Has anyone had this diagnosis and what was the outcome? Given her age is she likely to lose her sight?
 
I would get the vet out and give treatment if they diagnose uveitis. Prompt treatment is very important to reduce damage. If diagnosed the horse will need to wear a UV filter mask in light/sunlight as the iris going into spasm is very painful during an acute attack.

Sadly it is often recurrent and each bout causes more damage so it important to get prompt treatment and correct diagnosis.

One of my ponies has it and has three acute bouts in six years. The last one has left her eye ball somewhat smaller so looks a bit sunken. She is blind in that eye and I expect she may need it removing at some point in the future.
 
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You dont want to hear about my experiance of this horrible disease but I would not be waiting till Monday for the vet to come.
 
It is a horrible disease but there is some light at the end of it I feel. My horse has the recurrant type and is only 7 so has had an implant to try and help it. As mentioned above it is so important to get it treated straight away, my vet used to let me keep a eye torch and bottle of each eye drop at home so I could treat it straight away once I saw the pupil was small. I would then call them and arrange a visit. (He's on drops constantly at the moment due to the operation)

The implant my horse has only lasts 2-3 years and costs alot of money so paying for it myself may be out of the question, if it comes back eventually I will consider eye removal I have read lots of stories about this and feel even though it is life changing, horses learn to cope.
Good luck.
 
Given her age I wouldn't like to put her through surgery so if it comes to that I guess she will lose the eye. We had an almost totally blind horse at the yard who managed really well until the age of 25 when this long winter was too much for him and he was PTS. He had another gelding who acted as a seeing-eye horse and they would pootle about together, it was very touching. My girl is a cranky beast (always has been, TB mare with a very high opinion of herself ;)) though so I'm not sure any of her field mates would volunteer for the job!
Thanks for all your experiences, I am still hopeful it can be managed.
 
I'd also get the vet asap, if it is uveutis she'll need drops sooner rather than later.

Also get a guardian eye mask, these filter out 98% of the uv rays, I used one for about 3 months after an attack - and touch wood - it never came back.
 
So the vet visit went really well, she has a little bit of scarring on her pupil but there is no infection or damage to the eye and her vision is fine. The vet does not think it's uveitis, but says it's possible that it may develop so we are keeping a close eye (ha ha) on the situation. I've been given some anti-inflammatory and painkilling drops for her and she is turned out in a very robust fly mask.
Phew!
 
That's great news i shudder when I see threads about uveitis it's not something you want to learn about the hard way .
 
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