Uveitis flare uo - what do you do whilst waiting for the vet

Gropony

Gropony

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My pony has what I am 99.9% sure is a flare up his uveitis (waiting for the vet). Red capillaries round eye which is swollen half shut, pupil fixed ans small.

I am waiting for the vet to call back. Pony is not the sort to complain, eating as usual, behaving as normal. But his eye is obviously very sore. It is very hard to do any treatment, but I did manage to vaguely clean it out and with a lot of patience I would be able to get drops or ointment in. But for a real look at it he needs to be sedated. He is now in an inside stable with his mask on.

I have Atropine. Aside from cleaning it, would you do anything whilst waiting for the vet to call back? I don't really want to put the Atropine without the vet's advice but I know it is important to open the pupil and relax the eye to avoid damage.
 
The vet is finally on the way (the absolute earliest I could get anyone). His eye has gone down a lot and the pupil is opening.

For anyone who has dealt with this, what questions do you.wish you had asked in the beginning or what information do you wish you had been given?
 
Gropony said:
The vet is finally on the way (the absolute earliest I could get anyone). His eye has gone down a lot and the pupil is opening.

For anyone who has dealt with this, what questions do you.wish you had asked in the beginning or what information do you wish you had been given?
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How is the other eye? Ever had uveitis in it?
 
Thank you. I will talk about this option. I find that they are reluctant to consider it as long as the horse can see.
 
Gropony said:
The vet is finally on the way (the absolute earliest I could get anyone). His eye has gone down a lot and the pupil is opening.

For anyone who has dealt with this, what questions do you.wish you had asked in the beginning or what information do you wish you had been given?
Click to expand...
Are you in the UK?
 
My horse I owned years back had it in one eye. He then suddenly developed what looked like an ulcer in the other eye. Whilst waiting a few hours for the vet I used an ice pack, wrapped in a t towel, and kept him in his stable, out of daylight. I didn’t have any Bute available to give him. He ended up having his other eye removed and coped really well. I had an ulcer on my eye once and it was so painful and unbearable to be out in daylight.
 
Spoke through options with the vet. As his eye has practically no damage and he responds to treatment within maximum 48 hours, they recommend just treating the episodes for the moment. They suggested that when this no longer worked, I should have him tested for leptospirosis and if positive he could be given gentamicin. We talked about the implant option and eye removal but she didn't think it was at this stage given that the basic treatment works well.

He has been his usual self, eating, enjoying himself, so for now I will continue and see how long it is until the next flare up and make a decision then.
 
I am not sure if it is how you have written it but if vet says get tested for lepto do that now rather then wait. Treatment for lepto should be straight forward though my experience with it is with cows not horses. With cows it affected their fertility and milk yield I don't remember having eye troubles with it. But once we knew we had it in the herd we vaccinated against it.
Good luck with your pony.
 
Thank you. I was slightly confused but as I understood (in French!) she was suggesting it could be a previous infection and he was a carrier. He would need to go to the clinic and have the fluid in the eye tested, so I think that this was why she suggested waiting to see. He doesn't travel well and would be very stressed by this change of location.
 
Have you got a really good UV mask? I found using one almost all the time really helped minimise flare ups.
It’s not just sun but they protect from wind and glare from water or snow etc.
 
I have a Guardian mask that he wears all the time and he is in at the moment (with turnout) in an inside stable.

The vet was surprised at how quickly the flare ups l come and then go. It was literally 24 hours each time from nothing to eye closed. And 48 hours after starting treatment that everything looks normal with no visible damage to the eye. The pupil opens with 12 hours of atropine normally. She thought it was probably an allergy driven reaction. But I can't see any obvious trigger.
 
Just a quick update. The eye has been back to normal for a couple of weeks, no visible damage. I got the blood test results back that show slight anaemia. I am now waiting for the test results for Piro-Like diseases. Maybe there will be some answers.

Pony is well in himself and has all the joys of Spring, especially when a pretty lady is in sight. Then we forget we are part Haflinger and become 100% Arab 😊.
 
All the piro like tests came back negative so no answers there. Not sure what the next step is, will talk to the vet next week.
 
As a human that suffers from uveitis, I can’t tell you the light intolerance is the worst thing. Anything other than being in a dark room with sunglasses on is painful. So I’d go with the best mask possible in a dark, inside stable during a flare.
 
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