Uveitis

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clairelouisehorses

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I have been given the opportunity to buy a pony that my daughter has been riding who is a fantastic lead rein pony and great to handle and is just what we are looking for but he has bouts of uveitis a couple of times a year, this pony is worth about £1200 but I can buy him for £100. I have spoke to my vet about uvetits in general so know what I would be letting myself in for but has anyone brought or got a pony with uveitis and what's your view on it
 
My old lad had uveitis, he only had it three times, at least once it came on after a blow to the head, but it did get worse with each bout, the last time the vet was talking about removing the eye, this didn't happen, but if the pony is having attacts twice a year I would think very carefully before going ahead, he will not be covered by insurance and it could get very expensive.
 
It was a horse I bought with signs of damage to one eye from Uvetis because it suited my OH he was a lovely mature fellow during the first winter we had him the Uvetis flared up it was a nightmare of putting three different types of drops which the horse hated as it was extremely painfull at one point we where putting them in several times a day and getting up in the night to the poor boy could not stand the sight of us.
We it over the first attack he had two more it cost a fortune drops had to get made up at a London eye hospital as he needed stronger ones .
He had two more attacks we discovered that you could not turn him out even in a mild breeze as this seemed to trigger it.
One day he was grazing in the paddock I needed to pop to the local town it was a completly still day the horse did not want to come in so I left him got Into town had been to about two shops when I noticed a breeze had started rushed home to late another attack horse in terrible distress it started on a Friday by the mondaynthe horse was becoming vicious as he was in terrible discomfrot and the vet said we will have to remove the eye and given that I had been told that there was a high likely hood that the other eye would suffer too at some point and they quoted £1850 to remove the eye I called it a day and PTS.
I am sorry this is a negative story and I must tell you that a good friends horse had an Attack at six and was PTS in her twenties without ever suffering again this was why I chanced getting the horse but would never do so again .
 
You can get masks by a company called guardian mask, that block out 95% of uv rays.

I was very lucky (touch wood!) my mare had an attack, and I was ultra careful for 6 months afterwards, and then she was ok.

What is the severity of the uveitis, has the pony lost any sight? And how bad are the attacks?

When they happen you need to keep them in a darkened stable - are you ok with this, should an attack flare up?
 
For £100 you will potentially be buying a very large vet bill.

My old horse had uveitis. It was very distressing for him and me. Eventually he had to be PTS.

There are so many healthy ponies out there, I really wouldn't buy one with such a serious health issue.

I certainly wouldn't be trying to flog a pony with one either :mad:
 
I have no experience of equine uveitis BUT I do have a friend who gets it. Stress seems to be a trigger for him. It is incredibly painful to the point that he gets beside himself. I certainly wouldn't want a pony with it.
 
I had the guardian mask sadly he still had flare ups wearing it 24/7. You have to be vigilant at all times. The longest my horse went between flare ups was 12 weeks, but mostly it was only 6. He was left with a cataract which is secondary to Uveitis. Sadly I lost him to something else.
 
Id not recommend it tbh

Read my recent threads, we are going through a nightmare with my daughters pony right now. She's unable to do what she wants, its costing me a small fortune. He's becoming unsafe to ride as his sight decreased (even though when we took him on we were told he had completely no sight in that eye)
 
My friends sec d had it, eventually had his eye out after less than a year and massive vet bills inc a stay at liverpool hospital.sorry but would advise against.it will only get worse for pony :(
 
Personally, I wouldn't. The pony may only be £100 but you could easily spend the £1200 that he's 'worth' in vets bills before the end of the year.
A friend of mine's horse has had it for several years, sometimes he has really bad flare ups if she doesn't catch it in time. He's 22 now and, over the years, the her vets bills would have paid for a fancy horsebox. Looking back, if she had taken the plunge and had his eye out when he was in his teen it would have saved thousands of pounds of cash, and lots of discomfort for her horse.
We had a lady on our yard, briefly, who'd bought her beautiful sec D for a pittance from a well known Irish dealer in Dartford (no need to mention names). For once, from that dealer, he had the correct passport and she traced the previous owner. Turns out the horse had been a prolific show winner as a colt, then a stallion until uveitis struck. He was gelded, then gifted to somebody who sold him through a low end sale ring for meat money, breeders weren't impressed. Anyway, after speaking to several vets, she bypassed fancy treatments and just had his eye removed, cost just over £1000. Within a month, he was back being a lovely hacking horse. She moved to another yard and the horse is now jumping just as well as a fully sighted horse.
For me, it wouldn't just be the cost of vets bills, it would also be the thought of the animal suffering if I missed the signs or just couldn't stop the flare ups. If a horse I already had developed it, I'd go for eye removal if the horse had more than a few flare ups.
 
No matter what a (seeming) bargain, I would never, ever touch or advise anyone to buy a horse with uveitis.
It's a horrible thing :(
I've no doubt that the reason they are selling it so cheaply is to save themselves from crippling vet bills.
Let's not forget that as a Pre-existing condition the eyes will be excluded from all insurance policies.....so all treatment will come from your pocket.
Sorry probably not what you want to hear but please don't buy it :(
 
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