Uveitis

GinnieRedwings

GinnieRedwings

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This is my 3 year old homebred, a magnificent animal, the gift that keeps on giving the vet all my hard earned cash!!! 😡

EYE ISSUES - experiences and outcomes please. Anything at all that could keep me believing that the vet's diagnosis of Recurring Uveitis could be something else, that won't be requiring his eye to come out...



And now...

 
Gus had his first bout last Spring after he punctured his cornea with a thorn of some description. We treated aggressively, he recovered and the vet assured me there was no scarring at the back of the eye, and therefore there was a very good chance this was a one off.
Then he had another attack in October, no trauma this time, just the severe contraction of the pupil and very painful inflammation. Treated again, again looked great and successful.
Then this most recent bout, 4 weeks ago.
He has now had enough episodes for it to be classified as Recurrent Uveitis and my vet is adamant 100% of affected horses lose their sight, in a very painful way, within 5 years. Best option is to take the eye out before that happens.
Seeing a specialist ophthalmologist at Rossdales next week, but trying to get anecdotal evidence also.

Please and thank you :-)
 
Been through this once it was terrible the horses suffering in flare ups was terrible .
He could never be turned out and exercise was difficult .
We considered removing the eye but did not because of the cost ( I had sent thousands on treatment )and the odds of it occurring in the good eye where simply to high for me .
I am sorry you are dealing with this it's easily the worse thing I have been through with a horse .
 
I only have personal experience with one horse. He was quite old, and had flareups. It looked extremely painful.

The owner make the decision and pay for the eye out, as the flare ups had got bad enough that the horse's quality of life was compromised. She was scared about the other eye, but the bad eye was that bad.

The operation went well, and the horse sprung back to health, despite being in his late 20s. He is now retired, but that is not to do with his eye. He seems to cope well without that one. The other eye is still healthy as far as I know.
 
I have fortunately only experienced keratitis. My current lad suffers in his left eye. It gets swollen but no discharge. I put a fly mask on at night in the stable to stop any dust irritating it. Luckily that seems to work.
 
One of the ponies on my yard had an eye issue. Initially it was treated as conjunctivitis, then uveitis in the end he was hospitalized for almost 6 weeks after getting a diagnosis of eosinophilic keratitis.

He had some kind of operation, and has a nasty scar on his cornea, but as far as I know he is now fine, and is treated just like any other pony without the UV protective masks etc.
 
GinnieRedwings said:
This is my 3 year old homebred, a magnificent animal, the gift that keeps on giving the vet all my hard earned cash!!! ��

EYE ISSUES - experiences and outcomes please. Anything at all that could keep me believing that the vet's diagnosis of Recurring Uveitis could be something else, that won't be requiring his eye to come out...



And now...

Click to expand...




Beautiful horse


First mare got it but known about in those days, second mare had it but I kept a record of when it started and her warning signs and weather etc.. Livery now also has it, the secret is to learn the warning signs and get vet/drops in asap to reduce damage to the vision and eye.

My mare started to shake her head ( no matter the weather) and I knew it started so go the drops in, she wore a guardian mask outside and a cashel inside.

The inflammation from starting. Many horses wear fly masks to cut down on thy light and owners are also using dietary supplements to hEquine recurrent uveitis, sometimes known as moon blindness, is a disease of the horse's eye that can be caused by many different things -- bacteria, virus, parasites, or trauma. Signs that an eye is in distress include redness, swelling, pus, pupil constriction in the dark, cloudiness, squinting, and photophobia. Uveitis is often diagnosed as something far less serious and valuable treatment time is lost. If not treated aggressively from the onset, there is less chance of saving sight in one or both eyes. Unfortunately, even with very aggressive treatment, some eyes cannot be saved, but in other cases the disease can be halted or at least slowed down.

When the uveitis first starts, if the original cause can be determined then additional treatment may be used depending on the cause. The usual short term treatment includes atropine to dilate the eye, followed by either a steroid or antibiotic. Treatment must be prescribed by a veterinarian because if a steroid is used when the eye is ulcerated, blindness can result. Bute, banamine or aspirin are used as anti-inflammatory agents along with the other medications.

After the original episode has been successfully treated, the inflammation and signs will disappear and the eye may appear to be normal or almost normal. At sometime in the future, if it is recurrent uveitis, a set of circumstances will cause the eye to have another episode. The circumstances can be internal; external such as wind, dust, pollen; stress of any kind; or due to stopping the anti-inflammatory medicine prematurely. With recurrent uveitis, the episodes continue to occur. Each one lasts a little longer and each time the eye loses a little more sight.

Long term maintenance treatment will often include aspirin, bute or banamine on a regular basis in an attempt to keep Help build up the horse.

Recommended things to help are
Brewers yeast
Pro bio
Guardian mask
drops from the vet
dedicated care from the owner
1 bute a day to minimise inflammation
http://www.horsemask.com/Main.html
And the mask
 
My gelding was diagnosed with recurrent uveitis approx 6 years ago in both eyes. It started as one or two attacks per year and escalated to the point where he would be on Flunixin and steroid drops for months without getting on top of it. As he gets it in both eyes, removal is not an option and has never even been mentioned or discussed. Two and a half years ago he had cyclosporin implants put in both eyes at Leahurst Equine Hospital. This has controlled it until a few months ago.(The implants usually last approx 3 years). As it was so successful first time and the horse returned to full work he has just been in again to have them both redone. They cannot remove the old implants so have to put new implants in a different part of the eye. They got the left eye done no problem but struggled with the right eye, He is currently out in the field with the others and goes for a check up in 6 weeks when we will decide whether to have another go at the right eye.My horse has tolerated the hospital stay and the operation under general apathetic well so at the moment I am inclined to let them try again as the implants have made a big difference. I am surprised the cyclosporin implants haven't been offered to you as an alternative to removing the eye.
 
Thank you all for your replies. I have read everything that I could get my hands on regarding ERU and was sort of clutching at straws, hoping someone would tell me their vet had been wrong in their diagnosis and their horse ended up having something totally benign instead. As I said, clutching at straws... :-(

vanrim said:
My horse has tolerated the hospital stay and the operation under general apathetic well so at the moment I am inclined to let them try again as the implants have made a big difference. I am surprised the cyclosporin implants haven't been offered to you as an alternative to removing the eye.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experience Vanrim. I am seeing the Ophtalmologist tomorrow and she will no doubt discuss the cyclosporin implant with me then. My vet mentioned them, in the same sentence as "prohibitively expensive" & "to be re-done every 3 years". Gus is now not insured after I got annoyed with my insurance company for charging exorbitant premiums and finding every excuse in the book for not paying up. You don't happen to remember how much the op & implant was for 1 eye?

At the end of the day, this will have to come down to a cost-benefit analysis for both my bank account and Gus's welfare. He is only on his 3rd flare-up (in less than a year), but he is also only rising 3 years old. I could manage the flare-ups for a while longer, but that would mean him being kept away from his favourite playmate, because said playmate helps him remove his UV mask... and his boring old companion is, well, boring.

I could re-mortgage and go down the implants route, but how much psychological damage might be done by a long stay in horsepital, poked and prodded, to a young horse that has never really been stabled - I was planning on teaching him to be grown up slowly and carefully, not with an enforced sudden stay at Rossdales.

I could accept that having the eye removed, under standing sedation at my local vet's, when he is young enough to recover well and there is so much anecdotal evidence of horses not only coping well, but also competing successfully with only one eye... but also taking the risk that if the good eye becomes affected, then I don't really have anywhere to go.

Leaning towards the 3rd option, but had such hopes for this boy... willing to be convinced otherwise :-(
 
I have a 21yr old who's got uveitis . She hasn't had an episode since I bought her an equine sun visor front the USA.
It blocks 95% uv. The vet was so impressed with it he recommends it to all his clients with horses that have it.
Expensive but worth every penny.
 
I am not insured either. I was quoted £1,800 for the first eye and half that for the second eye done at the same time. Seems expensive but my step mum has just had 2 cataracts done for £4K privately so that made it cheap by comparison.
 
Britestar said:
I have a 21yr old who's got uveitis . She hasn't had an episode since I bought her an equine sun visor front the USA.
It blocks 95% uv. The vet was so impressed with it he recommends it to all his clients with horses that have it.
Expensive but worth every penny.
Click to expand...

Britestar, thank you. Was that a Guardian mask?
 
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