Uveitus- Please help, Is it the end of the world?

McNally

McNally

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My pony has been diagnosed with recurring Uveitus. He has been blind in one eye since before i owned him (only a few months) But recently the eye become weepy and inflamed. The vet gave him drops which have worked very well- after only a few days he is much better. He diagnosed the condition but didnt seem overly worried by it, like it was not really a big deal.
I looked it up on the internet and have tbh been horrified by what i have read. I also posted on another forum and got mostly replies about horses being pts through this condition.
I am now worried sick and terrified, apart from the fact i obviously dont want the poor thing to be in pain on a regular basis for the rest of his life I also dont want to loose him.
From what i understand it flares up but the horse is ok inbetween episodes? How often does it get bad?
and most importantly to me at the minute what can i do/give (in the way of supplements maybe) to help prevent flare ups and try to minimize the effects of this horrible illness?
Thank you for any help- sorry if its a bit rambly and long!
 
Oh hun sorry to hear that! I dont really no much about it but when I was younger I loaned a pony with it and he was fine! The only problem he would have would be if he went outside in sunlight without a fly mask on... something to do with bright light I think.
 
one of my liveries has the same condition. He is almost 100 per cent blind in one eye and is a bit dodgy in the other. My boy will probably go completely blind but seeing as its a slow (ish) process he will (should be able) to adapt to being blind. I have been told that he will have to be turned out in the same field for ever with a friend who is calm and who has the savvy to realise that his friend has problems. Its not the end of the world ,but, once blind their lives are a wee bit restricted. I had a very old mare who went completely blind, her best buddy was my donkey who I equiped with a bell (on her headcollar). Bonny would follow the sound of the bell and never had problems as to where she was, who she was with etc. She died 4 years later of old age.
 
Really? Thats so much less scary sounding than everyone else has told me so far! I am going to dig out the fly hoods Equilibrium ones are UV protective so will get a few! I too have heard bright light and snow can be painful to sufferers.

Thanks for your bit of positivity!
 
Hi McNally, must be a real shock for you! My friends horse was diagnosed with this 2-3 months ago, we too did the same and after lots of internet searches were convinced this was all bad. However, her vet has been great he has been treated with both medication and eye drops (cant remember what) and has been clear for the past couple of months, it does not appear that he has lost too much/if any of his sight. She did initially walk him round new field boundaries and keep him in out of the sun light. She has purchased a couple of UV masks of varying strength to block out sunlight and these appear to have worked fine! I think for her, after the initial panic the main thing was to keep on top of the infections, minimise risks and then take it gradually from there. Her horse hacks out regularly and appears fine and pain free. x
 
I knew an older mare who had it. In the summer she was in during the day and out at night. She didn't have a major problem in the winter but she stayed in when it was really sunny. Her owner got her a mask with uv protection and she managed just fine. She wasn't totally blind.
It was obviously quite sore when she had a full blown attack but she bathed them and kept going with the ointment. There were 2 different ones but i can't remember what they are called. I can find out if you like.
I wouldn't panic, I know it's not a nice thing but it is manageable.
 
Fairynuff said:
one of my liveries has the same condition. He is almost 100 per cent blind in one eye and is a bit dodgy in the other. My boy will probably go completely blind but seeing as its a slow (ish) process he will (should be able) to adapt to being blind. I have been told that he will have to be turned out in the same field for ever with a friend who is calm and who has the savvy to realise that his friend has problems. Its not the end of the world ,but, once blind their lives are a wee bit restricted. I had a very old mare who went completely blind, her best buddy was my donkey who I equiped with a bell (on her headcollar). Bonny would follow the sound of the bell and never had problems as to where she was, who she was with etc. She died 4 years later of old age.
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I must admit I have just googled it and would be worried if my horse was in with another one when you read this paragraph stating that one horse can catch it from another

Leptospiral bacteria like warm, moist conditions and are found in many animals: cattle, swine, deer, rats, raccoons, fox, skunks and other wildlife. Horses get it from drinking water that has been infected or they may pick it up from grass, hay or grain contaminated by the urine of infected animals. Horses can catch it from other horses, although the majority have most likely contracted it from infected cattle, rats or wildlife. The frustrating thing about leptospirosis and uveitis in horses is that the uveitis may not occur for 18-24 or more months after the leptospirosis infection. In addition, while some horses are very ill with the disease, others may show no obvious signs of infection. Testing for leptospirosis at the time uveitis occurs may confirm that the disease was active at one time but it is too late to do anything about the leptospirosis for that horse. However, understanding how leptospirosis exists and is spread can help you prevent the infection of other horses.
 
My horse was diagnosed with it a couple of months ago. He had been having flare ups for 3 years the vets kept diagnosing conjunctivitis, I had convinced myself it was Uveitis after looking on the Internet and treated it as such. My boy has not lost any of his sight yet, the vet said it is because I treat it immediately so have stopped damage to the eye. I keep a diary of dates when he has flare ups and the weather conditions at the time. So roughly I can predict when he is going to have an attack, roughly every 6 weeks. So I give him bute around the 6 weeks mark and so far it keeps it at bay. If he does have a flare up I act straight away give 2 bute first feed then 1 after that and put in drops 3 times a day, by the next morning it is gone. I have a Guardian mask it filters out 95% of the suns rays, it is around £60 I get mine from America. Its expensive but it filters out more rays than the equilibrium one, which I also have. Just be very vigilant and you should be fine. My boy has had Laminitis this year too so next year he will be out at night and stabled in the day, which will help the Uevitis too. Good luck x
 
" Horses can catch it from other horses" I've not read that anywhere, I should imagine horses that have been grazing together can pick up the parasite but I doubt its from direct contact between horses. Otherwise my whole yard would have it surely? Regular worming is very important too.
 
Black_Horse_White said:
" Horses can catch it from other horses" I've not read that anywhere, I should imagine horses that have been grazing together can pick up the parasite but I doubt its from direct contact between horses. Otherwise my whole yard would have it surely? Regular worming is very important too.
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This is where I read it from (admittedly it is the internet) Under SIGNS

http://www.igs.net/~vkirkwoodhp/eru.htm#causes
 
Hi sorry to hear about your horse :(
Pharaoh battled with it for 3 years but was put down last month because of it. He had it as a secondary condition which is extremely rare so it was treated as primary until his last flare up.
First of all don't panic, it is useful to do research but don't let it scare you. I really recommend that you keep a diary of every flare up, that was you can monitor the flare ups and it can help with future treatments. Because I kept a diary we realised Pharaoh's main triggers and in my case nag mum to contact some top vets for advice as he developed other symptoms. Try to keep a mask with high UV protection on as much as you can, the wind/snow/sun have all been known to cause flare ups. If Pharaoh came in showing signs then I would give him a bute and check his pupils and monitor him, I didn't like to put pred in until i knew what his pupil was like because atropine can react with pred and cause ulcers. I hope all goes well with your horse and feel free to PM me if you want :)
x
 
No, it's not the end of the world and can be managed quite successfully. My old anglo arab had it, we had drops to use in case of a flare up and bute on standby as well. The one thing that really, really helped was keeping the exposure to sunlight as low as possible, she was only out at night in the summer, coming in during the day away from flies, and she wore her fly mask 24/7 in summer and in the day in winter - back then they wern't common over here and I ordered mine from the states, so I like to think I started a trend!
 
The lepto link is from the US, hence the reference to skunks. I don't think it's a common cause here.

I ahve a mare with it, she is in a shady stable, mask on at all times when out, night in summer, day in winter.

She evented up to novice with it and is now in foal (her's is a wierd form caused by exposure to equine herpes virus (the snotty version not abortion) when she was young, so the opthalmologist thinks.

I get cold sores and know that all the things that can cause me to flare also affect her.

I'm not using bute to manage it though because of her pregnancy, she seems to have less attacks now that she doesn't have seasons. Her attacks previously coincided with her seasons.
 
I don't want to sound morbid, but yesterday was the 3yr anniversary of my horses death, he had chronic recurrent uveitus.
I spent over £5000 in vets bills, he spent a month at newmarket with eye specialists. He was on all the drops, had a lavage system put in and was on high doses of steroids.
Everytime we gradually tried to wean him off the drugs he had big flare ups. It just couldn't be controlled.

The vets believed that his was caused by an immune system problem and it would spread to his other eye eventually as well. I had to have him PTS. Was horrible.

I know you are worried, it is a serious and very painful condition. My horse had it very badly, hopefully you will be able to manage it.
 
My good friend lost her horse to this, however it was managed for many years without problems and friend is the first to admit that initial diagnosis took too long. The condition was not well understood and horse was diagnosed with a series of bacterial infections and conjunctivitis. By the time the penny dropped there was already serious damage and for the next years it was about constant monitoring and treating whenever there was a flare up.

However, when caught early there is a good chance of recovery as long as you understand you need to remain careful not to expose the eye to sharp sunlight. Snow can also be implicated in flare ups and possibly caused my friend's horse final flare up :( . So don't panic! Talk with your vet, get all the facts and stay away from Dr Google!
 
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