MS2011 - 2014-01-02 2:20 PM Did they tell you to keep her out of direct sunlight?

We've always sewed a flap into a flymask so that the eye is completely protected (dust, wind, sunlight will all irritate it).  It seems to help them heal up faster.  We've had a few that required treatment for weeks...it sucks.

 

Runninbay - 2014-01-02 1:26 PM

We are keeping a fly mask on her but, as you know, that still allows some light in. Luckily, its been overcast almost everyday since it has appeared so that has been nice.  

Frodo - 2014-01-02 2:06 PM

Same here. It's been weeks and the frustrating part is it can look like we're home free one day and the next day it looks horrible again. Vet warns against too much banamine as it's hard on their kidneys.

There's a red spot the size of a pea in his eye and the eye is weepy. Gaining a little ground though.

SoonerLawyer - 2014-01-02 2:23 PM I had the same frustration with a cornea injury that started in early September. I doctored and doctored and kept flymasks on it. I took her to 2 different vets for a total of 4 vet appointments (1 vet came out 3 times because I nagged at him weekly that it wasn't healing). She would seem better one day, then the next back to the same squinty, runny eye--and she was never easy about letting me doctor it b/c if you got close at all she clamped it shut. I quit doctoring it after about 3 weeks, and after about 12 weeks, it FINALLY healed up. One day I went out to feed and she had her eye open fully again like it was normal, and has been fine ever since with no spots or film. My vet kept saying it will be fine, it's healing, but I found it hard to believe it would take that long. But it did. And I worried myself sick that she was going to lose it because of so many horror stories I read online and from friends.

BARRELHORSE USA - 2014-01-02 10:27 PM As many have said ... delaying treatment when you see eye problems can be a disaster. When you see a spot on the eye it is usually caused by something that has injured the eye and can be as simple as a switch from a buddies tail and a hair cut a small slit in the eye or wind blown trash. Reading the posts .. sure surprised me that the vets did not get aggressive with antibiotics to the body and directly in the eye with a grease solution and flushing the eye with saline solutions. The antibiotics free up white blood cells to go fight the eye problem full time while the antibiotics take care of the more minor daily germ attacks horses and humans get attacked by everyday!! I think your vets are delaying healing by using too much anti inflammation drugs ... Bute is for the muscles and Banamine is primarily to relax the gut and internal gut functions. And NOT A ONE OF YOU ... mentioned that your vet showed you where the tear ducts come out about 2 inches above inside the nostrils on each side of the nose and that you can use this tear duct to doctor your horses eyes with greased antibiotics or flushing with saline solution.... which also keeps the tear duct clear and not irritated .... SHAME ON THEM!! ( A 12CC syringe nozzle filled with meds or saline fit exactly into the little hole... press firmly and administer ... it may be plugged up so use enough plunger force to unplug it) If you think too much is leaking out of the corner of his eye when you administer thru the tear duct .... put sandwich bag over one hand and hold it over his eye to keep his eye closed so meds or saline will seep across his eye. If any of these horses belonged to me ... I would be mad and stay mad and get nose to nose with the vet and demand a high antibiotic attack and plenty of antibiotic eye grease along with eye saline solution. I would also growl at him to use some plain old aspirin which takes care of specific pain to the brain nerves and inflammation and swelling which bute nor banamine will not do.. and is a lot better on long use than the other two ..... Aspirin is the only thing that handles all 3 at the same time. I really feel sorry for the horse and owner when vets just use limited meds and rely on the inflammation products too much which are not a good thing to begin with .. it always makes me think they are delaying getting the horse well at the risk of the horse ......... For those of you that said you stopped giving the inflammation drugs ... you probably did your horse a favor so they would not decrease the good inflammation reactions that draw the fighting cells to that injured area. Inflammation is totally necessary to heal any part of the body!! ......>> EYES are tuff since the bacterial infection hides in the eye and the lense and other parts of the eye lets you see the damage but makes it difficult for meds to get in deep enough into the eye to help kill the infection!! .... read the excerpt and entire article ... Read the following excerpt and then one of the articles I have saved for years on the use of banamine and bute and their affects ..... as you know good straight answers are tuff to find and this one is a straight shooter .....>>> *************************************************************** EXCERPT .... Inflammation is a natural and intricate series of biochemical reactions that takes place in all animals as a response to injury. The process involves complex reactions between local damaged cells, blood vessels, inflammatory cells and biochemical signals sent and received from both near the site of injury and far from it. The first results of inflammation include opening of blood vessels to the area, increased leakiness of blood vessels resulting in swelling, and attraction of infection fighting cells to the site. Products of inflammation include prostaglandins and other inflammatory mediators that help bring about these effects. Some of these mediators directly cause pain. All of these products of inflammation are intended to rid the body of infection or injury, and to prepare it to for healing. Inflammation is a natural process and it is critical for survival. The problem is that often this process becomes excessive, creating a vicious cycle and causing more tissue damage, pain and suffering than the injury itself might. This is where anti-inflammatory drugs are helpful. Their role is to dampen inflammation by reducing the formation of mediators, and thus reducing the signs of disease (swelling, pain and fever, for example) while still allowing healing to take place. http://thalequine.com/bute-and-banamine-what-horse-owners-should-kn... GOOD LUCK GUYS ... GET MAD AND LET YOUR VETS HAVE IT WITH BOTH BARRELS AND GET AGGRESSIVE ON YOUR HORSES EYES ...!! FYI: ..................................................>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Something else I wanted to mention but could not say it better than the following .... THREE EYELIDS .........................>>>> The eyelids are made up of three layers of tissue: a thin layer of skin, which is covered in hair, a layer of muscles which allow the lid to open and close, and the palpebral conjunctiva, which lies against the eyeball. The opening between the two lids forms the palpebral fissue. The upper eyelid is larger and can move more than the lower lid. Unlike humans, horses also have a third eyelid (nictitating membrane) to protect the cornea. It lies on the inside corner of the eye, and closes diagonally over it. The lacrimal apparatus produces tears, providing nutrition and moisture to the eye, as well as helping to remove any debris that may have entered. The apparatus includes the lacrimal gland and the accessory lacrimal gland, which produce the tears. Blinking spreads the fluid over the eye, before it drains via the nasolacrimal duct, which carries the lacrimal fluid into the nostril of the horse.[4] The ocular muscles allow the eye to move within the skull. GET MEAN ... IT IS YOUR HORSE !!