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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
   
Location: CTX | Ok, my beautiful 5 month old colt is at the vet being treated for 2 ulcers on his cornea. Now the vet was couldn't really give me a specific timeline. It could take a couple of days to heal up, or 2 weeks, or more....
He and his mom are there, they put in a lavage and he is being flushed 5 times a day. So it is in their hands now.
I just want to hear your experiences with this.
Edited by cranky B4 10am 2015-09-18 7:15 PM
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| My horse had an ulcer with a fungal infection. He had his lavage on for 8 weeks before it finally came out. Unfortunately he has significant scar tissue, but does have some sight and it really hasn't effected him much. The lavage is what saved his eye. He will not let you put medicine in his eye especially when the eye is so painful. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 680
Location: Texas | My sister's gelding had a large corneal ulceration with fungal infection as well. She opted to try and save the eye, 6 weeks at the hospital and about 7k later he has minimal scarring and doesn't seem to have any obvious vision deficits. It looked pretty ugly for a few weeks, I hope your sweet little guy has good results too!
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 Georgia Peach
Posts: 8338
 
Location: Georgia |
It's gonna get nasty, then real nasty and then it'll start to heal. My mare had one about a year and a half ago and it was just frustrating. Between the vet visits, applying ointments very few hours and oh my goodness at the antibiotics...it was not fun. It took several weeks for it to start showing improvement but finally it started healing. We were able to keep it at bay and luckily it never turned into a melting ulcer. Once that happens it's pretty much inevitable that the eye will have to be removed. Now you would never know she even had one. Absolutely no vision problems. If you look real close in direct sunlight you can see a tiny little spot but that's all that remains. Hope all goes well! I'm sure he is in good hands. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | What a darling little boy--hope his recovery is quick with a complete healing. |
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Miss Southern Sunshine
Posts: 7427
Location: South Central Florida | Ours was about 10 weeks. Started with 4 med 6 times a.day...then down to 5. Then 4. It looked HORRIBLE about.week 3, I thought for sure.the.whole eye was.falling out. Finally.started to clear.up and we removed the system. She ran.3.weeks later.and.won a show. Its scary but it will be.fine. |
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Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | Thank you for sharing and for the kind words.
He seems to take it in stride, I just feel so helpless. Not easy for a control freak to let the vets do their thing, but that's whats the best for him now. |
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Regular
Posts: 50
| This happened to my now yearling last year, when he was around a month old. We treated topically for awhile, then he got bigger and harder to handle and it was getting worse so they put the line in like yours has in the picture. He went to the vet every week to every other week for checkups. His eye was totally ulcerated and completely blue, like as if he was blind. It never discharged or anything gross like that, just appeared blue and cloudy. Finally after treating for 3 months, our vet, who is great, told us to see a specialist about 4 hours away. We did, and although the eye appeared as if he was blind and totally damaged they advised us to stop treating it and leave it alone and he would return to pretty much 100% vision. The blue was a scar they said would clear up and get smaller over time, and it has. We've left him alone completely since that visit last year, probably end of September, and he's been great. The eye does have a blue cloudy appearance, and who knows really how good is vision is at this point, I doubt 100% but none the less he can see and since it happened at such a young age he's adapted and I doubt it'll ever affect him in the long run. He was my "pick of the litter" last year, so I was extremely devastated when this happened to him fearing he would be a one eyed wonder lol. But trust your vets and have faith that your baby will be okay! We've lovingly named our colt Squint, because of his eye ordeal lol. Good luck! |
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Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | Hopefully treatment will work for your horse. It is basically a crap shoot as to whether the drugs will effect healing in time. My gelding had a very aggressive fungal infection and spent 25 days at OSU being treated hourly around the clock with about eight different meds. Ultimately his eye melted down and had to be removed. Secondary to that issue he also colicked because some of the eye drugs tend to slow down gut action which of course facilitated the colic. |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| What a cutie! Please keep us posted! |
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Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | So he's been at the vet 2 days now, and it seems a bit better. There is still cloudy, but I couldn't see the bright white spots so hopefully that means the meds are working. |
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Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | After 2 some weeks the ulcer has healed. It doesn't take a stain anymore, so that is the good news. The bad news is that he developed a small abscess underneath it.... so now they are fighting that.... But doc says it can take 7 or more weeks, so in the next couple of days the lavage will be removed and we will get to take them home.
She also said he might end up with a little scar (white spot) on his eye for the rest of his life. But I don't care about that. He has sight in it, and he is still my beautiful boy!
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | cranky B4 10am - 2015-09-12 9:03 AM
After 2 some weeks the ulcer has healed. It doesn't take a stain anymore, so that is the good news. The bad news is that he developed a small abscess underneath it.... so now they are fighting that.... But doc says it can take 7 or more weeks, so in the next couple of days the lavage will be removed and we will get to take them home.
She also said he might end up with a little scar (white spot) on his eye for the rest of his life. But I don't care about that. He has sight in it, and he is still my beautiful boy!
I'm so glad you updated and that things are looking up. Good luck with your sweet baby. |
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Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | Thank you!
I am so ready for both of them to come home.... he is starting to be a little turd.... the other day he took out both the stiches that hold the lavage in place.... so they put them back in, then the next morning he broke the line half way up his neck.....they had to shorten it in order not to have to put in a new one...
Luckily he is getting easier to handle.... Hopefully we can pick them up this week!!
Will update later.
Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers for him. |
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Miss Southern Sunshine
Posts: 7427
Location: South Central Florida | Just went through this, but not a baby. Our mare's lavage was in for 10 weeks. It was horrible to deal with but came through with amazing results. Have a friend that had it happen with her foal and he is fine too. I have never know of this, but in the past year I probably have learned about 10 people that have gone through it, all with good results. All also varried with treatment time. Some weeks, some months. I believe he will be fine, but it's not fun!
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Veteran
Posts: 139
Location: Abbotsford B.C. Canada |
What a coincidence:
Just finishing up an 8 week course of treating my 22 y o mare and she has just really turned the corner in the last week . Two more weeks to go. A bad corneal ulcer has taken this long to scar over and we have two more weeks of tapering off treatments. Just today , the vet said the ulcer has been closed and is safe.
It will leave a permanent scar but she is good to go although a little spooky at times as she does not see quite so well trail riding.
Stick with it but it was 5 treatments with five meds every day for two months at first. My barn/landlady who cares for my horse saved the day by doing two of the treatments.each day. It has been exhausting as I board out but it worked. Killed me for time and gas etc.
It will be ten weeks total but we are just giving one med (cyloxin) and a saline wash now and only three times a day this week and twice a day next week them we knock it out and pull the catheter.I was amazed how well the catheter lasted.
Check the storage time on the meds and keep them up to date .
I was surprised my mare took the meds so well.
Cost was not ballistic but it will be about 3500 US big dollars when the smoke clears!
All good!
Nice looking guy so worth the effort I would think.
FYI
Coastal rider
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7268
| Glad he is on the mend!!  |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
Location: Alabama | I have been there & done that!! my 1D barrel horse got an ulcer on the cornea like 1 month after i got him.... then it got fungal.... a wonderful 3 months in a stall with and SPL port, 6 medications 4 times a day, weekly trips the the vet school to see the opthomologist & pulling most of my hair out... BUT here he is 1 year later and hes back 110%. Has a slight scar on the eye, but it has cleared up drastically... I now know more about eye balls than i EVER wanted to.
Ulcers are either gone in a few weeks Or they are a mess. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 342
Location: Alabama | mine broke his life SEVERAL times, has to have the stitches put back 4 times, made me stab myself with needles multiple times & broke my toe. |
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My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | cranky B4 10am - 2015-09-14 7:12 AM
Thank you!
I am so ready for both of them to come home.... he is starting to be a little turd.... the other day he took out both the stiches that hold the lavage in place.... so they put them back in, then the next morning he broke the line half way up his neck.....they had to shorten it in order not to have to put in a new one...
Luckily he is getting easier to handle.... Hopefully we can pick them up this week!!
Will update later.
Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers for him.
Did "Turd" get to come home yet?!! |
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