Conjunctivitis in a newborn foal

[cretahillsgal]

Has anyone here ever had this happen to a newborn foal? This morning her eye is all cloudy and gunky. How did you treat it? I cleaned it off really well, but figure she might need something else.

And do you know what causes it?

 

[dgrminis]

Julie,

I believe it was two years ago we had a colt that had that. One eye was really red when he was born and the next day it was cloudy.. The vet said he thought he probably had an ulcer on it -- he said it could have been from when he was being born - possibly a strong contraction just right on his head or he said could even have been from when he was trying to get up for the first time, etc. maybe took a rough bump (we couldnt remember him having any falls but anything is possible I suppose)... Regardless the vet gave us an ointment (cannot think of the name - I want to say Gentamycin or Teramycin but cannot remember for sure) for ulcers to put in his eye. We had to do it 3 times a day for 5-7 days... And the vet recommended to keep him in a stall with minimal light while treating it also.

Good luck with your little one..

 

[targetsmom]

Try doing a forum search, as I am pretty sure this has been discussed before but I can't remember what was said.

Good luck with the little one!

 

[Minimor]

Does she have her eyelashes turned inward against the eye by chance? I assume that you checked for that but thought I'd mention it just in case.

Otherwise I wash the eye off with warm water, dry it & then apply a bit of penicillin into the eye. If I thought the eye had been badly poked and its losing fluid then it would be an emergency that requires a vet call.

 

[Joanne]

We have human sterile eye wash in our foaling kit and use it frequently on newborns to flush the eyes out. The fluid in the eyes at birth seems to attract EVERYTHING and keep it there. Flushing not only cleans the eyes, but gets rid of this viscous fluid.

Minimor is right to check and see if the eyelashes are causing the distress. if so, there are two trains of thought. One is to goop the eye lashes with vaseline ointment and weigh them down, the other is to cut the lashes off . We prefer the later, BUT you need two people, a steady hand, and sharp tiny sissors (the best sissors have a blunt end). Best done with your veterinarian if needed unless you are skilled.

Sometimes it is just the act of nursing and picking up a lot of hair in the eyes. One more reason to clip bellies of foaling mares! On these, frequent flushing with the sterile eye wash and using a warm water wash cloth to clean around the eyes.

Eye problems can become serious VERY quickly and if the eyes are still having a problem after flushing them it is time to call the vet and make sure they are not scratched and need a presription ointment.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Jules, Good advice from everyone. Check the eyelashes, flush with human sterile eye flush and then watch closely. If the crud comes back you need to have a vet look at the eye (with they eye light thing) BEFORE you put any meds in it. A scratch is treated VERY differently than an infection. An eye can be perm damaged by using the wrong treatment. It's nothing to mess with. But most likely, the flush will do wonders and it's cheap!

Good luck sweetie!

 

[cretahillsgal]

Lots of good advice! Thanks everyone!

It is just one eye and not caused by her eyelashes. Thats the first thing I checked.

Her eyes seem swollen and are bloodshot so I think it is from the pressure of birth. I have been checking her frequently and cleaning her eye and flushing it. It seems better already.

Oh and I had previously shaved mommas belly and legs so we are good on the hair thing.

 

[shorthorsemom]

I would have the vet come out and stain that eye. You don't have much time before damage can occur when dealing with an ulcer or something similar. Using a treatment with steroid when the eye surface is scratched or ulcerated and taking up the dye can be bad. I don't mess with eyes myself, I would call the vet rather than self treat and wait and see.

.

 

[zoey829]

I would wash it out. But dont put anything in it. We had stray cat with an eye issue. Since she was a stray the vet coudnt really look into her eye. She was really freakish. She didnt want to take a chance so made me treat it with pennicylin. Long story short the cat lost her eye. But because we didnt know what to do the meds wher wrong. But happy ending here. I insisted on socializig this cat. She became very friendly. Sone came out for sthing else and fell in love with the one eyed cat! She is now living the life of luxery! Yes kind of off task

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We keep sterile contact solution (saline only NO added cleansers) in our horse kit.

Also terramycin. It's a good preventative. Flush, and add terramycin. Having dealt with 4 eye removals and numerous injuries over the years, we're very pro-active with any eye issue.

An animal ophthamologist told us to keep terramycin on hand, as there aren't steroids in it and applying that can often save their vision until the animal can be seen by a vet.

Another product we've been trying this year - Vetericyn, it's safe for eyes, mouths, wounds.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Can be a couple of things...

Eyes get red from the squeezing pressure of being pushed through the birth canal. Usually resolves ok without intervention, but ask the vet about eye intment.... could be a scratched cornea... you don't want to mess with that, call the vet and see about antibiotic eye ointment.

Could be that the eye lashes turn in a bit...as the foal gets a few meals, fills out a bit, the eye lashes turn the right direction.

BUT...... one of the VERY FIRST symptoms of sepsis is blood shot eyes.Could be your foal may need to see the vet ASAP, and start on a bunch of medicines, antibiotics,probiotics, IV fluids, etc.

Robin