Moon Blindness What exactly is it?

[tifflunn]

I have done a search- and have found lots of conversation around it- But what is it exactly Signs symptons causes and cures? Thank You

Tiffany

 

[MiLo Minis]

Moon blindness is also called Periodic Opthalmia and it is called that because it comes and goes. A horse with moon blindness will squeeze its eye shut tight and won't want to open it. They are extremely sensitive to light and it is very painful. It can occur in one or both eyes. There may be pus come out and the cornea will get cloudy. Attacks can last as long as a month and then they will suddenly be better and then it will come back sometimes as much as a year later. They used to think it came and went with the cycle of the moon, hence "Moon" blindness. They get increasingly worse with each attack and eventually it causes cataracts, pain for the horse and eventually complete blindness. Other than treating the pain and treating the eye as if it had conjunctivitis to try to prevent as much damage as possible to the eyes there isn't a lot you can do for it. Cataracts, which are cloudy spots on the lens of the eye, can be removed but that is expensive surgery and they can come back. Between attacks the horse can usually see around the cataract until they become so bad they cover the whole lens. The exact cause it still not known as far as I know although they think it could be an allergic sensitivity to a bacterial infection in the eye. You wouldn't want to breed with a horse that has Moon Blindness as it could be hereditary.

 

[tifflunn]

Thank You

: Lori- just the info I needed-

:bgrin Tiffany

 

[1horse2many]

Moon blindness is also called Periodic Opthalmia and it is called that because it comes and goes. A horse with moon blindness will squeeze its eye shut tight and won't want to open it. They are extremely sensitive to light and it is very painful. It can occur in one or both eyes. There may be pus come out and the cornea will get cloudy. Attacks can last as long as a month and then they will suddenly be better and then it will come back sometimes as much as a year later. They used to think it came and went with the cycle of the moon, hence "Moon" blindness. They get increasingly worse with each attack and eventually it causes cataracts, pain for the horse and eventually complete blindness. Other than treating the pain and treating the eye as if it had conjunctivitis to try to prevent as much damage as possible to the eyes there isn't a lot you can do for it. Cataracts, which are cloudy spots on the lens of the eye, can be removed but that is expensive surgery and they can come back. Between attacks the horse can usually see around the cataract until they become so bad they cover the whole lens. The exact cause it still not known as far as I know although they think it could be an allergic sensitivity to a bacterial infection in the eye. You wouldn't want to breed with a horse that has Moon Blindness as it could be hereditary.

Uveitis (moon blindness) one of the most common inner eye disorders of horses and the leading cause of blindness. An estimated 10 percent of horses will suffer from this.

Signs of acute uveitis are red painfull eye with squinting and occasional tearing, eye often appears "blind" or "cloudy", small contracted pupil and a tender soft feeling eyeball. Signs of chronic uveitis are less pronounced.

The most common cause of uveitis are leptospirosis and onchocerciasis. Leptospirosis gains entrance through a break in the skin or through the digestive tract when a horse ingests food contaminated by infected urine, particularly that of rodents. Onchocerciasis is caused by a worm that lives in the tissues of the neck.

It is believed in the case of leptospirosis that the uveitis is not the result of active spirochete. but an immune hypersensitivity response in which the inner eye structures react to foreign proteins released by destroyed spirochetes.

It is also known as periodic ophthalmia since it was observed to come and go periodically.

I would suggest any horse suspected of having uveitis should be vet check to confirm a diagnosis. Deworming preparations that kill larvae of onchocerciasis should be avoided at the time of active inflammation.

There has not been any publication I've seen to suggest this is in any way hereditary and I know of one particular shetland who has had uveitis for a number of years and this mare produces beautiful foals.

Pat

 

[Ashley]

One of the ponys on our pony ring is thought to have this. Right now her eye looks normal, however before it was a bit bulgey and cloudy. She has to ware a fly mask at all times day and night.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Thanks Pat! I didn't realize they had confirmed the allergic reaction to bacterial infections as the cause. But I would stick with the "not breeding" as, like with all allergies, the tendency could be inherited. Those lovely foals could find themselves in the same position as the mare later in life. This is extremely painful for the horse and extremely painful for the owner to see and not really be able to do anything about it.

 

[tifflunn]

Thanks Pat! I didn't realize they had confirmed the allergic reaction to bacterial infections as the cause. But I would stick with the "not breeding" as, like with all allergies, the tendency could be inherited. Those lovely foals could find themselves in the same position as the mare later in life. This is extremely painful for the horse and extremely painful for the owner to see and not really be able to do anything about it.

Thanks - no breeding intended- it is for the mare daisy.

Tiffany

Moon blindness is also called Periodic Opthalmia and it is called that because it comes and goes. A horse with moon blindness will squeeze its eye shut tight and won't want to open it. They are extremely sensitive to light and it is very painful. It can occur in one or both eyes. There may be pus come out and the cornea will get cloudy. Attacks can last as long as a month and then they will suddenly be better and then it will come back sometimes as much as a year later. They used to think it came and went with the cycle of the moon, hence "Moon" blindness. They get increasingly worse with each attack and eventually it causes cataracts, pain for the horse and eventually complete blindness. Other than treating the pain and treating the eye as if it had conjunctivitis to try to prevent as much damage as possible to the eyes there isn't a lot you can do for it. Cataracts, which are cloudy spots on the lens of the eye, can be removed but that is expensive surgery and they can come back. Between attacks the horse can usually see around the cataract until they become so bad they cover the whole lens. The exact cause it still not known as far as I know although they think it could be an allergic sensitivity to a bacterial infection in the eye. You wouldn't want to breed with a horse that has Moon Blindness as it could be hereditary.

Uveitis (moon blindness) one of the most common inner eye disorders of horses and the leading cause of blindness. An estimated 10 percent of horses will suffer from this.

Signs of acute uveitis are red painfull eye with squinting and occasional tearing, eye often appears "blind" or "cloudy", small contracted pupil and a tender soft feeling eyeball. Signs of chronic uveitis are less pronounced.

The most common cause of uveitis are leptospirosis and onchocerciasis. Leptospirosis gains entrance through a break in the skin or through the digestive tract when a horse ingests food contaminated by infected urine, particularly that of rodents. Onchocerciasis is caused by a worm that lives in the tissues of the neck.

It is believed in the case of leptospirosis that the uveitis is not the result of active spirochete. but an immune hypersensitivity response in which the inner eye structures react to foreign proteins released by destroyed spirochetes.

It is also known as periodic ophthalmia since it was observed to come and go periodically.

I would suggest any horse suspected of having uveitis should be vet check to confirm a diagnosis. Deworming preparations that kill larvae of onchocerciasis should be avoided at the time of active inflammation.

There has not been any publication I've seen to suggest this is in any way hereditary and I know of one particular shetland who has had uveitis for a number of years and this mare produces beautiful foals.

Pat

Can the sight come and go as quickly as a few times a day?

 

[MiLo Minis]

I don't know if the actual vision comes and goes over the course of a day. I know the pain came and went during the first attack as my mare would squeeze her eye shut at various times during the day at first, then it would go away and then she would have another attack and squeeze her eye shut for several days in a row up to a week or so and then it would go away. At first it didn't tear at all and then it teared profusely and then it started to get pus in it when she had an attack. Each time I treated it as for conjuntivitis. She progressively got worse until at 28 years old she was completely blind in that eye. She had her first attack at 24 years old.