Moon eye or recurrent Uveitis

[Poodlepill]

I am worried and think my mini has this. Taking him back to the Vet today but this is his second bout with cloudy, squinting. tearing eye. What a bummer, I have only had him for a few months and didn't notice the darn eye when I got him as he had his harness on and headstall with the blinders ready for me to drive him when I got there. I just didnt see it (kicking myself daily) till I got home the next day, took him directly to the Vet and treated the eye. It got better, took back to Vet for re check and he said it looks good. I never was really happy with the fact that the eye looks "smaller" than the other one, I did ask the Vet that and he said, "its just the way he was made" Ok so I bought that for the time being. Well the cloudy. squinty, tearing eye is back today.

This poor mini has had nothing but me jabbing at him since I got him. The second day I had him I had to treat his eye 4x a day, then I took him to have his teeth floated and now I am going to have to jab him in his eye again. He must think this is the worst place to live. Every trailer trip has been somewhere to sedate him and poke at him......OY

Plus I am healing from a Ruptured Appendix on Dec 1st (I am fine now) but have doctor bills coming in not covered by insurance.

 

[Reble]

Ask you vet about just putting Penicillin drops in his eye might be easier on him.

 

[R Whiteman]

So sorry to hear about your horse's eye problems. We've been there and it is a timeconsuming, worrisome chore to treat ERU. Four years ago, our stallion got ERU after a leptospirosis infection in his right eye. We treated it, it got better and then came back a few months later. The vet was out a couple of times and finally diagnosed ERU. We spent the summer battling with various eye drops and anti-inflammatories. By the end of the summer the eye was a third of it's normal size and starting to turn blue. It was also blind. We found that using a low dose anti-inflammatory daily has kept the disease from recurring and eliminated our having to treat the eye four and five times a day with drops. The horse also wears a fly mask 24/7 to keep things from being irritated. Our horse gets 1/4 pill of prevacox ( a dog medication) daily. We bloodtest for liver issues each year and so far have found this protocol to be very successful. Knock on wood, we have not had a flare-up in four years.

Also, our horse continues to compete in CDE; we are just much more aware of his limited vision and remember always that we need to be his eye on hard turns to the right. I tell you this so you will know that it is not the end of the world, nor the end of the horses useful life...

There are many, many good, encouraging stories on the internet about horses with this nasty affliction. And lots of research is being done and things are changing almost daily. Our vet spent many hours on-line, "talking" with other vets about what works and what doesn't.

Good luck to you and your little guy.

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I have a mare with Uveitis, she wears a fly mask all spring/summer/fall, on windy days and when there is snow on the ground in the winter. This is to protect the eyes from getting irritated. She hasn't had an outward sign of it for over a year (knock on wood), but she does have some sight damgage from the past flare-ups. Her sight is like looking through a stained glass window. I keep her on 1 tsp of pure MSM daily to help prevent inflammation, and 1-3/4 T ground flax seed which is also supposed to help calm inflammation.

Good luck, I know it isn't fun dealing with eye troubles.

 

[Poodlepill]

Thank you for your replies it really helps. I called the Vet to make an appointment but he was out on farm calls all day. I told him the symptoms and he felt it is just coincoidnece and he must just got some hay or something in it. I picked up some antiobotic ointment = me jabbing him in the eye again UGH but I will do it. (you know I don't really jab, but the horse thinks I am trying to poke his eye out)

I dont totally buy the Vets line of thinking but for now it was easy on my pocket and I will see how it goes till Thursday and call the Vet again to tell him how its going. This Vet is the one that treated his eye the first time and we did sedate and dilate/stain his eye and he got a real good look inside. I did ask him about Moon eye at that time and he said its not. He did have a puss pocket on the bottom of the eye with a possible entry point but it was already trying to heal on its own (from previous owners that supposedly never saw it) It still doesnt expalin why the one eye with the issues is smaller than the other, he does have vision in it. He acts totally fine, romping with his buddy initiating play, great appetite and all. So for now I will live in this little world of hopefully we are not going down the road of Uveitis........but I just feel it is <sigh>

He is a great little driving horse, good to know that if all else fails and his eye looses vision or has to be removed some day that he will still be able to drive.

 

[D W 2]

hey does he have pink eyes? if so I have seen vets put horses under and tattoo the eyelids like giving them permanent eyeliner!!! it helps with the glare and squinting!

 

[Poodlepill]

hey does he have pink eyes? if so I have seen vets put horses under and tattoo the eyelids like giving them permanent eyeliner!!! it helps with the glare and squinting!

Hi, thanks for the idea and I have heard of this for white horses. My boy is a black/white pinto very back around his face and eye rims.