Swollen Eyelid

[MinisMaMa]

I have a mare (probably in foal) that has a swollen eyelid today. I can see no injury to her eye or to the outside of the eyelid. She has a little bit of watering from the eye and she is using it at about half way open.

Should I use antibiotic eye ointment on her and would that harm her foal?

She is acting like nothing is wrong, so I don't know if just bumped herself or what?

Should I just keep a close eye on her?

Thanks for any advise in advance!

 

[disneyhorse]

My vet has advised me to NEVER EVERY mess with an eye injury of ANY type, and to call the vet out IMMEDIATELY for ANY eye injury.

If you put ointment in an eye that you aren't 100% sure has no ulcerations to the eyeball surface, you could actually damage the eye further.

If you are able to dye the eye and examine it for scratches or ulcerations yourself, THEN I would say go ahead and not call the vet... but generally you want the vet out there ASAP.

If there is a scratch or ulceration you will want to treat it as soon as possible, as it can go downhill very fast and your horse could lose an eye.

If the eye is just irritated, you will still want the vet out. Treating the eye is important, because if it's just swollen and irritated my vet said the horse may injure it further by rubbing it...

Good luck... I don't mess with eye stuff. My vet comes right out every time.

Andrea

 

[dgrminis]

If you think it is possible that she could have gotten a piece of hay or something in there that maybe just irratated it you could try and flush it out gently with running water. Depends on how cold it is in your area though as I know here would chill the horses to do that now

Good luck with it

 

[Marsha Cassada]

One of mine recently had a swollen eye that was running. I called the vet and he said to use the eye ointment and give banamine for the swelling. I did not intend to mess around with it, as I have had an eye injury in the past with an embedded object. But I tried the ointment and banamine for one day. The eye was almost back to normal the next day, so I knew it was nothing embedded. I also flushed with water. If something is embedded, flushing alone will probably not work. It is certainly cause for concern. Do not know anything about giving banamine to mare in foal, though. Good luck!

 

[Candice]

Eyes!! I hate anything to do with them. They terrify me, but this past year I've had one mare who figured this out about me and has tested me to the brink of insanity.

You need to get her into the right light and look at the cornea and the lens and if they appear abnormal in any way your vet needs to come out now. What you can do in the meantime is apply ice to bring down the swelling and if your vet ok's it an injection of banamine. My vet explained something very interesting to me. In the event of an impending trauma to they eye, such as a kick or other blow, most horses will instinctively retract the eye to prevent injury to they eye itself. More times than not the damage is typically only to the lids and surrounding tissues. If she is exhibiting any sensitivity to the light you will want your vet out to look. Avoid any ointments unless you consult your vet as you can further damage the eye if there is corneal damage.

My poor mares first go round presented with a red watery swollen eye. I pulled the lids back and could find nothing to cause this. I did apply calm eyes which did little for her. I checked her a minimum of 4 times each day. 4 days later I was up at UF hospital with another horse and in the next stall was a small pony mare presenting with the same symptoms as my mare and she was in jeopardy of losing her eye. That sent me into the panic mode. As soon as we got home I pulled her eye open and found a huge glob of puss deep in the corner. I was able to get a hold of it and was mortified by what came out with it. My poor mare had a sandspur in her eye for 4 days. I was not able to find it until it migrated to the corner. Thankfully it didn't do any damage to her eye and she experienced instant relief once it was removed. Per my vets instructions I did apply ointment to her eye for a few days.

About one month later she came into the barn with the same eye swollen shut. The vet had me apply the ice and give her an injection of banamine and within about half an hour the swelling was down far enough that I could get her eye open to examine the cornea and lens. I figure she got kicked. I reported back to Doc and by the middle of the next day her eye was back to normal and she has been fine since.

Aside from applying ice to reduce swelling, I would not proceed any further without the assistance of a vet.

Hope she's feeling better soon,