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  Discussion on Protruding eye ball
Author Message
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 5:08 pm:

Hi,

I have a 10 year old QH mare and noticed the past couple of days that her eye ball seems to be protruding. It is definately swollen around the upper eyelid, but her eyeball is actually sticking out and is quite noticeable. I don't believe that she injured it, there are no scratches or anything, it isn't running and doesn't appear to be sore. There is no cloudiness, but the sclera is red. The vet came out today to ultrasound her as we are getting ready for AI, and I asked her if she could check her eye out as well. She seemed to be quite concerned about it, and mentioned glucoma, but said she would expect it to be cloudy if it was glucoma. We will be breeding her on Monday/Tuesday and now am a bit worried incase this is something serious.
She is going to attempt to do a pressure test on Sunday, but we don't want to sedate her so close to AI, so I hope she co-operates with a mild freezing of the eye so we can take a better look at it.
I am scared to think that maybe it is a tumour or something behind the eye, causing the pressure that is making her eye protrude. Is there anything else that can be causing her eye to balge like this?

Has anyone else seen anything similar?


Thanks for any responses,
Shawna
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, May 28, 2005 - 9:26 am:

Hello Shawna,
Any space occupying mass, infection, tumor, inflammatory fluid behind the eye can cause it to bulge. If tomorrows exam does not yield a specific diagnosis I would consider begining systemic NSAID antiinflammatories and possibly wide spectrum antibiotics. If that fails I would consider the use of steroids. Of course this should be discussed with your vet.
DrO
Member:
Qh4me

Posted on Monday, May 30, 2005 - 11:18 am:

Thanks DrO.

Tests didn't reveal anything, everything appears normal as far as pressure, there is no cloudiness etc. And you wouldn't really notice her eye unless you compared the two. The one is buldged and kinda slanted downwards. The vet recommended doing an ultrasound and some additional tests with an opthomologist (sp?), just to be sure, but it isn't runny, and the sclera has cleared up too. but I am playing with time here as she is being bred today, so we didn't want to sedate her or put her on antinflammatories/antibiotics right now. And this is AI, so everything has been planned and shipment is in transit.
I am going to keep a close eye on it and once she is checked safe in foal and through the first tri-mester, we will do additional tests and such.

Is steroids safe for a pregnant mare?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 - 9:20 am:

Enough uncertainty exists in horses that I would avoid their use in a pregnant mare.
DrO
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