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  Discussion on Swollen, itchy, tearing eye
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Member:
Morg1

Posted on Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 - 8:45 pm:

I have a Morgan mare that I have owned for 2 1/2 years. Every fall she has had at least one eye irritated from mid-Sept to mid-Nov. This is the 3rd fall that I've had her and she's doing it again. It starts with mild irritation where I can see that she's been rubbing it, and usually I get some kind of antibiotic ointment from the vet and it clears up. If for some reason I don't get to treating it right away. She'll rub it so much that it will be very swollen where her eye lids won't be able to meet. I try really hard to keep the medication in her eye, but even if it clears up within a few days like it usually does it usually keeps reappearing until mid to late November. She's so used to me treating her eyes that I don't even need to put a halter on her to do it. She's out on pasture 24/7, and I have made no changes in her diet as of yet. She only has a small star, so it doesn't have something to do with pink skin. Could it be an allergy? If anyone has any ideas or suggestion of what I could do for her that would be great.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Oct 14, 2005 - 6:49 am:

Karen is it always the same eye or ever both the eyes? What is the exact pattern since you have owned her?
DrO
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Friday, Oct 14, 2005 - 8:23 am:

It is usually her right eye, but I have had to treat her left eye for the same thing. Her left eye has never gotten as bad as her right eye has. I'm not sure what you mean about pattern. I've just noticed that it happens every fall, and the first thing I see is an eye half closed and tearing, so I try to start treating it then. Usually, by the time that I notice it it has little scrapes around her eye from her rubbing it. Sometimes it is perfectly fine when I check her in the morning only to be very swollen and nasty by the evening when I get home. She'll rub it so much that you'll find little particals of skin from inside her eyelid tore off, and her leg will be soaked from her eye tearing on it when she rubs. I'm afraid that whatever is going on is going to cause her to go blind one day. Her pasture was mowed this summer, so there are no seed heads to irritate her eye. Flies never seem to bother it in the summer. I only see this in the fall.
Member:
Heidim

Posted on Friday, Oct 14, 2005 - 10:46 am:

Karen, I just posted a note myself about eye irritation in my mare. The conditions are different, but I do notice that you mention the fall time. That's when we start feeding hay here in Minnesota, and I see that you live not so far away in Illinois. Last winter, both our mare and donkey developed eye infections at the same time. A closer look made us realize that our overhead feeder was filling their faces with chaff and might be the culprit. Could that be the case for your mare? Just throwing it out as one possibility.
New Member:
Mutley

Posted on Friday, Oct 14, 2005 - 11:03 am:

just a few thoughts - we used to put vaseline around the eye to stop irritants getting in. I guess it works a bit like the mucus lining the airways? My mare gets sore eyes (she seems very sensitive to all sorts of allergens, etc) and I use a human eye solution which simply mimics the body's natural tears and flushes out any debris or irritants. Perhaps using the anti-biotic cream solves one problem but creates others?
Hope my thoughts give you more 'food for thought'.
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Friday, Oct 14, 2005 - 6:00 pm:

Heidi, Thanks for the thought, but I'm not feeding her hay yet. She's out on pasture and the grass is too short to be causing any eye irritation.

Jennifer, Thanks for the idea, but when her eyes are irritated water just pours out of them so I don't think they need flushed out. The ointment almost immediately helps her eye heal up. Once her eyes are doing well and are back to normal I discontinue the ointment, and after a few days to a week they are irritated again. This only happens in the fall, so once the calendar gets past some magic date her eyes are fine again until the next fall.

Thanks again for the ideas. I'm just wondering if it's possible that she is experiencing an allergy this time of year.
New Member:
Mutley

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 4:57 am:

Just some other thoughts. My pony's eyes were watering but I still flushed them and it immediately helped - like us if we get something in our eyes and they water it doesn't always flush out the irritant.
The other idea is that my horses have been plagued by harvest mites two years running at this time of year. The pony reacts the worst and gets very uncomfortable - the result is sometimes that her eyes get irritated - but I think this is caused by her rubbing her head. Could your mare's eyes not be at the root of the problem, but something else causing the irritation and setting up a cycle of itch/scratch/more soreness, etc?
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 10:07 am:

I have flushed her eye out with water before when I didn't have any ointment, and it does improve the looks of her eye, but doesn't get rid of the problem. If I still don't have the ointment the eye looks just as bad the next day. I don't know if something else might be causing the irritation or not because I'm not there when she starts itching her eye, but once she starts she won't quit until I start using the ointment. I havn't seen any of my other horses doing any excessive itching or even itching their eyes. We have 11 horses and this is the only one with this problem. Sharing her pasture are 2 other mares, and they don't have the problem she does.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 10:33 am:

If there is no cloudiness to the eye and the severity is not worsening over the years and it remains responsive to your treatmetn I would not be concerned with blindness, this sounds more like a problem with the peri-ocular structures.

Certainly the episodic nature sounds like an allergy but allergies are usually going to effect both eyes the same. I do wonder if there is some habit of hers that leads her to exposure to something that irritates the eye but if a THOROUGH exam of the eye (sedation, blocking the muscles to the lids, and a ophthalmoscope or at least magnifying glass and a flashlight in a darkened room) does not reveal what, I am uncertain what you can do than what you do now.
DrO
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 11:15 am:

Hey Karen
Besides what DrO is telling you, I use my saline solution to flush out the eye of one of my mares who has what seems to be a similar problem. I use a huge bottle of saline solution (from the drugstore, that is used by contac wearers) to flush out her eye(s) when the swelling and itching occurs ... I, like you, (and the vet), have decided on allergic reaction as the cause, after ruling out all else by the exam described by DrO. Rather than use the antibiotic ointment first, we go with the saline solution, and , if no result, resort to the ointment. I just hated to use the ointment right away, as it really is for infection, which she really does not appear to have, though it is sometimes what we do have to use if not soothed by the saline use! By the way, she has had this problem for seven years, and her eyes are still big and very clear,with perfect sight, so I hope your outcome will be the same!
Nancy
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 12:25 pm:

Nancy, I think I might try that. Do you use the whole bottle each time or do you just use as much as seems necessary? I hate to see her doing that to herself. I wish I could tell her not to itch, but with animals it just doesn't work. I want to thank everyone for the their advice. Hopefully, we'll find something that works.
Member:
Redalert

Posted on Saturday, Oct 15, 2005 - 3:08 pm:

Karen, I just use as much as needed to wash the eye out good, and, lucky you, will probably have a much easier time of it than I do, as my mare tries to keep her eye shut tight as well as putting her head up really high and flinching each time I squirt! A big bottle usually lasts a season for us, depending upon how much I waste, squirting it all over her face trying to get it in her eye. I start washing the eye out as soon as there seems to be any indication of any tearing, itching, or, of course swelling. Good luck, and I hope that it helps !
Nancy
Member:
Ginger1

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005 - 12:17 am:

Karen,

3 of my horses had watery swollen looking eyes back in July. Our vet came out and flushed out the eyes of 2 horses and on one he sedated her and put his entire index finger up under her upper lid. I couldn't believe the junk he pulled out. She had a bunch of dirt and tiny pieces of gravel way back in her eye. After he cleaned the eye he gave me some ointment that I used for a few days and she was as good as new. With the other 2 just the simple flushing did the trick. All the horses had been housed in an area where there were high winds back in June and July. This may be way off base for your horse, but I must say I was shocked to see the amount of debris that had been lodged in my horses' eyes. Had to have been painful. Luckily none of them seem any worse for wear.

Gigi
New Member:
Turning

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005 - 5:41 pm:

Hi Karen,

We have a mare that used to get the same symptoms, especially in the fall.

We still keep ointment on hand, but I'm a strong advocate of pasture fly masks (the heavy kind)as a preventative tool.

Because our mare's eye blew up easily in summer and fall, we started keeping her in a mask 24/7. She quickly went from multiple outbreaks to only one or two mild ones a year.

Its not a complete fix, but it might help keep things manageable until you figure out what is causing it.

kat
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Friday, Oct 21, 2005 - 10:12 pm:

Just thought I'd let you know that I tried the contact solution, and she was worse today. I'm going to the vet tomorrow to get more of the antibiotic eye ointment.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 - 9:41 am:

It is straight antibiotic or does it also have a steroid in it?
DrO
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Saturday, Oct 22, 2005 - 10:50 am:

It is called Vetropolycin (bacitracin-neomycin-polymyxin veterinary ophthalmic ointment).
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Oct 24, 2005 - 7:42 am:

That is interesting Karen as there is nothing in the ointment that would treat allergy, like a steroid. This suggests recurrent infection or more likely the simple mechanical barrier of the petroleum base is helping...I wonder if your horse has decreased tear production that is exacerbated by the fall weather? With a little cooperation from your horse your vet can perform a Schirmer tear test for this. It is pretty simple and inexpensive.
DrO
Member:
Morg1

Posted on Monday, Oct 24, 2005 - 8:24 am:

Well, it makes sense that the fall weather would dry her eyes out, but it just seems weird to me that it only happens in the fall. Thank you everyone for your input and suggestions.
New Member:
auntbee

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 7, 2012 - 10:51 am:

My horse has been exhibiting these problems (eye, tearing, etc.It started about the time she began to chew on her stall and I began to treat the walls. Is it possible she is allergic to the black stuff I painted on her walls. The vet has been out and doesn't see any damage. She things it is possibly an allergy. thanks..
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 7, 2012 - 6:06 pm:

Welcome to Horseadvice ,
I believe we can help you with your question but let me get you started off right so you can get the best answer as quick as possible.

You will get more responses if you start your own discussion rather than post at the bottom on another member's discussion. Each discussion is "owned" by the original poster and all replies in that discussion should either directly or indirectly address the concerns of the original poster.

To start your own discussion back up one page using the navigation bar at the top of this page. This will be a Article Page on this topic. Below the article you will find a list of already existing discussions on this topic. Under this list you will find the "Start New Discussion" button. This is a good topic on your subject so you should first review the article as it will have important information on your subject. Next check the titles of the already existing discussions to see if your question has already been answered.

If your question remains unanswered, now is the time to Start a New Discussion. Select a short title that describes your specific concern. A title like "Help!!!" does not help others find your specific topic. Instead something like "Ace for Colic?" allows others to rapidly find and understand what your topic is about just by viewing the title. This is likely to bring more responses from those with some experience with your topic and allows members to find answers to their questions quicker.
Member:
lrhughes

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8, 2012 - 2:21 am:

Dr. O -Just a quick note to say my mare's had a tearing and mildly infected conjuntiva. I'm pretty sure its fly related due to the size of the facility where we board. Lacy manages to get any face mask off (with the help of other horses). The owner keeps his place cleaned daily, but the flies are everywhere...especially face flies. I'm hoping the owner will adopt a fly predator approach next spring and also require boarders to feed their horses a fly larva killer if they're in horses in outside pens where they aren't cleaned daily. Do you think predator and an injested lava killer would do the job Dr. O?
New Member:
auntbee

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8, 2012 - 5:38 pm:

THanks for the info Dr. O
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8, 2012 - 5:48 pm:

You are welcome auntbee, I look forward to help you out.
DrO

LRH,
I believe we can help you with your question but let me get you started off right so you can get the best answer as quick as possible.

You will get more responses if you start your own discussion rather than post at the bottom on another member's discussion. Each discussion is "owned" by the original poster and all replies in that discussion should either directly or indirectly address the concerns of the original poster.

To start your own discussion back up one page using the navigation bar at the top of this page. This will be a Article Page on this topic. Below the article you will find a list of already existing discussions on this topic. Under this list you will find the "Start New Discussion" button. This is a good topic on your subject so you should first review the article as it will have important information on your subject. Next check the titles of the already existing discussions to see if your question has already been answered.

If your question remains unanswered, now is the time to Start a New Discussion. Select a short title that describes your specific concern. A title like "Help!!!" does not help others find your specific topic. Instead something like "Ace for Colic?" allows others to rapidly find and understand what your topic is about just by viewing the title. This is likely to bring more responses from those with some experience with your topic and allows members to find answers to their questions quicker.
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