uveitis

[Trying]

Nyone ride a horse with uveitis or that is blind in one eye? My mare is seeing things (floaters) that appear in warm weather and shakes head and strikes at her head. FIne in cold weather.
Ideas??

[fleur de duc]

I had a mare that had totally lost her vision in her right eye from uveitis. It never stopped her in any way. She was rarely spooky. We did losts of trail riding and hunters/eq (w/t/c/ jumping all without a problem).

If she is having a flare up, you may want to call you vet and see about getting atropine (sp?) drops for her. It will numb the eye and make it less painful. I always had some handy incase it flared up, it helped 100%. She could be acting out of pain and not just seeing funny things.

[katarine]

Atropine will dilate the eye. Protecting her from sunlight and dust and such is key. A Guardian Fly Mask is key. They are pricey but they block 95% of the UV rays. Don't let the yahoos at the tack shop say any fly mask will do.

There are many threads in Horse Care about it, and those masks make a huge difference.

[tartanfarm]

My mare is seeing things (floaters) that appear in warm weather and shakes head and strikes at her head. FIne in cold weather.
Ideas??

My mare had the same symptoms, and it turned out to be nothing with her eyes. She has EPM. We treated it with success but she still strikes out towards her face.

[DarcyW]

No HA - Legend or Orally. I have a guy with eye issues and his opthlamologist suggested taking him off all HA products. The is now completely stable. My guy can still have his yearly hock injections with no problem and I have learned to recognize when the eye is flairing up (wind is a big irritant) and treat accordingly. I also give my guy 1 tablespoon of aspirin daily.

Good luck - its manageable!

[Huntertwo]

Atropine will dilate the eye. Protecting her from sunlight and dust and such is key. A Guardian Fly Mask is key. They are pricey but they block 95% of the UV rays. Don't let the yahoos at the tack shop say any fly mask will do.

There are many threads in Horse Care about it, and those masks make a huge difference.

My mare was just diagnosed this week with Uveitis and I just got done ordering the Guardian Mask. Talked to the owner of the company and he had me sold.

[Trying]

Thank you. Sorry tohear about the HA as she needs it for the injured stifle that caused the over medication that caused the leptosporosis that caused the uveitis. She is on Flunixon (Banimine) orally fo rthe inflamation and pain sow illt ry to increase it and add abit of aspirin. Guardien masks are great but this TB mare has a narrow face and it is too wide for her so need another smaller one I guess. It has the very dark left eye to protect from light and dust but is not out in bright light.
Thank you and any other isdeas are most welcome as I would like to show her elegant self again. SHe had opne foal while recovering ( bby Salut the Truth) and he is awesome.

[camohn]

We have an Appy mare that is now blind in one eye and has early changes in the other. So far she is still OK to ride for trails and ring stuff and 4H with the kid but her polo days with DH are over. She is a lot happier since I started keeping a fly mask on her as well. The eye problems probably cause glare sensitivity, flies and UV rays aside.

[RJW]

I rode a horse with only one eye, due to uveitis at intermediate level eventing for 2 years, he then did another year of prelim with someone esle bvefore retiring to a hacking job.

[Happy Feet]

you can get a contact lens to put on that eye, which acts like a sunglass. Takes the glare out for the horse. I don't think they are too terribly expensive, but they are a pain to put in and take out....

[little sue]

I am currently riding an Appy/thorobred cross who is 26 and has uveitis in both eyes. Left eye is totally blind after a horrible bout and an ulceration and a fungal infection. Right eye , I believe he sees shadows,not sure. He also developed glaucoma in the right eye. He is a trooper! His owner provides great medical care for him,lucky for him and me. This disease is something I must be hyper vigilant about. A vet must look at the eye and prescribe meds. The wrong meds can do damage beyond repair. Merlin has 2 gaurdian masks. He is really tough on fly masks. I have gotten a tremendous amount of education at Blindhorse.org and a great deal of information and emotional support from the blind horse group on yahoo. He is also on MSM every day along with his other meds. He is also getting eye drops 2x a day for his glaucoma. I ride him 4-5 days a week ,maybe 20 minutes each time and still take a 1/2 hour lesson on him once a week. He loves all the attention and really wants to work. He is also seen by an opthamalogist if things get really frightening. THe most important advice is to have a knowledgeble vet evaluate and prescribe the correct meds!! Best of luck to you and your brave horse!

[EqTrainer]

I would PM Mapleshade and see if she had time to talk about her horse who had uveitis.

[Trying]

anyone know what the rules are for showing? Should one remove the mask for the test and replace after leaving the arena? She was good today and I worked her in her Guardien Mask with the almost obliterated light in the left eye. However, she won't eat if there is aspirin in her feed so increased the Banimine and placed a call to the equine opthomologist. Here's hoping!! and thank you for your responses; they helped a lot.