Causes for dried "gunk" in the corner of an eye

[slp2]

I bought a 3 year old mare in October. She always has gunk that is dried and accumulates in the corner of her left eye. I had my vet look at it and she couldn't find anything obvious. She did flush the tear duct but said that it didn't seem to flush anything out. That was several weeks ago and the crustiness still forms every day. It's pretty minor--the discharge is clear-colored, it is not a huge amount, and I don't notice her eye tearing--but the other eye doesn't have it (nor do my other mare's eyes have to be "de-gunked" daily). Any thoughts?

[wsmoak]

Patrick has one eye that always runs. Like you we flushed the tear duct, and for a while I put ointment in it, but nothing made a difference.

His has been like this for years. If it's not irritated and she's not rubbing it, and the vet doesn't see anything wrong, then I wouldn't worry too much.

[buck22]

interesting. my morgan suffers from chronic eye cookies. it was so chronic and so significant (big crusty globs daily that would really bother the sensitive skin) that it was actually one of the major reasons I had him checked for cushings several months ago (read that it was a symptom for some).

I don't know where, but think it was coth, where I'd read about grapeseed extract for chronic eye cookies. I started him on some (purchased bulk at herbs.com) and within 2 days the cookies were diminished, now at 5 weeks the cookies are gone.

BUT, he has decided he wants to itch his eyes and now has a significant rub on his lower lid, both eyes. I may stop the grape seed as the rubbing coincided with the stopping of the eye cookies. (as a control group I put my mustang on the equal amount of grapeseed too, he never had cookies to begin with and he suffers no rubbing, etc, so its just the morgan).

I don't quite know what to make of this.

My BO did say she had a mare that was a chronic eye rubber, to the point of tearing her lower lid, but a bit of bute stopped the need to itch.

[Thomas_1]

slight conjunctivitis and often resultant from high levels of dust or a dry atmosphere.

Have you got a photo?

[slp2]

I will try to take a photo tomorrow and post it (if I can figure out how to post a photo). The eye does not seem irritated, and she is not rubbing it. She doesn't mind me picking at it either. It's just gunky every day--only one eye.

[jaimebaker]

Same here. The double dose of ivermectin protocol cleared it up all summer. First time it had been clear since it started 2 years ago. It started back up about 2 months ago. I've had 3 or 4 vets look at it thoroughly and can't see anything wrong. Tearducts were flushed and that didn't help. Not conjunctivitis, uveitis, clogged ducts, old injures, none of the above. So I have actually convinced myself it's a parasite causing the problem.

I'll probably double dose her in the spring again if it doesn't clear. Might try the GS Extract on her before and see if that does anything.

[Yip]

My TWH mare has been going through this for a very long time. It happens to both eyes around the tear ducts, she doesn't rub, but is exceedingly grateful every day when I clean her eyes. If I rub a little baby oil gel on the hair around the area, the stuff doesn't stick, or is at least much easier to clean off.

I've had 2 vets look at it when here for other reasons and they both said allergies, no big deal some horses have this, and offered nothing in the line of meds or treatment. The eyes themselves look just fine. It's worse in the winter, so I'm getting really fed up and feel so sorry for Rose. I feed the same hay all year, just fescue mix and not very dusty. I began her on antihistamines several days ago and will keep it up till I finish the tub. If it works, I'll do that as long as necessary.

I'm ready to call the vet out for no other reason except to diagnose this properly, but my s/a vet and horse-owner friend is coming tomorrow to take a look. I don't really expect him to do anything, but he might stain the eyes IF his stain is safe for use in equines. If there are no scratches, she can have a steroidal drop in her eyes. Mainly, he's going to have a look and advise me if he thinks I should call the vet in right now or try treating it myself first.

I'm really fed up with this and want it gone. I'll have allergy testing done if necessary.

Yip

[goeslikestink]

I bought a 3 year old mare in October. She always has gunk that is dried and accumulates in the corner of her left eye. I had my vet look at it and she couldn't find anything obvious. She did flush the tear duct but said that it didn't seem to flush anything out. That was several weeks ago and the crustiness still forms every day. It's pretty minor--the discharge is clear-colored, it is not a huge amount, and I don't notice her eye tearing--but the other eye doesn't have it (nor do my other mare's eyes have to be "de-gunked" daily). Any thoughts?

you want to check for uv - as thats he 1st thing that comes to mind other than conjuctivitis
a horse with moon blindness or recurring uv ie equine uvetis is very painful and does flare up in widy or wet wether also if pollen is high so the horse should be on bute and perhaps maxcell treatment for his eyes as this is a condition that will and often starts in one eye but can in time effect both eyes

so things you can do - never muck about with eyes yourself always seek vets advice if however the vet is a small animal vet then seeek out large animal or equine vets

then also clean the eye with warm water and then place on the horses head gardian fly mask to be used outside at all time as you dont need extra stress by flys attacking the eyes

keep the horse in windy or direct sunlight weather as this will make the horses eyes run and be puffy

keep the horse on shavings and always muck out the stable after the horse is out just before he come in spray the air with water out of a water spray bottle this reduces dust particals which in turn effect the horse

dont stable a horse near one with straw bedding as when the horse moves lays down or rolls the dust particals come over inot your stable dont stable the horse in a windy part of the yard and dont stable near crops like rape seed -etc etc pollin is a big factor but so are flys and dust

make sure the horse is in fly sheet in summer to, as like i said one thing having uv and another being bitten by flys

check when using any school its well matained ie harrow fequently

dampen your hay or use haylage and place the hay in a hay bar or on te floor in the corner this way nothing is going to drop out into the eyes

do have everything in the same place in the fields and in the stable ie feed bowls water bowls
as this condition affects the eyes and there vision is impaired everytime they have aflare up as it damages the eye
do lead the horse under chin and on his good side so you dont get trampled
do make sure al ailes and walkways are clear of gunk ie tack and rubbish as walkways should be clear so if in an event of emergency one can always get out and not only that ahorse with eye issues then your less likely to trip fall or get trampled on
horses do very well if they have lsot of vision in one eye
or lost an eye so riding can carry on but you as the owner need to be more aware of your voice and tones and how that is an asset not only wiith ahorse in normal circumstances but wth a horse with a vision problem then your voice and tones of voice must be clear as day as you would talk to another person you talk to the horse in the same way so no namby pamby baby stuff
be clear in your voice to the horse
and try to turn the horse out if baording with other freindly soles as rememebr this horse might not be able to see whats comming so its important he/she is out with nice freinds
google information - any more help then beasty slave and a couple of others have blind or vision impareds horses lori at sunkiss is another apart from myself
but yours sounds very much like the begining of uv here in uk its rare but in usa its quite common

also worm your horse on a proper worming programme ie cycle of wroms to seasons of year

[hitchinmygetalong]

My first thought was allergies, but that wouldn't explain why only one eye.

I'll be watching this thread with interest.

[BaroquePony]

My first thought was allergies, but that wouldn't explain why only one eye.

Actually when this problem occured with one of my horses, recently and another time over six months ago, I put the pieces together and ....

it only happened with a specific batch of hay that I had AND the pony in question prefers to eat out of his haynet when standing with the net on his left hand side (only the left eye was involved) AND, being a pony (Welsh Cob), he revels in burying his whole face as far into the net as he can get it. Later he would rub his eye on any part of the barn or stall that worked and BINGO, runny eye, swollen lid, panicking owner (me) .... called the vet, dumped the hay, eye is back to clear and no more rubbing.

[MintHillFarm]

My 16 yr old Percheron mare has this as well in both eyes. I originally thought allergies to some extent but also had read about this in relation to moon blindness...

There has not been much change in the eyes from season to season but it's a problem...

[Rodeio]

I had an elderly neglected pony with the constant eye cookies. Vet checked eyes they were fine. Nothing made a difference until I added Omega Horseshine to her diet. The cookies were gone in a week. I swear that stuff is magic.

[buck22]

my morgan is currently on omega horseshine, love the stuff but did nothing for the eye cookies. omega horseshine is magic though, keeps my older geriatric trucking along.

[deltawave]

Gwen's left eye was always "gooky", never her right. Nobody else has or had gooky eyes on my place, and it never changed from place to place for her, either.

I've read (here) everything from parasites to the dreaded "IR" as possible causes. I'm left thinking that mostly it is just one of those things. :) If it doesn't seem to get worse and the eye is otherwise healthy and not bothering her, maybe just tincture of time.

My son had one weepy eye as a baby; they tried probing his tear duct but that only helped a little--eventually he just grew out of it. *shrug*

[slp2]

OK--let's see if this works, it's my first time posting pics! :yes: Took photos of both eyes today. As you can see, the left eye is not swollen, tearing, or irritated--just dried junk by the eye (a little blurry, sorry, I was taking it with my Blackberry out in the field while she was on a mission to find out if I had any carrots in my pockets). ;) Right eye looks normal.

I had a full PPE done as part of her purchase in October--there is no problems with her vision or overall eye health. It's probably nothing serious but it's just something that I notice (and wipe off) every day. Thanks for all of the replies.

[BuddyRoo]

Vit E and Vit A have really helped my mare with this issue. My mare is IR and this seems to be a common issue with IR horses. You might consider that too.

[buck22]

my gelding is IR too.

[Yip]

My s/a vet/friend was out today and did a thorough exam of her eyes with 2 different opthalmoscopes. He found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

I began her on Hist-all on Sunday, and she is looking much better. He didn't even get to see her eyes even remotely icky, as at their worst, like I have been seeing them for the past couple weeks. I'm going to keep dosing with that till the jar is empty and see if it all clears up. I will gladly make the committment to keeping her on that for the rest of her life, if necessary. There is also at least one more brand I can try to see which works better.

The next step if the antihistamines don't help, is to stain her corneas and check for dye uptake. If she has no scratches, etc, there are several steroidal ointments which might really help. If she does have abrasions, non-steroidal meds would be indicated to heal the abrasions. Just from his exam today, he really feels that her corneas are perfect, but would always stain first before giving any meds.

He was not able to see the tear ducts (nasal somethings) well If the antihistamine doesn't work, he can test for tear production (or lack of it). If she's not producing tears, he advised that my eq vet would be able to sedate and run a little cannula to flush them and then treat as she sees fit.

SO, for now, I'm going to use up the tub of Hist-All and see what happens. If it doesn't help, we'll go the other routes, beginning with the staining and meds as indicated. If that doesn't work, my eq. vet will be called to do the *hard stuff*. I LOVE my eq. vet & have NO problem calling her out if our plans fail or if things change and her eyes become unhealthy. It's just not time yet. (2 eq. vets have already seen this and diagnosed allergies *probably.*)

Yip