The horse I’ve had for a couple of weeks - 7yr old gelding - has some discharge from his left eye. I’ve noticed it on and off since we got him. The discharge is sometimes yellow and sometimes clear. His eye is fully open and clear looking. He doesn’t seem to be in pain. On warmer days I’ve put a fly mask on him. Any ideas what this could be? I suppose a vet call out may be needed :(. I’ve been attempting to get some poly sporin eye drops in for the last few days.
How serious?
Does he have some thing stuck in his eye?
I can’t see anything in his eye and no injury that i am aware of. I was thinking it could be a mild bacterial infection hence the poly sporin drops but not sure. If it was only a day or 2 like that I wouldn’t be concerned but the fact it’s persisting has me questioning what’s causing it…
We bought a gelding once whose eye wept fairly regularly. He was kicked in the face as a baby and his tear duct was damaged which brought on the weeping. Might be worth having the vet take a look next time you have him out.
Absolutely call your vet. Eye allergies resulting in weeping and thick eye goop have been an issue in my area this year. Though the allergies are not an emergency generally, they can evolve rapidly into something more dire.
One of my horses had persistent water/goopy eyes for a few weeks which I tended to daily but didn’t seek vet advice for. It then developed into a huge summer sore almost overnight. Had I not gotten the vet involved quickly, it may have gotten to the point it would never have healed properly. Had I called the vet at the onset of the seemingly innocent runny eye, he may have never developed the sore at all.
A friend’s horse developed a cancerous tumor in the eye duct that started out as a simple weepy eye that went on for weeks.
When eyes are involved, always call the vet.
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Another vote for calling the vet. Weeping eyes with clear or yellow discharge can have many causes, from allergies to uveitis.
and even if it is a simple allergy, the horse can do serious damage by scratching/rubbing it’s itchy eye on inappropriate surfaces.
The vet came today. He said it’s a blocked tear duct and flushed it out . Thanks for the replies everyone
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