Jingles and Indolent Corneal Ulcer success stories STILL IN THE TRENCHES

[FraggleRock]

Not sure why my original post was cut off
My mare had two corneal ulcers in her right eye from hay stuck through the fly mask. It happened on her first day allowed back outside in daylight (bugs) from a bad kick(s) that had resulted in stitches in one spot and eventually opening up a huge hole in her hind end to let the fluid drain…

Long story short of the rest of the lost post is one ulcer healed up great the other took from the last week of July to the third week of September . It got bad and fungal and the vet thought she would lose her eye, but she ended up with only scarring!
This was all done with at home care (no overnight equine hospitals/ Opthalmologists etc in the province). She also didn’t have a lavage, I medicated her with 2/3 drops and ointments 6 times a day and eventually every 2 hrs during the day when it got bad.

Don’t lose hope yet!

[painthunter]

I’ve always lurked and never felt the need to reply but having just dealt with this all fall, I hope your guy turns the corner.

Mine had an abscess with fungal infection that we caught within a few hours. SPL line put in that day to treat. We tried to treat at home for a few days but he ended up going to the vet school for 2.5 weeks for what started as medical management and ended up as a keratectomy with a conjunctival flap. We were released from optho care about 3 weeks ago and are lightly back to work — so it can happen and I am on a 15 (almost 16) year old gelding. It’s terrifying and it appears his vision is okay. We aren’t jumping yet, so we will see what happens then.

I hope things turn out well for you. This is a very stressful time for all involved.

[HunterJumperGin]

Update in original post.

[zbgirl]

My TB gelding has had 8 or 9 episodes of corneal ulcer in the right eye, and once in the left in the 5 years I’ve had him. He is a terrible 'rubbing, itching" horse and won’t leave the eye alone. Most times they heal in about 7 days but early on, only drawing blood and applying the serum made a significant shift in his healing. None of the ulcers ever had fungal infections, but I can sympathize with you. For certain, the Eyesaver Mask did exactly that. I bought one for each eye as I know my horse will just rub! He is such a klutz around his eyes that I won’t let the barn feed in a hay net. We’ve just had too many episodes of ulcers. Thankfully the last one was well over a year ago. I never did lavage as I think he probably wouldn’t have tolerated it, but I’m not sure. At least he was good about ointment and drops in the eyes. Some horses are really hard to treat with ointment! Jingles to you!

[HunterJumperGin]

@zbgirl is that a mask you keep on after the fact? Link?

[zbgirl]

My vet who used to be a track vet had used them and they are sold at Jorgensen’s and Jupiter Vet Supply, under the name of Eyesaver Mask. You order either a Horse or Warmblood size, right or left eye covered over in a hard plastic half dome cup with ventilation holes. A very fine gauze insert absorbs the tearing eye material, as well as protecting the cup from external debris from entering as the horse rolls. Its meant to be on 24/7 while the eye is healing.

http://jupitervetproducts.com/eyesaver.aspx

After the eye is healed you don’t need it. I do have the Horseware Rambo Ultra Plus mask which looks like a big bee keeper’s mask on my horse. Its designed to keep the sides of the fly mask well away from the horses eyes. I like it so far especially when they’res flies landing on his face and eyes in the summer. That one can be used day and night, also.

[TXJumper]

@zbgirl

My vet who used to be a track vet had used them and they are sold at Jorgensen’s and Jupiter Vet Supply, under the name of Eyesaver Mask. You order either a Horse or Warmblood size, right or left eye covered over in a hard plastic half dome cup with ventilation holes. A very fine gauze insert absorbs the tearing eye material, as well as protecting the cup from external debris from entering as the horse rolls. Its meant to be on 24/7 while the eye is healing.

http://jupitervetproducts.com/eyesaver.aspx

This is the mask that my “emergency” vet ended up having us use. It was a life saver. Unfortunately, they charged me $150 for the damned thing. Slight upcharge there.

[zbgirl]

Well, they do last for multiple episodes of ulcers. And they wash really well. At one point, we were using the mask about twice a year (minimum) for 3 years. But it worked and healing was faster because he couldn’t get at it. He would rub around it, but it held up well!