Yukky eyes...

[PasoJoy]

I went out to feed the horses this morning and found one of them with runny eyes...at first I thought it was just one eye, and that he may have poked it or something, but then noticed it was BOTH eyes...yellowish greenish mucusy stuff around them :mad: , so I washed them off and applied some antibiotic (opthamolic ointment) that I had (for the dog), took his temp which was normal, and called the vet...she thinks he may have picked up some kind of viral thing...
I fed him some 'different' hay yesterday cause I was real low on the regular stuff he was getting, and I was wondering if this could be some kind of allergy related thing? So far he is acting OK....
It's ALWAYS something... :shock:

[PASOFAN]

Happend to my boy one time too, I just did what you did, wash them, put tiple antibiotic on them and 2days later he was fine. I am bettin a alergy, I hope he turns out ok!

[Cindy]

Could have clogged ducts. If you look in his nostril you will see a little hole there. Take a tomcat catheter, insert in said hole, flush with saline. The flush will come out his eye along with whatever is in there. Then use the eye ointment for a few days.

[PasoPerson38]

Also I would put a fly mask on him to prevent dust, debris, and buggies until he is all better.

[NikiGA]

Could have clogged ducts. If you look in his nostril you will see a little hole there. Take a tomcat catheter, insert in said hole, flush with saline. The flush will come out his eye along with whatever is in there. Then use the eye ointment for a few days.

God, I hope it isn't Poeta. He would not like that procedure. Post pix if you do that, Joy! I hope whoever he is feels better now.

[Cindy]

God, I hope it isn't Poeta. He would not like that procedure. Post pix if you do that, Joy! I hope whoever he is feels better now.

Actually, suprisingly, the ones that I have done or have seen done do not have a much of a problem with it. You would think it would be much more difficult than it is.

[Bonnie M]

A friend of mine would blow cigarette smoke into their nose which would make the horse sneeze and it would open up the ducts.

[PasoJoy]

What on earth is a tomcat catheter, Cindy??? :shock:
Nope, Poeta would not like it for sure, but it's Fundador, Niki, that had the goopy eyes, they are a lot better today, no more yukky stuff...I have been using and ointment on them, and flymask... :D

[Cindy]

It's a little plastic hollow tube that connects to a syringe(sp). You know, a catheter. :-?

[motorgypsy]

Where is the hole to flush eyes Cindy? Obviously there is a big hole they breath out of but I'm assuming that isn't the one you put the catheter in.

For those of you who haven't seen a cat catheter they are the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen in diameter and hollow and maybe six inches long and clear plastic. They have a hole in one end and a larger opening in the other end. In the old days male cats had a terrible time with bladder stones and were constantly having to go to the vet to be flushed out. It was terrible.

[Cindy]

It's inside the nostril on the bottom. Look in any of your horse's noses and you will see a little hole at the base of the nostril kind of under where the top of the nostril is. This hole is connected to the duct that is at the corner of the eye and it sometimes gets clogged. If flies are bad, you will sometimes get fly eggs in there. When you flush it comes out the corner of the eye.

[GeorgeGuns]

So where do ya get these catheters? They sure don't have them at Petsmart... sounds like a handy thing to keep around.
And how far in would you insert it? Sounds simple enough if the horse isn't freaked out by it.

[Cindy]

I have always gotten them from my vet.

[motorgypsy]

vet or probably vet supply. They are handy for all sorts of things because they are so small but not sharp like a needle. There are two types if I remember correctly - one had the hole in the end and the other, the hole is on the side. This was a long time ago though so don't know about today.

[Laura S]

That sounds like the type of catheter that my vet used when he gave strangles vaccine up the nostril.

[Cindy]

Yep, same thing.

[PasoJoy]

Looks like I will have to find one of those catheters....he was OK for a week, but now has one yukky eye again.... :mad:

[AprilH]

Pasojoy - I just had the same yucky eyes as you are describing with my 8 month old filly. Because of the redness in the eyes as well as the "goop" and the fact that it wasn't a scratched cornea, ulcer, etc. the vet gave me the eye ointment that contains steroids. I just started using the ointment yesterday and she already looks so much better. When it first started Sunday, it began in one eye, almost cleared up, went to the other eye, then back to the first eye! Now that I'm using the ointment we'll see if it stays gone! Don't you just hate seeing them look miserable!

[motorgypsy]

Do NOT use any eye ointment with steroids in it unless a vet has seen the eye. it can cause major problems. The terramycin ointment is probably OK as is washing the eye with normal saline from the pharmacy. If you use the steroid ointment on the vet's recommendation and the condition comes back when it runs out be sure to call the vet because this usually mean infection is present.