Illness & Injuries
The good news is that with proper treatment an ulcer can heal up to 1mm per day. So if a horse has a 1/2 cm ulcer, the horse could potentially be ulcer free in 5 days if complications are prevented. Problems arise when the ulcer goes undetected and untreated for even brief periods of time. It can rapidly become large and deep, making treatment more difficult. If an infection becomes established deep in the stroma, it is possible to develop into a stromal abscess. This complication becomes very difficult to treat and often results in the loss of the eye.
Time and money are generally the two leading challenges. Treatment can require that medication be delivered to the eye every hour around the clock for days. Many owners are unable or unavailable to do this. This necessitates that a horse be admitted to the hospital where medication can be delivered around the clock. As the medicating intervals become less intensive, horses are sent home to finish up treatment.
As you can imagine an extended stay in the hospital, medications, and follow-up visits can become very costly, especially if the horse is not covered by insurance. This is the second challenge. In some cases treating the eye is not a financial option and eye removal is the only alternative. Enucleation (eye removal) can, in some dramatic cases, be a fraction of the cost of treating a serious well-established corneal ulcer.
If an eye has to be removed take solace in the fact that most horses continue on with life as usual. They are not affected in ways owners often worry they will. Remember, horses are prey animals and they fear movement. Any movement to a horse could be a predator. This is why horses developed eyes set wide on their heads, giving them great peripheral vision. They are not frightened of what they don’t see! This is why carriage horses wear blinders. Unlike people, horses don’t suffer emotional trauma and tend to continue about their business with little interruption. This is the good news, however we want to save every eye we can and early treatment is key.
Sight loss can be due to corneal ulcers or other eye diseases. To determine if your horse has lost its sight, look for what we call the “dazzle response”: Shine a bright light into the eye and watch for a slight closing of the upper eyelid. Essentially the horse is letting you know they sense the light. Care must be taken to avoid touching the eyelids so a little distance from the eye is important and it can require an intensely bright light.
Some horses are good candidates for a conjunctival flap graft. This surgical procedure relocates a flap of live tissue from the edge of the eye (the pink inner part of the eyelid), which is then sutured over the affected area of the cornea. The graft brings blood supply to the area to promote healing. This procedure requires general anesthesia and is not suitable for all cases. It may also result in additional scarring. In more serious cases, corneal transplant grafts are becoming a more accepted treatment. This procedure also leaves a very significant scar, however saving the eye and the horse’s sight is the goal and this procedure can be helpful in achieving success.
The most common systems of strangles are:
- High fever
- Loss of appetite
- Depression
- Inflammation or swelling of the lymph nodes around the throat
- Persistent coughing
- If left untreated, the lymph nodes can burst and cause a thick yellow to green mucus to drain from the nasal, usually from both nostrils.
Strangles is contagious, and the disease becomes highly contagious when the lymph nodes burst. The shedding of this disease can last for up to 6 weeks and is present in the saliva and nostrils. It is important to isolate a horse with strangles for up to 6 weeks to prevent other animal from contracting this highly contagious and deadly disease.