I've started and scrapped this post about 10 times... I was (and still am) upset about it a bit and I don't want to go into all kinds of boring details. I'm just going to try and summarize as best I can and provide a few links that helped me a bit in my research.
In a nutshell - the equine eye is very complicated. After trying to learn and read about it a bit, it is no wonder that a vet can do a 3yr residency in ophthalmology to become a specialist. Please note that what I am writing here is a very brief summary of what I have been dealing with and is not veterinary advice...
Horses can have all kinds of eye injuries and problems. When your head and eyes are that big and you are a flight animal, stuff is bound to happen. Injuries to the eye are very common and bacterial and fungal infections are also quite frequent. It turns out that fungal eye infections are very rare in this part of Canada. They most often occur in the southern US.
Corneal ulcers are also quite common in horses. From petplace.com, "Corneal ulcers are usually caused by trauma. For instance, a piece of hay or dust may be caught in the horse's eye, or your horse may bump his eye on something protruding in his stall". Ulcers can remain fairly easy to treat or more complicated ulcers may take many weeks or months to heal.
"A common complication of corneal injuries is inflammation of the uveal tract (iris, ciliary body and choroid), known as uveitis. Horses are far more prone to uveitis than other species. If unchecked uveitis can lead to chronic pain, cataract formation, scarring within the eyeball, glaucoma (increased pressure within the eyeball) and damage to the retina leading to blindness"
Horses can have all kinds of eye injuries and problems. When your head and eyes are that big and you are a flight animal, stuff is bound to happen. Injuries to the eye are very common and bacterial and fungal infections are also quite frequent. It turns out that fungal eye infections are very rare in this part of Canada. They most often occur in the southern US.
Corneal ulcers are also quite common in horses. From petplace.com, "Corneal ulcers are usually caused by trauma. For instance, a piece of hay or dust may be caught in the horse's eye, or your horse may bump his eye on something protruding in his stall". Ulcers can remain fairly easy to treat or more complicated ulcers may take many weeks or months to heal.
"A common complication of corneal injuries is inflammation of the uveal tract (iris, ciliary body and choroid), known as uveitis. Horses are far more prone to uveitis than other species. If unchecked uveitis can lead to chronic pain, cataract formation, scarring within the eyeball, glaucoma (increased pressure within the eyeball) and damage to the retina leading to blindness"
As many of you may have heard, Appaloosas are at high risk for uveitis - researchers haven't been able to figure out why, but it is something that makes the breed a bit of a risk. I knew this going into Rusty's purchase, but figured we had a good chance because of his age.
You know it is bad when there are websites dedicated to the subject:
The Appaloosa Project
Blindappaloosas.org
More references:
Overview on ulcers and eye problems
Corneal ulcers - vetcontact.com
An article on ulcers - petplace.com
Equine ophthalmology - NC State U
I'm going to post the second part of how all of this relates to Rusty tomorrow...
4 comments:
Breathe Deep Laura. Remember, just because Rusty's amazing eye is damaged, does NOT spell the end of things either. I promise- it will be OK.
And if you need a shoulder to vent to, let me know. I have been through the same stages as you. My App went totally blind, and thanks to time well spent, we still rode at the ripe old age of 38.
Sending strong happy vibes to you babe, now go kiss Rusty!
Take Mrs Mom's advice Laura.
Sidenote... there was some sort of study being done (I think by our university here) about coat pattern in relation to blindness in Appies. I seem to remember it saying that the leopard spot pattern is the one with the most risk. (I could be totally wrong, I'll have to dig around and see if I can find it)
Oh no! You're getting me worried, Laura. Like Mrs. Mom said, though, it's not the end of anything if Rusty has a serious eye problem. I've read about several horses going on with one or both eyes completely blind and still being ridden into old age.
Hang in there sweetie. I'm off to check out some of those links you included.
HUGS,
Lisa
I hope everything is alright! Losing sight in one eye isn't the most terrible thing, you'll still be able to have lots of quality time together.
Buttercup's father is completely blind in one eye and near totally blind in his other. On top of that he is deaf... we still ride him every now and then. But we keep him on level ground and take it slow. He's a good old boy and deserves a nice retirement.
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