swollen eye

[sj_mad]

hi my 2yr old gelding had a swollen eye yesterday and its worse today. There's no wound, the bottom lid is a little puffy and its abit red with a tiny amount of white/clear discharge, Is there anything I can try or shall i pop to the vets and see what they say? Iv took a photo on my phone to show vet as my wagon is away getting fixed so cant take him, typical!

[Marchtime]

Sounds like he's just irritated by the flies. My pony often has slightly puffy eyes at this time of year however we know this is usual for her. As I don't know your horse if you're at all worried I'd get the vet. Eyes aren't something to mess around with but it doesn't sound serious.

[mtj]

my warmblood had a vet visit for exactly the same yesterday.

puffy lower lid and a little white discharge.

the vet has given us some antibiotic eye cream, and said the infection is probably caused by flies. he also stated that he is seeing numerous horses with the same problem at the moment. the horse's eye was examined for any damage prior to the prescribing of drugs.

as Marchtime says, eyes need the utmost of caution. personally i would arrange for a vet visit.

[kellyeaton]

sounds like he has been beaten on his eye lid wash is eye with sterile water!

[sj_mad]

thanks for all your replies, i rushed 2 the vets this morning and theyve given me some ointment, i was just going to bathe it but i wanted to make sure!

[Janetterose]

I wouldnt get the vet out - same happened to mine - its just the flies/dust/pollen. You can bathe it, cool it with cold tea bags and put a fly mask on. I also changed to haylage for the short term. Its still a bit runny but doesnt look sore any more

[Skippydo]

I have a pony with one eye and get worried when his other eye gets swollen and weepy.
Although the vet did give me ointment on the first occasion it happened he said ONLY use it if you REALLY need to the best thing to do is bath it with cooled boiled water using cotton wool ( I get the cooton wool completely loaded with the water and squeeze it into his eye, he's very small so i can tip his head back as well).
It works a treat every time.

[archoak]

We have the same thing at the moment and its most probably flies, we squirt cooled boiled water with a little salt added around the eye with a syringe, unfortunately horse hates this and throws himself around the stable We are also using a fly mask and turning out at night.

[Box_Of_Frogs]

My one-eyed Sunny developed exactly the same late on Tuesday. Panic stations coz as skippydo says, when your ned hasn't got any "spares" you have to cherish the remaining eye. Sunny's eye was puffy, swollen, red round the edges and major tear production. Vet came out almost immediately (god bless 'em) and we hope it is just conjunctivitis caused by flies. He's on maxilon for a few days as the specialist vets where he had his eye removed have, like skippydo, cautioned against doing anything that might further harm the balanced environment in the eye. My vets said they have had a shed load of callouts for puffy, swollen eyes!

[Hoppa]

Another vote for cold tea!

A couple of horses at my yard have this currently, the boiling hot weather has made the flies go mad.

Get 2 fly masks and wash and change them daily, to stop the mask from putting the infection back into the eye Also will stop him from rubbing it.

You've got stuff from the vets, which is the right thing to do. For minor watery eyes I use Brolene eye drops from the chemist, (although I am not suggesting this as a substitute for proper veterinary treatment)