Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Swollen eye

From: Janice

Dear Jessica, my vet doesn't know what is wrong with my mare's eye. There is no injury or ulcer. My vet has been out three times to see the mare and all we know is that she has one eye that is badly swollen and all puffy. It doesn't seem to matter if she's wearing a fly mask or not, she'll either show up with it all swollen or she won't. Do you have any idea what could be causing this? My vet said maybe we should give her antihistimines, but if she needed those, wouldn't she be swollen in both eyes?

Thanks a bunch! Janice

Hi Janice! Since there's no injury, I would guess that perhaps the eye might be very itchy. Horses are much more bothered by flies (or other causes of itching) on some days than on others, and sometimes they seem to be much more itchy around or above one eye than the other one.

A horse that continually rubs its eye can eventually develop swollen eyelids, and the degree of swelling can reflect the force or duration or frequency of the rubbing, or the item that the eye was rubbed against. Fenceposts, fence boards, and the horse's own knee are popular selections, but I've seen itchy horses rubbing their heads against trees, too.

All of this rubbing is something you really want to discourage if you can, because equine eyes are very delicate and easily injured. Rubbing against a board or post treated with creosote can burn the horse's skin and hurt the eye; rubbing against a tree can result in small pieces of bark getting into the eye; rubbing against her own knee can cause her to rub flyspray and small hairs into her eye.

Since the flymask makes no difference, and your vet thinks that the antihistimine would help, why not take that advice? You can always discontinue the medication if you don't get the results you want.

Jessica

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