Horse has red, irritated eye?

Question

My horse has a very red, possibly p***y eye. It started about two days ago. I keep a fly mask on him because he is allergic to fly spray and we have lots of flies this summer, even though his stall is clean. The flies still get to his eyes, though. Could this have caused the infection? He is not exposed to other horses, he is our only horse, so he couldnt have caught this from another horse. Should I call the vet or is there something I can do myself? I have started putting some eye antibiotics that the vet gave me at her last visit from a fly spray infection, but I do not see a difference yet.

Answer 1

Hi,

I think  that your horse might have something in it's eye. (bacteria, dirt, etc.) But i think that you should try to clean it's eyes out, but if that doesn't work, take it to the VET!

Answer 2

You can give the horse some relief from the pain by washing it with lots of cool water - use a really sopping wet cloth so some of the CLEAN water gets into the eye.  This will help flush out any irritants.  Then hold a cold compress on it for a while.

I think it's more likely he's scratched his cornea though; otherwise he'd be improving.  Get the vet out to check.