Whats wrong with my horse's eye?

Question

My horse has excessive water in her eye, a yellow discharge on her check. A small yellow spot just in the white of the eye. Seems worse in the PM, clears up during the night, has been going on for about four days, as of 6-17-08 Thanks

Answer 1

could be fly eggs

Answer 2

This could be a scratched cornea.  Have the vet check. He'll put dye in her eye, shine a special light on it, and look at it through the opthalmoscope.  If it's scratched, he'll give you an ointment to put on it - antibiotic, I think.   My horses have done this to themselves several times (they feed in brush, or rub their faces, or can even get it from a piece of chaff in the eye), but they have always healed quickly.

It's important to get the vet out for this one.  The scratch can turn into an ulcer, which can get huge and painful and ultimately blind them if not treated.

She could also have a blocked tear duct, but that's not an emergency like a scratch is.

There are other possibilities, of course, but if you get the vet out you'll know for sure.

Answer 3

This is a blocked tear duct. A vet can insert a small tube up her duct from her nose and run some liquid through it. This will squirt out of the eye and clear the duct. Quite easy only takes a couple of minutes to fix.