[Berkeley1]

anyone else on here have a horse with Uveitis?

My horse got Uveitis back in September and he went blind from it in his right eye I was just wondering how other horse owners with this proble deal with it?
Berkeley is fine now, he only got it that one time, and in a few days, he was blind. My vet said he hadn't seen a horse get it the first time and go blind that fast. We were puring medicine down him and putting medicine in the eye and nothing worked for him.
Since then he has fully recovered and is back to showing, doesn't seem to have any problems. I just have to be more careful where we walk and things because he does bump into things sometimes.

Has anyone had a horse that had Uveitis in both eyes? This is my main fear now is that his other eye could get it. What do you do if your horse loses sight in both eyes? Do you put them down? or can they live out their life in a pasture? I am mainly just asking this if it does become a realitiy some day.

[Shotgun93]

We had a mule that had uveitis. She never got it in the other eye, and treatment in the problem eye worked for many years. Then all of a sudden in about a month long period, that eye was totally overtaken with it. We eventually removed the eye, and it was probably the best things we could have done. Even with only one eye she still went on to compete in jumping, eventing and dressage.

[StormysGirl]

^That's pretty impressive.
One of the old horses at the barn had the same thing. They tried drugs for awhile, but then decided to remove the eye. She was never a really huge competitor, but she's still used for lessons and whatnot.

[IIIBarsV]

My sister's mare got uveitis in one eye several years ago... it never spread to the other. She learned to compensate and would be careful to listen if she was close to something on the blind side. She still competed very successfully in barrel racing, polebending, some other games. She eventually learned to jump and her max was 3'3, but I've seen her clear 3'6. (She was only 14hh). Ironically, if she ever knocked over a barrel, it was on the GOOD side. lol

We made sure to keep a flymask on her during the summer daylight hours to keep the flies and sunlight off of the bad eye. Sometimes she'd get conjuntivitis in it, so we would treat it accordingly. She was a really awesome mare, I can't even count how many awards and championships she's won, and she did most of her winning *after* she went blind in the one eye. She's one of the best polebending horses I've ever ridden.

[Arabians4ME]

I had a mare a few years ago that lost both her eyes to uveitis. She was an older broodmare and her herd mates looked out for her very well. They always took care of her. It was a sad time when she left because I always worried about what would happen to her when she lost her pasture mates.

[Berkeley1]

thanks for the information.
I am still new with this disease. I went to the barn one day and his eye was swollen shut. I called the vet and he said it was uveitis. I was suprised being he is 11 years old and just got this now. The vet said it could happen. He got it that one time and hasn't had a problem since. His eye looks perfectly normal, except there is no vision.
Is it possible that it may never come back? Also, can this transfer to the other eye, or does it usually just attack one? I know horses can get it both, but is that rare?
Also, can horses with only one eye show? My instructor said no, but I thought someone on here mentioned showing a one-eyed horse.
just curious
thanks!

[Goonhorse]

My mare got uveitis a little over a year ago. Her eyes (both of them) started tearing all the time and got worse and worse. We had the vet out three or four times trying to figure out what it was. He couldn't figure it out, so he called the ophthalmologist at Purdue and asked him, and he said it was definitely uveitis. Our vet had never seen it before in such early stages, so he didn't know what it was. Thankfully we had caught it in time and she doesn't have any damage to her eyes.

We got her a mask from www.guardianmask.com. She wears it every day. She knows when it helps, too, because if I don't get out there to put it on and it's really bright out, she'll come right up to me and put her head down for me to put it on.

This is what she looked like before we finally got her diagnosed--only I think it had started to get even worse. Poor baby!



ETA: She hasn't gotten in since, so hopefully it won't come back!

[Berkeley1]

that is what Berkeley looked like when he got, thankfully it was only the one eye. I use a fly mask sometimes, but the vet said he is no longer sensitive to light, so I wouldn't need it until the summer when flies may bother it.

[Goonhorse]

Originally Posted by Berkeley1

that is what Berkeley looked like when he got, thankfully it was only the one eye. I use a fly mask sometimes, but the vet said he is no longer sensitive to light, so I wouldn't need it until the summer when flies may bother it.

I've heard that horses are sensitive to light when they aren't actually having a relapse, but for whatever reason she's always squinting and blinking a lot more than the other horses when the sun is shining on the snow. Anyway, I figure it can't hurt. She doesn't mind wearing it, and it'll keep debris and light out of her eyes. Though she has gone a day or so when it's been very cloudy out.