Topical ointment question

[Marsha Cassada]

I have a horse with weepy eyes. I have used a dab of Neosporin by the eye, as some kind of topical treatment helps a little with cleaning the crusty stuff. I'm wondering if there is a more appropriate topical product to use, in case the product migrates into the eye. Would vaseline or mineral oil work? This is a chronic problem, so I'm looking for long-term ideas. Maybe I should use nothing, and just soak the crust off with the plain water? (Nothing conclusive from two professionals as the cause of the weepy eyes; we just deal with it as best we can.)

 

[AnnaC]

I have an elderly mini who often gets slightly weepy in her eyes both in the summer and also in the winter if the wind is icy. We just clean things up with warm water, dry the skin thoroughly and then use vaseline to protect her cheeks. This problem only started last year so I think it is simply 'age' related, and she refuses to wear a fly mask which could help, so we just keep things clean and comfortable when these 'sessions' occur.

 

[amysue]

I have a three year old who suffered corneal ulcers as a colt. He now suffers from chronic watery eyes. My vet told me that as long as it isn't green/yellow discharge (sign of infection) then neopolybac eye onitment was fine. It is neomyacin and bacitracin. She said neosporin was almost the same, just has a bit less bacitracin in it. I primarily use neosporin as it is less expensige. So what you are using is fine, and certainly is cheap enough. She said it wouldnt hurt his eyes to use neosporin. I use a face cloth and warm water to wash the crust off and apply ointment to soothe irritation. Keeping his forelock braided helps with the tearing a lot and he wears a fly bonnet year round to keep bugs and hay dust out. Its not too bad to deal with, just makes me feel bad for him. My vet recommended using terrimyacin eye ointment if it appears to become infected. If you cant find it on the shelves, try ebay. There apparently is some shortage of it in the US but Pfizer manufactures it in other countries as well. With fly season approaching I just bought 5tubes from turkey on ebay. The drug is the same, just the directions are in turkish.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Yes, I have an antibiotic ointment for eyes if they show infection. Also a cortizone drop if they swell. I think I'll look for vaseline in a tube, instead of neosporin every day. I've tried keeping a fly mask on her this winter but she is so hairy it makes her rub and then she gets an owy. So I'm leaving it off until she's clipped. It doesn't seem to make any difference anyway as to how much her eyes tear, and there are no flies now.

She doesn't seem that concerned about it; I'm the one with the problem! She sees me coming with the blue bucket every morning and seems not only resigned, but anticipating the attention of having her face cleaned.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[disneyhorse]

BNP ophthalmic ointment. Vetericyn is also supposedly safe to use everywhere, but I'm still not convinced it's more than a ridiculously priced saline solution.

 

[madmax]

You can buy generic saline solution to wash out the eyes, but I have made my own by boiling a cup of water in the microwave with couple of dashes of salt, let cool and squirted with an used syringe that I also sanitized in the microwave for one minute.. Saline solution is tempered and better to use than just plain water which is harsh on the eye. I do like the Vetericyn gel instead of the liquid. Kind of expensive but only takes a drop and lasts a while.

Mineral oil rubbed around the outside will also keep flies from landing there and also vaseline. I had a mare with her eyelid stitched back on and I used all of the above to keep it clean and to stop her from rubbing it.