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Discussion on Permanently blocked tear duct | |
Author | Message |
Member: Annes |
Posted on Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 - 6:05 pm: During an eye exam today the vet found that my 19 yr. old mare had two blocked tear ducts. He was able to unblock her right eye but the left one could not be flushed out. I have been treating her for an eye infection in that eye for the last few weeks. The antibiotic ointment with steroid was working but as soon as I stopped using it, the pus came back. The vet gave her a very extensive exam today and ruled out uveitis which is great news. He said everything looked good but she has a bad case of conjunctivitis. He said the tear duct in the infected eye just would not unblock and he thinks it may even be grown together. She has never had any kind of eye infection before now and didn't even have watery eyes before this infection. The eye is not painful, swollen or light sensitive but she does have the red inner eyelids and pus in the eye. He gave me eye DrOps this time instead of the ointment and I will put in 3x a day instead of twice for a week. We hope this will knock it out this time. He also pulled out a few lower eyelashes which he thought might have been aggravating the problem. (He said he can permanently take them out with a laser if we find it causes a problem in the future.) Has anyone ever had a horse with a permanently blocked tear duct? I read the articles but didn't see anything about ducts that would not open up. Thanks. |
Member: Lala |
Posted on Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004 - 7:06 pm: My two year old was born with one eye having a blocked duct, it had remained blocked and no problems to date. I have heard how one can, in young horses, no ideas up to what age, in some circumstance put some sort of catheter in and flush the duct open if it blocked. Sorry no further help, just that in my young guy I'm not worried about it. He did tend to have more mucous form on outside of that eye than other one, but now they are both about the same, no problems with redness, dryness etc.Dr. O -- If I am being too complacent and should have this relooked at/after please let me know. PS - I had a wonderful dog who nearly reached her 16th birthday who had a blocked tear duct from birth and she prospered. Fiona |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 - 7:59 am: Short of expensive diagnostics and very expensive surgery little can be done. Usually horses with permanantly blocked ducts do have eyes that water slightly and occasionally you see an infection set up in the duct: the eye becomes painful and the duct is discharging purulent material. Usually this is fairly easily treated with opthalmic antibiotics or in worse cases flushing of the duct from the eye side with antibiotic solutions.DrO |
Member: Annes |
Posted on Wednesday, Feb 18, 2004 - 1:46 pm: Thanks Fiona and Dr. O for your response. I was so happy to find out my mare did not have uveitis that I did not ask how the blocked duct would affect her. Hopefully it will not cause problems in the future. - Ann |
Member: Annes |
Posted on Monday, Mar 15, 2004 - 4:57 pm: Dr. O and all - I have a follow up question re: my mare who has severe conjunctivitis with blocked tear duct. It has now been a month and I have finished giving her the antibiotic DrOps the vet left. While her eye has improved greatly, the upper eyelid still looks too red plus she has some discharge almost every day. I started putting in the ointment again every day. Does a case of severe conjunctivitis usually take this long to clear up? My vet comes out again in a few weeks to give annual shots and he can look at her again but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had such difficulty clearing up conjunctivitis. Do you think the blocked tear duct interferes with the healing process......Thanks for any feedback. |
Member: Annes |
Posted on Monday, Mar 15, 2004 - 5:00 pm: Dr. O and all - I have a follow up question re: my mare who has severe conjunctivitis with blocked tear duct. It has now been a month and I have finished giving her the antibiotic DrOps the vet left. While her eye has improved greatly, the upper eyelid still looks too red plus she has some discharge almost every day. I started putting in the ointment again every day. Does a case of severe conjunctivitis usually take this long to clear up? My vet comes out again in a few weeks to give annual shots and he can look at her again but I wanted to ask if anyone else has had such difficulty clearing up conjunctivitis. Do you think the blocked tear duct interferes with the healing process......Thanks for any feedback. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004 - 6:39 am: Hello Ann,Usually uncomplicated conjunctivitis clears up pretty quickly and yes I think the blocked duct complicates things some. DrO |
Member: Mjane |
Posted on Thursday, Jul 22, 2004 - 3:44 pm: DrO,Is it possible to rule out blocked tear ducts just by observing a clear discharge from the nostrils? My vet did so about 3 months ago and said there would be no discharge from the nose if the tear ducts were blocked. However, the colt still has watery eyes all the time. His face is always wet from the tears and a couple of times the discharge seemed to contain pus. He doesn't appear to have any swelling or discomfort, other than flies are attracted to the wet area. Thanks, Jane |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Saturday, Jul 24, 2004 - 9:48 am: Hello Jane,No, nasal secretions are normal and they may accumulate around the nl duct making it hard to judge their origin. DrO |
Member: Megster |
Posted on Sunday, Jul 25, 2004 - 3:55 pm: AnnMy mare also has permanently blocked tear ducts in one eye. Through winter when she is stabled through the night the eye tends to run more and in the mornings the stickiness is quite congealed around her eye and has to be cleaned but through the summer months she lives out and most of the time you would never know there was a problem with the eye - perhaps due to less wind, warmer weather, being out in the fresh air all the time - who knows? After investigation of the problem, and several unsuccessful attempts at flushing the eye, I decided that it was not worth the upset to her of having it operated on and that i would resign myself to cleaning the eye with sterile water every day. She's not had any infections since I took this approach approximately a year ago. I also keep a bottle of 'broline' - mild eye DrOps for minor eye infections bought over the counter - just incase it ever looks a little inflamed but like I say, I've not had problems with it in ages. Hope this helps. Sarah |
Member: Annes |
Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2004 - 11:04 am: Sarah, thanks for the input. My mare's eye infection finally resolved itself and she has been fine since May. I keep an eye ointment on hand too. This year I am putting a fly mask on her and I think that has really helped. |