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Discussion on Eye Removal with Subsequent Bone Infection | |
Author | Message |
New Member: indigo |
Posted on Saturday, Sep 22, 2007 - 1:31 pm: A little background: I purchased (rescued) a mare last year who had presumably poked her eye on a yucca plant, and her previous owners never bothered to call the vet, they just let the eye rot away. Upon purchase I took her into my vet and she went in and tried to remove what was left of the eye, but what remained was mostly just scar tissue. She had a very hard time stitching the eyelid back up as there wasn't much left of the skin, it had seemingly disintegrated along with the eye.The eye did however heal up, and was ok for about 6 months. I took her to be bred in the spring, and the "eye" must have gotten irritated because when I went to pick her up, she had rubbed ALL of the eyelid off and there was just an exposed hole left. Took her back to the vet, who recommended using Underwoods to dry the socket out. This too seemed to work, and she was fine for a couple months. Unfortunately the "eye" recently started oozing again, and she developed a hard swelling on the bone between the eyes. Back to the vet, who diagnosed her with a bone infection. She recommended I put her on SMZ's for the next 3-4 months, possibly longer. She said tetracycline would be preferable, but since she's pregnant we can't use it. I am concerned with the long term use of SMZs on this mare since she is pregnant, and also wonder if this is the appropriate antibiotic to use. Also curious how effectively bone infections of this sort can be treated. I have to admit I am very concerned that I might lose the mare to this infection. Thank you in advance for any feedback or advice. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 9:03 am: If the decision to use TMP/SMZ is made you should follow the recommendations in the article Treatments and Medications for Horses » Antibiotics and Antimicrobials » Trimethoprim -Sulfa. The problem is finding an alternative that can be used orally in pregnant mares that is safe as injecting a horse multiple times daily for months is not a good option. Chloramphenicol is suppose to be safe during certain times of the pregnancy but uncertain of the details. I don't have a good alternative off the top of my head but will continue to look into this.DrO |
New Member: indigo |
Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 11:48 am: Thank you DrO, I did read the article last night and am concerned with the folic acid problem that could occur when using SMZs on pregnant mares; however, I looked at all the other antibiotic articles as well and didn't see anything else that would be appropriate with the possible exception of Chloramphenicol. But I have to admit I'm a little leary about handling that stuff!I greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions you might have. |
Member: dres |
Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 12:15 pm: CC i had to give Chloramphenicol to my mare last year, i had to wear gloves and was very careful she did not drip it on my head, 17'3''hhs tall, It was awful stuff and made her sick as a dog , worse, she could not / or would not eat on it.. i tried rinsing her mouth with mints afterwards to get the awful taste out of her mouth.. that made her happy temporarily but she still did not eat on it.. We had to take her off it after a week..Good luck.. On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots.. |
New Member: indigo |
Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 1:34 pm: Another question in regards to this mare-- my vet did not suggest any type of surgery to go in and scape the bone, but I see from other posts in regards to osteomyelitis that this is often what is done. As mentioned previously, the swelling is directly between the eyes so I would assume this is the area that would have to be scraped. Is such a procedure possible or is there too much risk involved with attemtping to scrape the bone in this area?Thanks again!!!!!! |
New Member: indigo |
Posted on Sunday, Sep 23, 2007 - 1:41 pm: Thanks for the feedback Ann. After reading about Chloramphenicol I am VERY leary to use it... just don't want to take the chance on handling it. |
Moderator: DrO |
Posted on Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 10:02 am: Hmmm CCT,Concerning scrapping it depends on the nature of the infection. If it lies on the bone yes scrapping has been advocated but often osteomyelitis enters the bone. Radiographs often can give much information on infected bones. DrO |