This message is from: "Andy Mayberry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
My 12 yo mare has this really bad in the summers. My vet said that it is
"fly conjuctivitis." Not a real infection, just an inflammation caused by
the flys. Why my other fjord and the 3 quarterhorses and 2 mules I boarded
over the summer didn't have it, she couldn't answer. Probably the same
reason some people are allergic to ragweed while some are allergic to
mulberry. Now, your horse may actually be reacting to something
(theoretically anything) else--a certain type of weed or dust or whatever.
This is what I tried:
1) Ophthalmic steroids (PBH or something like that). That worked pretty
well, but I'm uncomfortable with that long-term because I know that
long-term ophthalmic steroids in humans can cause glaucoma, cateracts, and
viral eye infections. I've never heard of these conditions in horses, but I
didn't want to be the first. Not to mention that my horse objected to me
rubbing something the consistency of vasaline in her eye twice a day.
2) If this is an allergy thing, then an antihistamine should work great,
right? Well if a 100 pound woman can take 180mg of Allegra daily, then a
1000 mare should be able to take 1800mg of Allegra, right? Well the horse
tolerated it OK, but it didn't do a lick of good. All of the saftey studies
on Allegra were done with twice the recommened dose, so maybe 3600 mg should
work, right? Nope. Tried it and there was no improvement.
3) Another possiblity is a shot of steroids every 3 months. My
brother-in-law used to get these and they totally "cured" his
allergies--Until his doctor refused to give him any more because they
supress the immune system, cause osteoporosis, bleeding ulcers, diabetes,
weight gain and a bunch of other problems. My vet said that steroids can
also cause founder, So I didn't try that.
4) Finally I tried what my vet suggested all along (like what does she know
anyway?). I put this high tech, very expensive, new contraption called a
"FLYMASK" on her (for those of you who missed it, that was sarcasm aimed at
myself). And guess what, the inflammation is almost (I said "almost")
completely gone. Yes she can get the flymask off from time to time, but I
have thumbs, duct tape, and saftey pins, so I'm sure I'm smarter than she
is, so she has the flymask on for more hours per day than it is off.
Anyway, hope this helps.
Andy
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