Ask The Vet

Provided By: Melissa McKee DVM

Your horse may have conjunctivitis, which is why you are starting to see a pink rim where it used to be black. The salmon-coloured flesh that lines the eye socket is inflamed and protruding visibly around the eye. The most common causes of this include irritation from dust and allergies, uveitis, infection, blocked tear duct, corneal ulcer, or foreign material in the eye. The treatment of this condition really depends on what is causing the problem, and it is important to know what the actual diagnosis is because using the wrong medication can have serious consequences. The most important thing is to determine whether there is an ulcer or scratch on the cornea because certain eye ointments that are great for simple allergic irritation will slow the healing of an ulcer and promote bacterial infection. There could also be grass awns or other particles trapped under the lids, which causes chronic irritation and need to be flushed out. As well, blocked tear ducts prevent the eye from draining normally so normal secretions accumulate in an ugly yellow crud in the corner of it. If this is a persistent problem, you may want to have your vet take a look. A few simple observations and diagnostic tests can tell you what is causing the swelling and the cure is usually very straighforward. Hopefully it is just minor irritation, but some of the problems I mentioned can have serious consequences if left too long so I would have it checked out.