Eye is tearing badly…

Hi all, I just had a quick question. A couple weeks ago, my horse’s eye looked as though it had a small cut in the inner corner and it was very pink. The vet took a look at it and because it was so small in nature, he preferred that we try to let it heal naturally. I was looking great for a week or so, but has gone downhill in the last couple days. It seems as though the “pinkness” is now spreading. What seems to be the issue is that his eye is tearing terribly and is irritating everything. I am getting the vet out as soon as he can, but in the meantime, the tearing fluids are doing a number on his face – is there anything I can put on his cheek to stop the fluids from eating at the hair and flesh? I have been cleaning his face on a regular basis to try to prevent it, but it is tearing so consistently that I can’t possibly clean up every tear and it is seems to be rapidly irritating the skin.

Thank in advance for any suggestions!

Vaseline (petroleum jelly) - generic store brand will work too.

Glad you're getting the vet out, I'd be much more worried about the eye than the tearing. Put a fly mask on him until the vet can get out, which will hopefully be today!

What both of the above posters said.

Vaseline will take care of the face.

Please give you poor horse a fly mask to keep the sun and bugs out of what is probably a very sore eye.

Oh yes, he is sporting his fly mask - thankfully fly season is over where I am, but I have it on him to prevent sun, dust etc. from bothering his eye. Just texted the B/O and apparently the vet is out looking at him right now - speak of the devil! In any case, I will definitely try the vasoline!!
Thanks for your suggestions!
Cheers :)

Just an update - the vet prescribed an eye ointment, and I have been applying the Vaseline each day on his cheek since this thread and both are doing wonders! Thanks all! Vaseline sure is an underrated product isn’t it – so good for so many uses!

Funny how keen horses are; He is typically the type of horse that can’t stand still for more than a few seconds, but, each time I clean his face, dab on ointment and applying Vaseline, he stands so quietly and patiently, he even starts to close his eyes and rest his head on my arm or shoulder like he thoroughly enjoys it and understands that I am trying to help him – it just melts me!

Awww what a sweetie! What did the vet diagnose?

I was told that it's a bacterial skin infection - most likely caused from him itching himself when the small cut in the corner of the eye lid was healing. He took a sample of the fluids to do a culture just to be safe, but no news is good news I suppose! The ointment has really helped, the tearing fluids have pretty much stopped and the pinkish areas have settled down immensly! His cheek has been protected with the vaseline, and the damage to the skin from the fluids (prior to the Vaseline) has also cleared up with the exception of some minor hair loss. Yay! *happy dance*

Phew! Eyes can be so tricky to treat. Glad he's feeling better and recovering well!