We have even thought about handing him over to a rescue where he could live out his life.

Just my opinion, but don't give him to a rescue. Eye conditions are extremely expensive and can be very painful for the horse. He would be a very expensive case for a rescue. He's only 7 years old!!!! That's a ton of years of feeding him to let him "live out his life".

Rescues are intended for starving neglected horses that need to be rescued out of a bad situation. Not for ones with health problems that no one wants to deal with. JMO.

If you cannot sell him with full disclosures of his eye issues to someone else, then I would put him down. Some might not agree with that, but that's what I would do.

Hello, we bought our beautiful 7 year old rocky mounting gelding a month ago, a week into our journey with him we found out he had Uveitis in both eyes!!!!!! He has been with a vet for two weeks now getting medicine put into both of his eyes 2-4 times a day.

The Ophthalmologist suggested we get Cyclosporine Implants for his eyes. I have done some research, and it seems positive that 80% of the horses recover. The cost is around $3000 an eye. We are getting a better understanding of his chances, but wanted to post to get some feedback from you folks.

If the implants work, the advantage with that is your horse may retain some vision. And some vision (especially peripheral vision) can be better than no vision at all with completely removing the eye. If the ophthlmologist thinks it is an option for your horse, that is what I personally would try. Yes, it is possible he may still need the eye removed later in life, but if you can extend his vision for such a young age, then win-win.

 

Just my opinion, but don't give him to a rescue. Eye conditions are extremely expensive and can be very painful for the horse. He would be a very expensive case for a rescue. He's only 7 years old!!!! That's a ton of years of feeding him to let him "live out his life".

Rescues are intended for starving neglected horses that need to be rescued out of a bad situation. Not for ones with health problems that no one wants to deal with. JMO.

If you cannot sell him with full disclosures of his eye issues to someone else, then I would put him down. Some might not agree with that, but that's what I would do.



If the implants work, the advantage with that is your horse may retain some vision. And some vision (especially peripheral vision) can be better than no vision at all with completely removing the eye. If the ophthlmologist thinks it is an option for your horse, that is what I personally would try. Yes, it is possible he may still need the eye removed later in life, but if you can extend his vision for such a young age, then win-win.

Thank you so much for our honest feedback

 

As with any disease, you mainly want to maintain quality of life and comfort. If only one eye is affected, the best thing you can do is immediately remove the eye because it will be cheaper in the long run, rather than repeated flare ups. Because this is in both eyes, that isn't an ideal option. What if you remove the wrong eye?

I had a horse with recurrent uveitis in one eye. I rehomed him as a companion but he may eventually need euthanasia if or when it progresses. He was given away with full disclosure and an understanding that he may eventually progress to either needing that eye removed or needing euthanasia. It was not in both eyes, yet. I tried saving his sight (I should have just removed the eye and ended the repeated vet bills as that was more costly in the long run than it would have been to remove the eye to begin with. )

Because this is in both eyes, your choices are more limited. Maintain him on daily eye drops knowing eventually it will progress and you will face euthanasia. You can do cyclosporine implants, but that is a big expense. You can remove one eye (whichever is worst) and focus on saving the good eye,but for how long? You can take him home and do nothing. Many people choose this approach and euthanize when it progresses to the point the horse loses all vision.

You can remove both eyes and see how he does as a blind horse. Some do well and are rideable even when blind. Look up Endo the blind. But they have to have a calm disposition and be quiet and adaptable. Most horses aren't capable of being ridden with that type of vision loss. I rode a friend's mostly blind appaloosa on trails. She was slow, steady, and felt her way down the trail. Carefully felt her way over limbs. She can see but her vision is very very poor. Hence why she is slower than molasses. She was safe and careful and non spooky. A child could ride her and be okay if ponied.

Unfortunately this is one of those diseases with a poor outcome. If you have room for the horse, I would probably retire the horse and maintain with eye drops as best I could. Then euthanize.

If you decide on eye removal, the horse is pain free and the vet bills will stop piling up. I would take the horse home first and try him with an eye cup to block vision and see how the horse copes before you invest with surgery. I would want to be certain the horse could cope being blind before eye removal. The only way to test that is to block vision with a mask and eye cup. Don't block both eyes until the horse has time to adapt to seeing out of one eye.

Many people would pick euthanasia. Don't feel bad if this isn't something you can take on.

I hate the fact that people breed horses with uveitis (or Appaloosas) that are so prone to going blind in such a horrific way. It is ultimately a death sentence.

I don't know about implants. I didn't even consider that expense as my horse was a rescue with many issues to begin with.

The only way to maintain this horse without future painful flares is to remove both eyes. The inflammation and pain stops and the horse either adapts to being blind, or not.

Look at your budget, do some soul searching and decide what you are comfortable with. Many would choose euthanasia. Some people are comfortable doing eye drops. Some simply remove the eye when the disease progresses and retire the horse as a blind horse. I've seen pastures full of blind Appaloosas so there are horses that thrive being blind. I have handled blind horses and they were fine provided you talked to them and they knew you were there.

 

As with any disease, you mainly want to maintain quality of life and comfort. If only one eye is affected, the best thing you can do is immediately remove the eye because it will be cheaper in the long run, rather than repeated flare ups. Because this is in both eyes, that isn't an ideal option. What if you remove the wrong eye?

I had a horse with recurrent uveitis in one eye. I rehomed him as a companion but he may eventually need euthanasia if or when it progresses. He was given away with full disclosure and an understanding that he may eventually progress to either needing that eye removed or needing euthanasia. It was not in both eyes, yet. I tried saving his sight (I should have just removed the eye and ended the repeated vet bills as that was more costly in the long run than it would have been to remove the eye to begin with. )

Because this is in both eyes, your choices are more limited. Maintain him on daily eye drops knowing eventually it will progress and you will face euthanasia. You can do cyclosporine implants, but that is a big expense. You can remove one eye (whichever is worst) and focus on saving the good eye,but for how long? You can take him home and do nothing. Many people choose this approach and euthanize when it progresses to the point the horse loses all vision.

You can remove both eyes and see how he does as a blind horse. Some do well and are rideable even when blind. Look up Endo the blind. But they have to have a calm disposition and be quiet and adaptable. Most horses aren't capable of being ridden with that type of vision loss. I rode a friend's mostly blind appaloosa on trails. She was slow, steady, and felt her way down the trail. Carefully felt her way over limbs. She can see but her vision is very very poor. Hence why she is slower than molasses. She was safe and careful and non spooky. A child could ride her and be okay if ponied.

Unfortunately this is one of those diseases with a poor outcome. If you have room for the horse, I would probably retire the horse and maintain with eye drops as best I could. Then euthanize.

If you decide on eye removal, the horse is pain free and the vet bills will stop piling up. I would take the horse home first and try him with an eye cup to block vision and see how the horse copes before you invest with surgery. I would want to be certain the horse could cope being blind before eye removal. The only way to test that is to block vision with a mask and eye cup. Don't block both eyes until the horse has time to adapt to seeing out of one eye.

Many people would pick euthanasia. Don't feel bad if this isn't something you can take on.

I hate the fact that people breed horses with uveitis (or Appaloosas) that are so prone to going blind in such a horrific way. It is ultimately a death sentence.

I don't know about implants. I didn't even consider that expense as my horse was a rescue with many issues to begin with.

The only way to maintain this horse without future painful flares is to remove both eyes. The inflammation and pain stops and the horse either adapts to being blind, or not.

Look at your budget, do some soul searching and decide what you are comfortable with. Many would choose euthanasia. Some people are comfortable doing eye drops. Some simply remove the eye when the disease progresses and retire the horse as a blind horse. I've seen pastures full of blind Appaloosas so there are horses that thrive being blind. I have handled blind horses and they were fine provided you talked to them and they knew you were there.

Thank you for this message. We are absolutely torn, but this thread from you does help along our decision a little better. Appreciate you taking the time to type this up.

 

@4horses is an expert on uveitis. Since we are riding buddies, I followed her on her difficult journey. If I were you, I would do the math. If your new rocky mountain is riding beautifully and you are enjoying him all to pieces, I would divide $6000 by how many years the vet thinks you would be able to ride him and then decide if that price is something you are willing to pay.

If my Chorro had something like that when he was 6 or 8 years old, I would probably go into debt to keep him going.

It kind of depends on how much you value your horse. And some horses do great blind and others can't handle it. You might have 20 more years riding a blind horse and loving him all to pieces.

On the other hand, my appie had uveitis for a couple of years, and all I had to do was give her baby aspririn every time she had a flare-up. It was easily controlled. But not many horses are that lucky.

 

That is kicker, we do not even know this horse. He was in our pasture for a week, then we took him to the vet as we noticed something was not right. He does not even know us at all. All he knows is that we took him to the vet to get poked and prodded!. Sad situation. We do have the means to pay for the treatment’s, but again, what is best for the horse. Do we just keep kicking-the-can down the road.......appreciate the input.

 

It looks like this surgery is just postponing the inevitable, with him going 100% blind as there is no cure for this dreaded disease.

This is not to take away from the discussion but to add that just like HYPP and other genetic caused disease this can be bred out of a related group. Any breed with either silver or LP if those genes are present can have eye issues that lead to blindness. LP is more known for uveitis. Same with the silver gene and the eye issues that go along with it. Zygosity has an effect on degree of presentation. I think. It's been awhile. So if your horse has silver or LP and is homozygous then that could be the why.

Researching a breed and heritable issues before acquiring an animal can prevent this situation as it isn't an if. It is a when.

As long as otherwise healthy, age has nothing to do with how long the horse can be ridden. It may mean having absolute faith in the rider or following another that is wearing a bell.

 

Yea, not sure if this posted helped with our decision, but thanks for pointing out that we should have researched the horse before we bought him. If we would do that, then I am sure we would never buy a horse, as there is not one perfect “super” breed that has no imperfections in their bloodline.

 

I can't tell you what to do about the surgery/surgeries, but please don't give this horse to a rescue. They will not be able to rehome it, and cannot take on the financial burden so he might just be euthanized.

Some horses are fine with losing their sight - I know two who are being ridden and perform extremely well even though they are completely blind! It's really amazing to see. On the other hand, I know that some become very fearful and anxious, and go downhill fast. There is no way of knowing which direction yours will go in.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. I guess if it were me, and I could afford it, I would ask the vet how many good years you might have. Assuming it's more than one or two, then it might be worth it. I would probably do both eyes. A horse that is blind in one eye can get very spooky on that side.

 

I can't tell you what to do about the surgery/surgeries, but please don't give this horse to a rescue. They will not be able to rehome it, and cannot take on the financial burden so he might just be euthanized.

Some horses are fine with losing their sight - I know two who are being ridden and perform extremely well even though they are completely blind! It's really amazing to see. On the other hand, I know that some become very fearful and anxious, and go downhill fast. There is no way of knowing which direction yours will go in.

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this. I guess if it were me, and I could afford it, I would ask the vet how many good years you might have. Assuming it's more than one or two, then it might be worth it. I would probably do both eyes. A horse that is blind in one eye can get very spooky on that side.

Excellent input and thanks you for your comments. We are meeting with the vet and specialists, but not knowing is a killer......

 

Let me throw in another "might be" to your dilemma. I know that uveitis runs in horses with the silver and/or LP genes, and don't know if your horse has either. Another uveitis cause is Leptospirosis and it's becoming much more prevalent in horses. How do I know? I have one and the way we found out she had it was...uveitis in one eye. So, while you're figuring out how to deal with the uveitis, have the vet pull a lepto test on your horse and see if that might be the cause. It may change the course and duration of the treatment.

 

No one gets into horses knowing everything and we all have times we may wish for a do over. That many eye issues are directly related to color is more what I am pointing out as well as there is a way for it to be prevented. This is an international forum with thousands of users. Most just read and research. Giving additional information can be helpful to those still looking. It was not a slight to you. In many species certain colors are genetically connected to inheritable disease. Knowing what you are looking at can allow you to be more informed. You may choose to take on a horse knowing it will have those issues for a variety of reasons.

I guarantee you the owner that sold him knew. Spent money to insure there was no flare up when you purchased and left you holding the bag. Uveitis can also be caused by leptosporosis infection. That too would likely have been known by the owner.

 

I’ve had more than one horse with uveitis and the last horse I took in was in the middle of a flare up in both eyes. He was about 90 % blind but was a pretty happy camper once I cleared up the flare up and he happily toddled along with my other three in the pasture. He recently left us due to having developed DSLD, but if it had just been the uveitis and resulting blindness I’d have held on to him. He was a great horse. In the year since I took him on, he didn’t have one flare up once I cleared up the one he came with. More about that in a minute.

My main gelding is completely blind in his right eye. He had one extended bout of uveitis about 11 years ago and I did have the cyclosporine implant done. It was about $2500 back then. It didn’t do anything for him and didn’t save his sight. He went blind but did not have to have the eye removed. I have a little Arabian who is blind in the left eye as well. I am a blind horse kind of girl apparently!

I fully believe that the blind horse’s uveitis cleared up when I took him off grain or any other kind of commercial feed and put him on a forage only diet. Prior to my getting him, he had pages upon pages of medical notes regarding treatment provided by the previous owner (the owner prior to that didn’t treat it at all and that’s why it progressed so far). He had a permanent prescription from the previous vet for the ointments and drops etc. When I took him in, we finished that round of medications, and he did not suffer one additional bout of
uveitis after that. He was being fed about five different things at feeding time at his previous home and I stopped everything and put him on
forage only. I believe his diet was contributing to the inflammation.

Anyway, to answer the question asked, I did have the cyclosporine implant done, it was expensive and it didn’t have much effect that I could tell, and my gelding lost sight in that eye anyway.

Best of luck with whatever decision you make. Apologies for the rambling!


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I’ve had more than one horse with uveitis and the last horse I took in was in the middle of a flare up in both eyes. He was about 90 % blind but was a pretty happy camper once I cleared up the flare up and he happily toddled along with my other three in the pasture. He recently left us due to having developed DSLD, but if it had just been the uveitis and resulting blindness I’d have held on to him. He was a great horse. In the year since I took him on, he didn’t have one flare up once I cleared up the one he came with. More about that in a minute.

My main gelding is completely blind in his right eye. He had one extended bout of uveitis about 11 years ago and I did have the cyclosporine implant done. It was about $2500 back then. It didn’t do anything for him and didn’t save his sight. He went blind but did not have to have the eye removed. I have a little Arabian who is blind in the left eye as well. I am a blind horse kind of girl apparently!

I fully believe that the blind horse’s uveitis cleared up when I took him off grain or any other kind of commercial feed and put him on a forage only diet. Prior to my getting him, he had pages upon pages of medical notes regarding treatment provided by the previous owner (the owner prior to that didn’t treat it at all and that’s why it progressed so far). He had a permanent prescription from the previous vet for the ointments and drops etc. When I took him in, we finished that round of medications, and he did not suffer one additional bout of
uveitis after that. He was being fed about five different things at feeding time at his previous home and I stopped everything and put him on
forage only. I believe his diet was contributing to the inflammation.

Anyway, to answer the question asked, I did have the cyclosporine implant done, it was expensive and it didn’t have much effect that I could tell, and my gelding lost sight in that eye anyway.

Best of luck with whatever decision you make. Apologies for the rambling!


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VERY interesting the change in food resolved an issue. Our vet has not mentioned this.......So you just fed him only hay and no grain?

 

I’m sorry this happened to you with a 7 year old horse, and that you found out a week in - very underhanded past owner to sell him on that way.

If the opthamologist thinks the implant surgery would be successful and if it would give your wife a few years of being able to ride/train him, I think that makes sense. During that time, you could work with him with the blindfold and cups, and then when the time comes remove the eyes. Hopefully he could still be rideable or maybe he would be pasture pet. That’s a long road to go though, and you may make the decision to euthanize and that’s a fair choice too.

 

My rescue horse that had uveitis went almost a full year without any flares. During this period I thought he was normal and healthy. Leptospirosis is extremely common. Most horses are exposed but do not develop disease, but those that develop it get uveitis. I don't know if diet helped him any. He was mainly on forage and alfalfa pellets.

Assuming you want to continue treating this horse, I would try riding it, if the vision loss isn't severe- see if the horse is calm and quiet under saddle. Temperament is important. A friend bought a horse with cancer in the eye. The horse did absolutely fine once the eye was removed. Another friend has a one eyed horse that can be spooky.

I actually have an Appaloosa right now that I am leasing. I did not ask the owner if the horse has the disease. He rides well and seems healthy, but I would not be at all surprised if the horse has it. I did put in the lease contract that I won't be responsible for vet bills on a horse that is not mine. If something happens, I still have eye drops left over from the rescue horse I had, and I can always return the horse. If the horse is easy to medicate, I don't mind doing eye drops or ointment.

My rescue horse would try to take his eye out by itching it on something, but I don't think all are that bad during flares. He was impossible to medicate as well. Calmer horses seem to handle eye medications just fine. I had a mare with a corneal ulcer that turned into a corneal abscess and that eye healed up perfectly. Eye ointment 4x daily for 8 weeks. She was easy to medicate and perfect for the farrier too.

Applying eye ointment is something all owners should learn.

If you can manage with drops or ointment and the horse is willing to allow you to medicate then you can do that for now. And continue to ride until it progresses. These horses should be treated even if they are between flares and for at least 30 days after the symptoms disappear.

 

My rescue horse that had uveitis went almost a full year without any flares. During this period I thought he was normal and healthy. Leptospirosis is extremely common. Most horses are exposed but do not develop disease, but those that develop it get uveitis. I don't know if diet helped him any. He was mainly on forage and alfalfa pellets.

Assuming you want to continue treating this horse, I would try riding it, if the vision loss isn't severe- see if the horse is calm and quiet under saddle. Temperament is important. A friend bought a horse with cancer in the eye. The horse did absolutely fine once the eye was removed. Another friend has a one eyed horse that can be spooky.

I actually have an Appaloosa right now that I am leasing. I did not ask the owner if the horse has the disease. He rides well and seems healthy, but I would not be at all surprised if the horse has it. I did put in the lease contract that I won't be responsible for vet bills on a horse that is not mine. If something happens, I still have eye drops left over from the rescue horse I had, and I can always return the horse. If the horse is easy to medicate, I don't mind doing eye drops or ointment.

My rescue horse would try to take his eye out by itching it on something, but I don't think all are that bad during flares. He was impossible to medicate as well. Calmer horses seem to handle eye medications just fine. I had a mare with a corneal ulcer that turned into a corneal abscess and that eye healed up perfectly. Eye ointment 4x daily for 8 weeks. She was easy to medicate and perfect for the farrier too.

Applying eye ointment is something all owners should learn.

If you can manage with drops or ointment and the horse is willing to allow you to medicate then you can do that for now. And continue to ride until it progresses. These horses should be treated even if they are between flares and for at least 30 days after the symptoms disappear.

Thank you

 

There are a few vets (not all) who have a vested interest in promoting certain feeds I think. I switched to an all forage diet when my performance gelding developed anhidrosis and it worked for him so I just switched everyone over to the same regimen. The supplement I used was an herbal supplement developed for Uveitis by T.H.E. Equine Edge. It probably doesn’t work for everyone but I believe it made a big difference for Henry. I was desperate to help him and willing to try just about anything when I first got him. The things I tried did stave off any future flare-ups while I had him.

 

Thanks again for info

 

My mare has a different diagnosis but she is blind in one eye.

You would never be able to tell if I didn’t point it out. She is great over ground poles and jumps but we don’t jump anything taller than a mole hill because I’m a coward (and she’s not really built for jumping). She’s not spooky at all. She will spook at a very loud sudden noise but most horses will. She’s not afraid of plastic bags either - she chases them on an off chance there are carrots in them.

She will need eye drops 3 times a day for the rest of her life but she is great for it, she knows the drill and just stands there and waits for me to finish - it’s a 3 second job.

Not all horses are like this but quite a few of them are. I don’t know what she would be like fully blind though.

Would I personally operate if I knew there’s 80% chance? Right now definitely not - there is currently absolutely no need. If she went fully blind? I would but I’ve had her for six years and I’m very fond of her (conversely - she would step over my dead body without so much as a glance if there was a carrot on the other side but I don’t mind that she’s not particularly enamored with me as long as she’s happy).

I am sorry you and the horse are going through this. Best of luck.

 

I would join the Rocky Mountain Facebook page, lots of knowledge there .

 

Very informative. I owned 9 appaloosas over the years and only one got uveitis. One was hit by a car when he was killed at age 6, I sold one at about age 12--the others I kept until they died.