Glaucoma.

[Threeponies]

Has any one here ever dealt with a horse with glaucoma.

[Melody]

My vet used the word glaucoma when he looked at my gelding with a swollen eye. Said it was just temporary. Other than that, I have no experience. I had never heard glaucoma could be temporary before this. All he did was give him a steroid shot and told me to keep him on bute for a few days.

[Threeponies]

Thanks for replying. My local vet diagnosed Glaucoma, but then gave me treatment for Uveitis. I am going for a four hour drive this week to see the Eye Specialist so hopefully I will have more idea then.

[LeoApp]

Yes. My appaloosa went blind in his left eye due to glaucoma. My horse was put on the same type of drops that humans use (CosOpt and Timolol) but they did no good. I took him for laser surgery at the Ruffian Center to get his pressure down (it was 85 at the time) in the hopes of maybe saving the sight in that eye but it did not work and he went blind.
It took him a while to adjust to the loss of sight on that side, and he was always a little bit spookier than he used to be (which was not at all) but he adjusted quite well.
I left his eye intact, and over time it just died and shrank in place. In hindsight, I should have removed the eye, but he never had any complications from leaving it in.
I used one of the two specialists on Long Island. He told me that after 5 years if the horse does not get glaucoma in the other eye, that it was unlikely to do so. That was the case with my horse. Even though I feared him going blind for the 10 years he was blind in his left eye, he never had a problem with the right eye.

[Threeponies]

Thank you. Do you think they suffer much pain with it. My boy is very stoic but appears quite depressed at times. He is thought to have aut-Immune disease which would explain his fluctuating wellness, but I worry about him a lot.

[LeoApp]

I have heard conflicting stories about whether or not they feel pain. I think you just have to go by your horse and how he is acting.
I felt that with my horse's pressure at 85 he may have felt pain and that is why I did the surgery. However, he never acted like he was in pain, and he was NOT a very stoic guy. He always let me know if something was bothering him.
If your horse is squinting that is a sign of pain, or if his eye is tearing.

[Threeponies]

Yes. He was squinting. That has improved and there is some tearing

[LeoApp]

Sorry.
if he is mopey too he probably is in some sort of pain. I hope that your horse ultimately has as good of an outcome as mine. He adjusted to his deficit and felt fine, and lived to 33 with no other eye issues.