Merlin needs your prayers please!

[merlinsmomtwh]

Well, my 17 year old Tennessee Walking Horse gelding Merlin is having
some problems with his eyes. He has uveitis, corneal disease, and
stromal abscesses with vascular infiltration into his cornea. It is a
very painful condition for him. My vet was able to do a pretty good
exam but he said Merlin needs to be seen by an equine opthalmologist
ASAP so we can figure out if his problem is auto-immune or something
that can be treated.

So right now Merlin does have some vision, but it is cloudy for him
with dark spots where the stromal abscesses are. These abscesses are
very small and I could not see them without the use of the vet's
opthalmoscope.

Please pray for Merlin! I feel horrible that he is in such pain.

Sarah

P.S. Any advice is appreciated, I have not dealt with eye problems in
horses before.

[Melanie]

So sorry Sarah to hear this about Merlin. Prayers coming your way.

[redmustangwoman1]

Aww Sarah! Im sorry.I will definately keep Merlin in my prayers and you also...HUGS

[devotee]

Sarah, so sorry to hear this! As far as I know, however, eyeballs do not feel pain, so try not to worry too much about that part of things. Eyeballs feel only pressure. Otherwise, they are insensitive. Merlin might be very sensitive to light, though. You might want to keep a fly mask on him day and night, and keep him in a dark barn, as much as possible. If one eye is worse than the other, duct tape the mask on the side of the bad eye to keep light out. Do everything you can to limit the amount of light entering his eye. That will help.

Good luck and let us know how he's doing!

[imromeo]

sorry to here the bad news prayers comming your way and god bless

[nikki]

devotee i agree with you on using the fly mask on him 24 hours a day.
my horse had a ulcer on her eye and not only was it painfull but she was sensitive to light. So with using the vet treatments and keeping that mask on her and after a couple of scares where her eye lids swelled shut and it got really painfully she is fully healed.

I hope that your horse fully heals too.
Prayers coming your way and plz let us know how he is doing

[CackysGirl]

sorry to hear about this... sending prayers from NC

Connie

[merlinsmomtwh]

I am just devastated that this problem has probably been going on for about 5 years now and it has been misdiagnosed as allergies until now. I have a fly mask for him to wear until we get the 95% sunshades Guardian Mask. Have you heard of these? The yahoo group for REU has members that really reccommend this mask.

www.horsemask.com/Main.html

I gave Merlin a gram of bute this morning and held warm, moist compresses on his eyes for several minutes. He seemed to really like the feel of the compresses.

My barn manager is giving me grief over Merlin having to wear a mask during daylight hours, she says he can't see well enough as it is then to have the mask on makes his vision worse. I tried to explain to her that the mask will help keep him from losing any more vision.

Anyhow there is a small animal eye care clinic very close to where I live. My vet reccommended one of the opthalmologists there that also does equine. Merlin's appointment is January 2nd at 4 pm. I hate to make him wait that long but the opthalmologist has different offices and will not be back down here until then.

I am waiting to hear back from my vet as to if I need to give him anything other than bute for the pain.

Thanks for your advice. I am so sad : ( Please keep the prayers coming!

Sarah

[amby]

Poor baby!!! I'm so sorry to here that merlinsmom!! You certainly have my prayers headed your way!

[lynn3633]

Sarah,
I rarely come over to this part of the forum for some reason. I guess I was meant to today. I will keep him in my prayers.

[MaryKansas]

Aww Sarah...I sure hope Merlin's eyes get better real soon!! You had no way of knowing there was another problem if Merlin was diagnosed with allergies, so dont feel bad about it. You are doing all you can for him now, and thats what counts!!