Mercedes is a 27-year-old thoroughbred mare that presented with a painful left eye. After the initial examination, her eye was treated daily at home with ophthalmic ointment, but over the next several days it became significantly more painful and cloudy. Upon recheck, it was clear that she had developed a melting corneal ulcer.
This condition requires immediate attention and sometimes surgical intervention to save the eye. Treatment began with a subpalpebral catheter, making it easier to treat the eye every 2 hours with close monitoring. During this period the right eye also developed a small corneal ulcer so she ended up having a subpalpebral catheter in both eyes at the same time. Treatment continued over the next weeks slowly decreasing frequency of medications based on how the eye was responding.
It required a great effort from the owners to keep up with the schedule of ophthalmic drops as well as monitoring the overall attitude and demeanor of the mare. After a long three months, the left corneal ulcer was healed and the corneal scar has continued to become smaller and improve. To read more about equine corneal ulcers, click on the following link: