Blocked Tearducts

[JOJOBA]

My cob had blocked tearducts when we bought him, which meant his eyes watered constantly. As we bought him in winter they just looked as though he was crying a little :P but with the arrival of summer they run constantly and get infected.
They have taken all the hair off right down past his cheeks where they run, which I can only assume now will be permanent, and his eyes swell occasionally and bleed. The skin in and around his eyes cracks and I have to get it out, and it has often been bleeding underneath, which cant be nice for him.
We hot towel his eyes at least twice a day and try to massage him whilst theyre hot in the hope of loosening whatever it is (although almost 5 years on we arent holding out much hope). We put Chloramphenicol ointment on as it's greasy and protects his skin and is also antibiotic, and use chloramphenicol drops when his eyes are infected (my poor pony gets so many lotions and potions on him every day!)
When we got him it was mainly one eye that was bad but now they both are. The minute you've finished cleaning them they run again.
The operation to unblock tearducts is unpleasant and not terribly accurate, and as he was slightly headshy and wouldnt let you anywhere near his ears when I got him, and now completely trusts me I dont want to break that trust and ruin everything.
We cover him in fly repellent in summer and tried using a fly mask but he came back every single morning without it (once we found it in a tree !?).
My mum is an eye nurse and has checked his eyes for inward growing eyelashes, scars etc but found nothing.
His face must itch as he sometimes rubs it and LOVES having it washed (he sucks the towel and licks the inside, and if you just hold a hot towel he will come and wash his own face against it!)and we've of course had the vet up but he couldnt suggest anything new.
I can put up pics if anyone wants to look.
Anyone suggest anything or have this problem?
Thanks,
Jo and Hector xxx

One day I will cure my horse but at the moment I have about 10 ailments up for scrutiny!

[Tina&Dale]

Originally posted by JOJOBA
he was slightly headshy and wouldnt let you anywhere near his ears when I got him, and now completely trusts me I dont want to break that trust and ruin everything.

I don't understand what you mean, can you please explain it?

[SarahC]

My horse also has blocked tearducts, but only in one eye. But I have never heard of this ailment causing bleeding. Unfortunately, although I sympathise a great deal, I can't really help as it seems that yours is a much worse case than my boys.

The only kind of treatment my boy gets is a good wipe around his face (where the liquid runs) and around his eye every day with a good eye wipe. This seems to stop the marking or loss of hair on his face.

If it gets infected ie: the liquid has a colour to it and is not clear), then he has some drops from the vet or occassionally he has had his eye flushed (although this was done by his previous owner so I have no idea what is involved with it!).

Good luck with it, it sounds like your doing all you possibly can.

S

[JOJOBA]

Ok the explanation:
Not sure if you know, as it isnt common, but flushing the tearducts in the way my horse needs involves putting a tube up the nose and 'flushing' water through, up and out of the eyes, to try and dislodge anything trapped in there.
As you can imagine this is extremely unpleasant for the horse and I have been advised to avoid it if at all possible. I know of one other horse who has had this done and he became quite headshy from it.
As my horse has only just got over his mild headshyness, and still panics a little if you touch his ears unexpectedly I dont really think he would fare too well from this operation.
Does that help? I hope that's the bit you wanted me to explain. If you wanted my to explain why his trust was badin the first place it was because he has been badly treated in the past.
Write back and please keep helping,
Jo
xxx

[PePpAcOrN]

Hi Jojoba,
I saw your post on here and could relate to it so i'll tell you my experiences: I Have owned my Palomino Aust stock horse for 7 yrs and when i got him he had awefull runny eyes.. alot of bathing with warm saline seemed to get rid of it the first time.. but cos he is older now.. (32):eek:and it's winter here, his eyes started running again recently.. i got the vet out a few months ago... (now peppa has never been head shy like your boy) And they decided his tear ducts needed flushing.. they gave him a bit of sedative and he was pretty wobbley.. and he didn't like the tube going up his nose and created a little bit of a fuss... ( hey wouldn't you!!!) but once the saline is being squeezed through he just stood there like a good boy.. heaps of chunks and gross stuf came out .. it was so good to see all that gunk come out of there cos it would have been just as uncomphortable having it in there as it was to get it out.. after the flush (both eyes) they are 100% better.. no running at all and he is absolutly fine with his head it didn't make him cautious of me going near his eyes nose or ears... So i totally recomend you do this .. it can only help.. i mean i know you don't want to break his trust but the pain of the flush can't be much more than the pain he is going through with his eyes bleeding etc.. trust me he will be alot more comphortable in the long run.. i hope his eyes get better!!!
Kylie :)