Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Today’s medical adventure was eye surgery … specifically, eye removal.  We had been treating our old blind Appy, Shasta, for a few days for an inflamed and clearly painful right eye.  The treatment had not made much difference, so today our equine vet, Dr. Bill Brown from Missoula, came out to look at the eye.  His exam revealed a rough surface on the cornea … it appeared as if a small circular area had melted.  This is most likely from a type of keratitis, a common ocular problem in horses.  It was, as Bill described it, an "unhappy eye."

In the photo you see Dr. Brown and his new veterinary technician, Vicky Cruz.  Vicky volunteered for us last summer, so she knows our animals well.

In a horse that is already blind, our concern is focused on eliminating pain and discomfort.  Preserving vision is obviously not an issue.  In Shasta’s case, the best long-term solution turned out to be removing the eye.  This is something we have had to do on several of our horses (and some dogs).  In every case the animal was much more comfortable without the eye.

It takes people a while to get used to seeing an animal missing an eye … it’s even more of a surprise to see BOTH eyes missing (we have a horse and a dog missing both).  Yet the animal is already blind and doesn’t care.  Once we got over our own initial hesitation on our first case (see Patti’s story), we came to realize that this is often the best therapy for a blind animal with a chronically infected eye.

Bill proceeded to perform the surgery this afternoon in the medical room in Beauty’s Barn, our new barn for blind horses.  The barn is not officially ‘complete’ … we’re waiting on some electrical work to be finished … but the medical room and medical stall are done and able to be used.  Thus Shasta’s eye surgery became the very first use of the new barn! 

This photo shows Shasta prepped for surgery.

In less than 45 minutes, Bill had removed the eye and sutured the lids closed.  We moved Shasta to the adjoining medical stall to recover.  Not too long after, Shasta shook off his sedative, walked over to the gate separating the stall from the room, and nuzzled Bill on the shoulder. 

We have seen this many times … almost immediately these animals are more comfortable than they were before the surgery.  They can be so stoic, and yet they show such relief when the pain is gone.  Clearly this eye had bothered Shasta more than we realized.

In case you’re wondering, I did take photos throughout the surgery … but they’re rather gory and would be too graphic for most folks who aren’t used to seeing these kinds of operations in person.  After all, this is a family blog!