Without a doubt, it can cause blindness and must be acted upon immediately via diagnosis and treatment with a qualified veterinary ophthalmologist. ERU is also a painful condition, so do not hesitate in calling your vet out. Most vets are not eye specialists, so consider visiting an equine ophthalmologist as well. While treatment may not be able to reverse or prevent the onset of blindness, it will help alleviate your horse’s pain.
Symptoms
Horse bumps into things on one side frequently; head tilting; circling; redness, swelling and/or pus at the eye; squinting; horse can’t tolerate sunlight. In advanced stages, the eye will begin to shrink. Sometimes you can see cloudiness in the eye, which can indicate either glaucoma or other pathology in the eye. Either can lead to ERU, so seek immediate medical consultation.
Treatment
The sooner you get your veterinary specialist involved, the greater the chance the ERU can be put into temporary remission and blindness perhaps avoided. Blood tests must be performed to rule out the presence of the bacteria leptospira. Typical medications include atropine, bantamine, phenylbutazone (“bute”), antibiotics, corticosteroids, and powdered aspirin for pain and inflammation.
Since it is an immune-deficiency disease, keep your horse in peak physical and emotional condition to help ward off the disease and prevent it from worsening. High quality feed should be provided, as well as rest.
Most experts believe that ERU’s contagious nature has been highly over-rated, so it is fairly safe to allow your horse to continue associating with its stable mates. Horses need company, so make sure to provide this for their emotional health in dealing with ERU.
Realize that the disease is characterized by its recurrent nature. In rare cases, it may go away and never return. However, the likelihood is that it will return again and again. Therefore, an owner’s active involvement is essential in order to prevent flare-ups and to be ready to instigate treatment at its recurrence.
Some horse owners have had remarkable results with the Guardian face mask, a nylon fly mask fitted with 95% UVA-protection eye shields. Consider investing in one of these even while your horse is undergoing other forms of treatment prescribed by the vet. Some owners have used it year-round and have avoided flare-ups of ERU.
Should your horse succumb to blindness, do not fear – blindness is not a death sentence for your horse. A future article will deal with the unique problems of the blind horse.
