My poor Muffin has a sore eye probably from hay poke. The vet was amazing and checked his eye for any foreign bodies but there wasn’t anything left in. He put dye in and there was damage to the cornea. He is on Isathal, corneal gel and Metacam. Should I be worried his eye keeps closing or is this all normal. I feel so bad for him x
Both my Ella and Esme had hay seeds stuck in their eyes a few weeks back. The vet managed to remove the seeds but both girls were left with nasty ulcers. They too were prescribed the same treatment as Muffin and their eyes had healed again by their check up 3-4 days later. Don’t worry about him squinting, he’s bound to be sore x
Thank you and I am so sorry your girls went through the same. It’s been 2 days so I guess he needs a little longer. Bless them! XAw poor Muffin
Thank you for the advice. I am worried about him but I always overly worry about both of them. So hard not to get him to scratch it once I’ve applied the drops! XHi
Please pull the lower lid gently away and aim the isathal drops into the gap. Wait at least half an hour for the isathal to be fully absorbed before you apply the gel, which will bring comfort with the hydration but also also help the healing process in the deeper areas of the eye. The metacam is both a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory and will help both with the pain and the swelling from the injury; especially in the early days.
Just keep on applying his meds at the recommended rate. You should see an improvement in about 2-3 days. Eye injuries generally heal pretty straight forward if they are being seen promptly because they can deteriorate very quickly.
At the moment, the poorly eye is very sore and uncomfortable; hence it being very indrawn and closing. However, he seems to still have sight in it, so it is not too severe.
All he best!
Update: Muffin is on day 5 of Isathal and corneal Remend as well as Metacam for his hay poke. His eye still looks cloudy and there is some redness around his iris. Should his hay poke be cleared by now? I am going for a follow up at the vets tomorrow. He is eating fine and acting normal. Thanks so much
Thanks so much for such a detailed response. It’s really put my mind at rest. I will let you know what the vet says this eve. My worry is we go away on Friday til Sun eve and my parents are looking after them both bit Muffin is so hard to catch to put eye drops in I’m not sure they’ll manage it. XHi
The healing process is perfectly on route. The blood vessels bringing blood to the damaged area will disappear again as soon as the healing process is complete; it can look somewhat alarming when you do not know what is going on because it can look worse rather than better at this stage.
The cloudiness (internal ulceration) may hang about a bit longer but should eventually go away.
It s good to see that the eye is a lot less painful again (more open and much less in-drawn).
There is no set time; it depends on the severity of the injury and how deep the poke and the infection has penetrated into the upper chamber. Just be a bit more patient and contact your vet if the medication is running out before all signs have disappeared or have Muffin checked again if you have concerns.
A scratched surface will of course heal a lot more quickly - often within a week but even then it can take around 10 days if a larger area is damaged and not just a small thin scratch. For a penetration you look at about 2 weeks (plus/minus) but with more severe eye injuries it is going to take even longer. Some have taken me more than a month but at least the eyes have been saved, as they were both guinea pigs of mine that were too frail for a eye removal op.
Just hang in there and be patient; things are going to plan!
