Not good at all

Argh. This is so not funny. I got home from work today and casually noticed Mira was walking around like she was really sleepy. A bit later I went out to feed, and discovered her right eye was all swollen and purulent! At first I thought, "What? Pinkeye, at this time of year?" And then I realized that no, the other eye really didn't seem messed up, and she was holding her right ear back stiffly like she was in pain. She kept her right eye half closed most of the time, and there was a LOT of pus coming out.

I called the vet, and as soon as he heard her eye was partly open, he said "That's an emergency," and arrived about 45 minutes later. I was hoping maybe she "just" scratched her cornea or something, but no, she managed to get a nice, 10 mm long tear in the cornea! She has to have surgery tomorrow. He said she'll need to be under general anesthesia, and they'll either snip the flap off, or stitch it. Then they'll attach a cannula near the eye so I can flush it with medicine for several days, but after that she should be fine. I asked about chances of complications, and if it would be safer to remove the eye, and he said no, horses have thick corneas that usually heal very well after surgeries like this. Not including the fee for today, the operation will cost somewhere around $300-$600, which is not horrible, but not what I enjoy handing out, either. I'm just glad it's not a couple thousand, or else I would have to seriously wrestle with the horrible decision that I hate ever thinking about. Fortunately, the outlook is good.

Right now I have the horses in separate pens, and Mira seems pretty cheerful with all the pain medicine in her. Now that I'm calmer I have to go make some calls. Prayers and good wishes are much appreciated.


L