The eyes have it

By 'it', I mean an ulcer. And just in the right eye. 

I received a call from the barn manager yesterday morning telling me that Moe's eye looked worse than it had. (Over the weekend it was looking totally normal.) He said Moe was holding it almost completely closed, and there was a lot of discharge. I drove down there, took a look at it, and called the vet. I waited for about an hour, then decided to drive home and come back down when the vet was available to meet me; his office had told me he was tied up with several emergencies. Not one minute after I exited the turnpike for home did I get a call from the vet asking if I was able to meet him for an exam. I made a U-turn, paid the toll again, and went back to the barn.

After examining the eye, my vet informed me there was a small ulcer on the cornea. He guessed it had been caused by some type of trauma: a poke, a scrape, a bump, etc. He gave me some eye drops, an antibiotic ointment, and some Bute and advised me to keep Moe stalled during the day with a fly mask on. 

For the most part, Moe's been taking his treatment like a champ. Twice daily eye ministrations aren't fun for either of us, but he's cooperative as long as I don't take too long to pry his eye open. The eye already looks much better- Moe is opening it all the way and there's less discharge. He's less pleased with stall confinement and pouts and whinnies constantly. However, he's taking advantage of everyone who's in and out of the barn; when I came back in from riding Gina today, he was smacking his apple-flecked lips and there was clear evidence of a chewed-up carrot on the floor. And that's nothing compared to the staggering amount of treats I've been stuffing down him!