Thanks to Dana S. & Sandi A., Grady was transported to the vet yesterday morning to have the stitches in his eyelids removed (THANK YOU LADIES!!!).  Grady did fantastic! He actually walked up to the gate to get caught and stood there quietly while we held him.  He then led nicely to the trailer.  After about two minutes of standing at the end of the ramp, he started lifting up his front legs and then he just walked right in!  He had a totally different air about him. We were amazed. 

(Picture below is front view of Grady's eyes before the stitches were removed.)

Dr. Hoyme removed the stitches, examined the surgical areas and he said it looks good. This was a delicate and LONG surgery.  Dr. Hoyme says he could take more tissue out now that it has shrunk down for cosmetic reasons if we wanted.  The tear ducts are visible (YAY!) and everything looks good.

(Pictures below are of Grady's eyes AFTER the stitches were removed.)

Dr. Hoyme removed the habronema from Gradys right eye first as it was the worst. The habronema were in his lower AND upper eyelids. The surgery was long and involved. 5 days later Dr. Hoyme operated on his left eye. Again, he did well, but he rubs his eyes because they itch where the stitches are as he heals. We are putting antibiotic and cortisone ointment in his eyes twice a day. I may increase the number of applications as he rubs them quite a bit.

We will be getting a Guardian Mask from http://www.guardianmask.com/ (WOW! They have really gone up in price since we first started using them 20 years ago)! These masks are durable, sit up off their face and they stay on very well. Pirate is pretty good at helping Grady get his mask off, so we are hoping this one will stay on.

He sure has changed color for the winter!! Grady is happy to be back at TIER and Pirate is glad to have his buddy back!

Spoke to the vet this morning and the labs came back indicating habronema only! Woot! Woot! No Squamous Cell Carcinoma thank goodness. We will continue to treat his eyes with the steroid eye ointment and, IF necessary, go back to the vet for steroid injection in the tissue surrounding the eyes in a week or so. For now, the biopsy site is pretty much healed and there has been no increase in swelling.

In the fall or whenever the flies have decreased, Dr. Hoyme will do the surgery to remove the habronema granules. Pricing will depend on how long the surgery takes (the surrounding eye tissue is a delicate/sensitive area) the extent of the internal damage, trying to avoid damage to the tear ducts and closing the incision so that as it heals it doesnt pull and deform the eye contour and doesnt tighten and roll into his eye. Vet estimates surgery will be between 500 - 1000 depending on the above. So we have awhile.

Biopsy site hasnt bothered him at all. Even when Pirate has pulled his fly mask off twice this week! Sigh.

Thanks to Dana S., Grady was transported to the vet yesterday morning (7/19/2019) to have the lumps at the inside corner of his lower eyelids examined. After a brief attempt at a dash for freedom and the use of long line and a lead rope attached to his halter, we got him loaded in the trailer. He was pretty noisy, stamping around and neighing until the trailer started moving.

Once we arrived, Dr. Hoyme examined him and said the growths appeared to be either tumors or habronema and a biopsy of the area was needed. These eyelid swellings do not seem to bother Grady in that there is no itching, rubbing, ulcerations, no tearing or discharge, nor do they appear to be tender to the touch.

Grady has been getting treated with an ophthalmic ointment containing hydrocortisone. The ointment (applied 2-3 times per day) reduced the swelling some, but not a lot. He has also been receiving Ivermectine wormer once a week in case we are dealing with habronema. The Ivermectin was discontinued after about 2 months.

Grady, approximately 3 yrs. old, arrived at TIER in mid March 2019. He was not halter broke, was a stallion, and the appearance/condition of his eyelids is the reason that our friends took him in. The week prior to his arrival he was gelded (quite the adventure on a minimally handled pony with an ATTITUDE and eye treatment began. He needed time for the testosterone to diminish, a little handling and our veterinary fund needed to be plumped up before we would be able to take him in for a more detailed eyelid examination.

About a month after he had been gelded he naturally became easier to handle. We spent time halter breaking him and he did ok. He was prone to kicking out, rearing up, taking off, etc., but seemed to settle down. He needs quite a bit more handling as he proved when we loaded him up to go see Dr. Hoyme today. Dana dodged a kick and we had to resort to bribing him with hay to get him moving into the trailer. Fun!

Dr. Hoyme sedated Grady, put Lidocaine in his eyes and we waited for him start snoozing. He remained in the trailer for treatment/biopsy because the trailer put him at a good height and the vet didnt have to bend over/down to treat him. Plus, he was pretty excited about all the goings onespecially the Andalusian stallion on the hot walker who was hollering and dancing around until Dr. Hoymes assistant put him back in a stall. Since Grady was so hyped up, another shot of sedative was required and more lidocaine was administered. Thanks to Dana who had a hair tie available, we were able to put Gradys forelock into a man bun to keep it out of the way. Or is that PonyBun???

(Semi Drunk and Stylin in his Pony Bun)

Dr. Hoyme biopsied his lower lid on the left eye. He pointed out the characteristic yellow (sulfur) granules of habronema. That is good news, but there could be other things going on too. We will know more when the results from the biopsy are back. The vet then injected steroids into the lower lids.

We then closed the trailer up to head home. Grady was big time pissed off! Banging the trailer like a tambourine and hollering to high heavens. He settled as we took off, but started up once we rounded the corner for home. All the TIER horses were talking to him as he was yelling at the top of his voice! He unloaded nicely by jumping out and then refusing to be led for a minute. All the donkeys (his nextdoor neighbors) came to the fence and he acted like they were strangers and wasnt going to walk past them for nothing! The sound of the trailer doors being shut caused him to try to run forward and we just continued the motion until I had him back in his stall.

Sowe wait for biopsy results, continue with the ointment and he gets Ivermectin every week. He is such a PONY!! He makes me laugh. Stinkin cute pony. Pony Bun was still in place the next morning!

Grady will be going to see Dr. Thomas Hoyme next week about his eyes.  We sent pictures to Dr. Hoyme and he is thinking that the culprit is ocular sarcoids rather than a reaction to the flies.  There are NO sores on these lesions/bumps. The ointment we have been using with cortisone does reduce SOME of the swelling/bulging, but not significantly.  We will know more after he is examined by Dr. Hoyme to see if he is a candiate for surgery.  If so, the cost would be around 500.  If they are sarcoids, there is a very real chance of them returning.  We will keep you updated.

We apply ointment prescribed by the veterinarian twice a day to his eyes.  Hopefully the awful swelling will go down and we will evaluate how bad the scar tissue is later on.  Fortunately the flies aren’t out in force right now and we will be shopping for a cob sized fly mask to give his eyes protection.

He is a very smart little guy!  Grady is starting to understand about giving to pressure and learning to lead.  Fortunately, he is easy to catch to apply his eye ointment and is good about that.  He's still a bit full of himself of course.  It will just take time, patience and for me to quit just laughing at his antics as he flies around.