When grooms at our Town Barton Farm in Devon noticed that resident mule Smokey was suffering from an eye injury, our veterinary team raced into action. Find out more here.
Our grooms noticed Smokey had suffered an injury to his left eye while out in the field. The team quickly reported this to our expert veterinary team, who assessed his eye and started him on treatment right away.
“As well as lots of swelling, Smokey was diagnosed with hyphaemia – an internal bleed within the eye – causing Smokey to have obscured vision and preventing us from examining the deeper layers of the eye,” explained Veterinary Surgeon Jo Cook.
“We performed an ultrasound scan, which showed us a large blood clot within the eye, but thankfully there was no displacement of the lens and no rupture of his retina. We started intensive treatment immediately to save the eye.”
The vets fitted a special sub-palpebral lavage catheter, a piece of specialised medical equipment that helps deliver medicine directly into the eyes, which enabled the veterinary team to give Smokey essential medication every two hours.
“Smokey was known for being head-shy before his treatment, but the grooms did a wonderful job of giving him his medication in a calm and stress-free manner, as well as monitoring him very vigilantly throughout his treatment,” said Jo.
The treatment was a complete success, and the blood clot gradually reduced and is no longer visible. Our vets removed the sub-palpebral lavage catheter and confirmed his eye is now pain-free.
Smokey’s vision has returned, and he is back to being his usual inquisitive self.
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