Injury or infection of the eye

20.3.1 Injury or infection of the eye Injury or infection of the eye will result in excessive tears, blinking, discharge and/or cloudiness of the eye. Inflammation of the pink tissue surrounding the eye is called “conjunctivitis.” In cattle, a certain fly can carry a bacteria that causes “pink eye.” In some places, cattle get cancer of the eye, particularly eyes with white hair surrounding them. See page 85.

Diagnosis:

 Properly restrain the animal and wash your hands.

 Examine the eye for any foreign materials that may be lodged in it. Also check for scratches or ulcers on the cornea (front surface of the eye). A scratched or ulcerated cornea is very painful and will cause much blinking, sensitivity to light, tears and sometimes swelling (sometimes the animal won’t even open the eye). An injured cornea may also appear cloudy. Sometimes a scratch on the cornea may be difficult to see even though it is causing immense suffering to the animal. If available, a certain dye (called “fluorescein”) can be placed in the eye to help detect any scratches (i.e. the dye causes any scratch to appear bright green).

 If there is no evidence of injury, examine the conjunctiva (i.e. pink tissue around the eye). If it is red and discharging a lot of mucus, it may be infected.

 Try to determine whether the condition is acute or chronic (i.e. ask the owner how long the problem has existed). Chronic problems are more difficult (sometimes futile) to treat.

 Cattle with cancer of the eye (called “cancer eye”) have heavy crusts, invading the tissue surrounding the eye, and on the surface of the eye.

Treatment of an infected or injured eye:

 Properly restrain the animal.

 Rinse the eye with boiled (but cooled) water. If available, add boric acid to the water at a ratio of 1 ml boric acid to 100 ml water. Use clean cotton wool or other clean, soft material to clean around the eye.

 Remove foreign materials, if possible.

 Treat with antibiotic ointment, or drops that are made especially for eyes (i.e. usually labeled “ophthalmic” or “for use in eyes”). Ointment should be applied at least twice daily, and drops at least 6 times daily (i.e. drops are less practical for treating livestock).

 Keep the animal in a place that is shady or dark since sunlight is very bothersome to an injured eye.

Note: There is no treatment of “cancer eye.”

Caution:

 Only use ointments or drops that are made especially for the eyes.

 Never use steroid ointment in an injured or infected eye since steroids may make the problem worse.