Sebastian the horse

Sebastian, a 15-year old Irish Sports Horse gelding developed a lump on his eye over the last few months

Before visiting the Specialist.

Sebastian developed this mass, which grew to this size over several months. The owners like to show jump with Sebastian and were keen to do everything possible to try and save the eye. The primary care vets often manage tumours of the skin, as this one is, but were concerned that this would be particularly difficult due to its location.

Sebastian’s Care

The appearance of the tumour was consistent with a tumour called squamous cell carcinoma. This was confirmed by taking a small piece of it and sending it to a pathology specialist to evaluate under a microscope. There were several treatment options that could be considered for this mass and both medicine and surgery specialists were involved in the decision making of what was the best plan of action. Initially the horse was anaesthetised and as much of the tumour as possible was removed. The horse was then treated with a topical anti-cancer drug to try and kill any remaining abnormal cells on the surface of the eye.

Sebastian’s Progress.

The surgery went well and the topical drug has been used for the last two weeks. No re-growth of the tumour has been seen and the surface of the eye is looking much healthier and normal. Hopefully no recurrence will occur.