Baby Rabbit's Bad Eye

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

Okay first off, Im going to say I AM a breeder, and I love my animals. i was recently on "Rabbits United Forum" and all those people did was judge and criticize me because I was a breeder(therefore Imone of the causes of over population of rabbits)and because i cant afford to take a 3 week old baby rabbit to the vet if in the end it just has to be put down.

Okay, the baby's left eye is really swollen and has a huge lump in it. Its completely shut, and from when it first started opening its eyes, I vaguely remember that one ever being open. I dont know if he just got his eye scratched or what. One time that happened to another baby but it cleared up. This one has a very hard lump on it and swollen all around.I've asked everyone I know and they dont know what to do about it.

Please someone try and give me better advice then straight up saying "TAKE IT TO THE VET!"

 

[dootsmom]

Where are you located?

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

I am located in Missouri, about an hour south of STL

 

[BlueGiants]

Here is the link for Eye Problems

Have you tried to soak the eye and open it? Sometimes a warm tea bag or cotton ball soaked in warm water will help. I'm concerned that the bunny is 3 weeks old and the eye is still shut. I expect that he has what breeders call "nestbox eye" and that involves a bad infection.

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

Im afraid to try and open it. i guess because Im afraid of what I'll see. Plus, my boyfriend is the one who always cleans the eyes out and such and Ive never done it..

 

[Michaela]

Can you get a picture of the eye?

I'm sorry, but it really does sound like you should take the bunny to a vet.

I hope the little one is ok. ray:

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

Im loading the pictures on here as we speak

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

He does have something coming out of his eye now, and its starting to open, so im gonna clean it out, what should i actually use? a warm wet cotton ball, a warm wash cloth , or a warm tea bag? and the teag bag, should it be wet or dry? Ive never had to do anyhing like this so I really have no idea

 

[naturestee]

Ooooooh, ouch!

That looks like a really bad infection. If it is starting to open a little, wash it with saline, the stuff made for human eyes. It's gentle and sterile. You can use a warm wash cloth or warm wet tea bag (chamomile works well) to try to help ease the swelling.

I'm scared about the puffiness, I'm concerned that it might have become an abscess. What does it feel like? Pus in rabbit abscesses is very thick, like cream cheese or toothpaste.

I don't like messing with eye problems. Eyes are so delicate that they are best left to vets. But if you really can't afford one...

Have you called area shelters to see if the know of any veterinary assistance programs? Do vets in your area take Care Credit? It's like a credit card for vet bills. Or try IMOM:
http://www.imom.org/

Breeders, do you know what antibiotics are safe for such a young baby? Any chance it can be given penicillan shots?

ray:

 

[BlueGiants]

Right now, the best thing to do is get it open and cleaned out. I expect you'll find a lot of thick yellow/white pus. Flush the eye with a opthamalic saline solution (eye wash). (You can get this at any Drug store/CVS/Walgreens/etc.) Flush it til it's clean.

You can use a neosporin or bacetracin ointment (without PAIN RELIEF) in the eye. But I expect the eye will be closed back up by tomorrow. I'm not a vet and don't know what bacteria is causing the infection. And I don't want to venture a guess what antibiotic is best. (And can you even get an antibiotic without a prescription from a vet?)

Draining it will relieve the pressure and some of the discomfort, at least temporarily...

Maybe Randy could offer an opinion....

 

[Ivory]

You don't like to mess around with eyes. I'd say bring her to the vet as soon as possible.

If you can't get her in, I'd say that you need to open it and flush it out with something. Saline could work, you could try chlorohexaderm, one part chlorohexaderm, ten parts water, twice a day.

She should also be one some kind of injectible antibiotic.

 

[x0xhottpunkx0x]

Okay whos Randy? And As for like vet programs and what not, the closest shelter is like 60 miles away, I cant drive, and I wont see my boyfriend til this weekend. He agreed for me to call our vet tomorrow and get an estimate of what a check up and having it drained will cost but we cant pay anymore than like $20 for it. Thats pretty much all we have and Im pretty sure it'll cost a lot more than that.

 

[naturestee]

You don't have to go to the shelter, just call and ask if they know of any assistance programs. And check out those other sites I gave you too.

Randy is ra7751. He does wildlife rehab and runs a rescue for ill/injured domestic rabbits. He knows his stuff.

 

[gentle giants]

Is the lid of the eye open at all? I would also say it needs to be cleaned out. Whether or not it helps in the long run, it's bound to make the baby more comfortable right now. If you are having trouble getting the lid open, use a wet, warm wash cloth and carefully soak the lid until it's free of gunk and will open for you. Then you can use more warm water to gently rinse it out, it will probably take a lot of rinsing because it looks like there is probably a lot of junk in there. I think someone already said this, but rabbit pus is super thick and may take a fair amount of work to get rid of.

 

[Pipp]

Ivory wrote:

You don't like to mess around with eyes. I'd say bring her to the vet as soon as possible.

If you can't get her in, I'd say that you need to open it and flush it out with something. Saline could work, you could try chlorohexaderm, one part chlorohexaderm, ten parts water, twice a day.

She should also be on some kind of injectible antibiotic.

BlueGiants wrote:

Right now, the best thing to do is get it open and cleaned out. I expect you'll find a lot of thick yellow/white pus. Flush the eye with a opthamalic saline solution (eye wash). (You can get this at any Drug store/CVS/Walgreens/etc.) Flush it til it's clean.

You can use a neosporin or bacetracin ointment (without PAIN RELIEF) in the eye. But I expect the eye will be closed back up by tomorrow. I'm not a vet and don't know what bacteria is causing the infection. And I don't want to venture a guess what antibiotic is best. (And can you even get an antibiotic without a prescription from a vet?)

Draining it will relieve the pressure and some of the discomfort, at least temporarily...

Maybe Randy could offer an opinion....

Randy I'm sure will agree with BlueGiants and Ivory (who is working and studying with a vet), they've offeredvery sound advice, maybe he'll also have some input re: the type of antibiotics.

Also, we welcome responsiblebreeding members here, we're a kind and gentle forum, although I will advise you that we don't welcomedisparaging remarks about other boards. We aregreat supporters of RU. I hope we won't see any moreof that!

Meanwhile, welcome to RO, best wishes for the baby. Here'shoping the little one can get the righttreatment and antibiotics asap and pull through this. ray:



sas :bunnydance:

 

[Ivory]

I just need to say this:

This rabbit needs to be brought to a veterinarian.

That's the best advice I can give. She needs a perscription strength drug.

Problems such as this aren't uncommon in young animals. She will probably live.

But she needs a vet. Not an online forum.

 

[pamnock]

Holy Cow! From the photos, it looks like the infection may involve a serious abscess. There's no way around the fact that the rabbits needs professional care. I try to offer options to those that are in extenuating circumstances and unable to get their rabbit to a veterinarian, but it would be irresponsible to encourage home treatment in this case.

The rabbit is in real danger of losing the eye - if it hasn't already. (It's very likely that there is no longer an eye if you are pretty certain that it was never open).

It needs to be opened, thoroughly flushed, examined, and proper treatment determined from there.

Pam

 

[Pipp]

I really would like to see you stick aroundRabbits Onlinebecauseyou really do need help with your rabbits, or at least your rabbits reallyneed help.I do hope you take the advice of our very knowledgeable members very seriously withoutgetting offended.

Most of the breeding information available here will tell you that it's important to watch for eyes that haven't opened at the same rate of the others, I think it's recommended the breeder takes action at something like no later than 14 days? You seriously need to be better educated on this stuff and you need to be more observantand/or spend more time monitoring the health of your herd.

AndI know whileour members may be too polite to say much, there is the question of whether given your limited resources,you can afford to be breeding at all. :?For the sake of the rabbits,this may not be a great idea. You need to have at least SOME funds set aside for emergency vet treatment, otherwise you're looking atflat out cruelty toailing animals. This baby is obviously in a painful state.

This isn't meant to be unkind, but we are very concerned for the health and welfare of rabbits, here,breeder bunnies and pets alike. And honestly, there is cause for concern.

You're really going to have to find a way to get the treatment.Immediately, if not sooner.



sas

 

[TinysMom]

First of all, as a breeder for over 2 years now, I want to say "welcome to the forum". I think you'll find we're a very friendly forum and we even have a rabbitry section for discussions among breeders so we can all learn how to be better breeders.

I have a few concerns that I'd like to address for you to think about. I'm not sure how long you've been breeding and how many litters you've had, etc. These are lessons that I've learned the hard way....by being a breeder myself.

• Please don't breed if you don't have funds available to take your rabbit to the vet. This includes mama, daddy and babies. Before you do your next breeding - set aside some money so you have an emergency fund for vet visits. My last litter cost me over $200 for emergency Xrays because I had two does that were having issues and we needed to see if they needed shots, etc. Fortunately, my husband had just received a bonus and we had the money. Now, I set aside money BEFORE I do my breeding - and if all goes well - then I have it as "yahoo" money to celebrate (or save for my next breeding). I suggest a minimum of at least $150 per doe/breeding. I know c-sections can run a lot more than that - but with $150 - at least you have the ability to negotiate and see if you can make payments.
• You need to learn how to do things like clean their eyes if they are stuck. I know that there are some things that are "yucky" as a breeder - like having to check the nestbox every day to see if there are dead babies (hopefully not) or cleaning their eyes or even cleaning up after them and helping mama with nursing them and cleaning them if she's a first time mama having problems. But it is YOUR responsibility to take care of them. What if your boyfriend got the flu and couldn't see them for a week? Things can happen - life happens - and it is cruel to make an animal suffer because you don't know how to do some things - when you can learn how to do them. Cleaning the eye when it is time to open is SOOOOO easy....and not that bad at all. If there are things like this you need to learn - please come on over to the rabbitry area and ask us how to do these things...we'll be glad to help.
• Try to make sure you have a plan for reliable transportation around the times you have your litters. This might mean knowing the bus schedule and being able to plan to get to the vet's that way - or having the money set aside for cab fare.

I rarely have to use the vet with my litters now - but if I did - I do have plans and transportation to get there.

Unfortunately, while you do not want to hear us say, "Take the baby to a vet" - that is the best option for that baby at this time. It isn't like we're trying to be mean or judge. It is that we can't prescribe for you what medication the baby needs - only a vet can do that. In addition - a vet needs to deal with that abcess or whatever.

Good luck with the baby and I hope it can keep the eye. I'm hoping the infection doesn't spread through its system to kill it or something - that poor thing has got to be suffering and in pain.

And once again - welcome to the forum.....come on over to the rabbitry section if you have questions and we'll help you learn how to do stuff like tend the eyes, etc.

Peg