Bulging Cloudy Eye

[MiliMilo]

My rabbit had on going teary eyed since 2019 and it never get better. She is almost 7. Ever since February this year, i noticed her left eye get bigger and not long after that her right eye follows. The left eye are now non-visual anymore. It got that cloudy look to it. And the right eye starting to look deteriorating too right now, by getting bigger and cloudier. And i never see the cloudy ring around her eye like that before.

Since she had respiratory problems in the past, i wonder if this condition is retrobulbar abscess. But from what i seen on the internet, retrobulbar abscess infected eye didn't have that cloudyness look to it. And i read the journal about rabbit's opthalmic, they had two different category to bulging eyes, which is "Exophthalmos" and "Buphthalmos". Exophthalmos occured in retrobulbar abscess and is usually just found in one eye. Buphthalmos commonly found in one or both eyes and caused by glaucoma.


Since there aren't many expertise exotic vet around where i lived so i just search the community forum for experience closed to mine. I reached my usual vet but she said she didn't know much about rabbit's eyes issues and always just said that it was part of her aging process. They didn't have CT or tonometer to ensure my rabbit's condition for the best possible treatment for her.

I include some pics for her current condition and her eyes looked like in the past. I hoped someone with similiar experience could give me clue about her condition.

 

[Niomi]

So sorry about your rabbit. I had a rabbit with bulging eyes, but they were not cloudy. My rabbit had Thymoma.

 

[JBun]

To me it looks like it could be glaucoma, but that doesn't rule out the other possible causes like the retrobulbar abscess . If it's glaucoma, it means your rabbit needs to be on eye drops to help reduce the pressure. Though if severe enough and the pressure can't be controlled, and your rabbit is exhibiting signs of it causing significant discomfort and pain, the surgical removal of the eyes might be necessary.

You might need to take your rabbit to a ophthalmic(eye) specialist on dogs and cats, and have your current vet work with them in finding a solution and the appropriate treatment for rabbits. The ophthalmic specialist will have the necessary knowledge on eyes, and your vet will have more knowledge about rabbits.

https://mohrs.org/rabbit-eye-health/
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/case-of-the-month/n-2015-glaucoma-with-pigmentation-in-the-eye
https://www.vetlexicon.com/treat/lapis/freeform/eye-glaucoma

 

[MiliMilo]

So sorry about your rabbit. I had a rabbit with bulging eyes, but they were not cloudy. My rabbit had Thymoma.

Thank you for your concern. What are the symptomps does your rabbit have? Did you and your rabbit managed okay?

 

[MiliMilo]

To me it looks like it could be glaucoma, but that doesn't rule out the other possible causes like the retrobulbar abscess . If it's glaucoma, it means your rabbit needs to be on eye drops to help reduce the pressure. Though if severe enough and the pressure can't be controlled, and your rabbit is exhibiting signs of it causing significant discomfort and pain, the surgical removal of the eyes might be necessary.

You might need to take your rabbit to a ophthalmic(eye) specialist on dogs and cats, and have your current vet work with them in finding a solution and the appropriate treatment for rabbits. The ophthalmic specialist will have the necessary knowledge on eyes, and your vet will have more knowledge about rabbits.

https://mohrs.org/rabbit-eye-health/
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/case-of-the-month/n-2015-glaucoma-with-pigmentation-in-the-eye
https://www.vetlexicon.com/treat/lapis/freeform/eye-glaucoma

What kind of drops that she need to take if i would treat her disease as a glaucoma? And what kind of symptomps that appear if it were retrobulbar abscess? Any visible signs that i should look out for? Maybe such as protrusion of the third eyelid or something?

I might as well try your suggestion because this is the only accessible option for me right now.

 

[Niomi]

Thank you for your concern. What are the symptomps does your rabbit have? Did you and your rabbit managed okay?

His third eyelids were always showing. He would often have wet fur by his eye. I used to give him artificial tears because I didn't know what else to do. He would sneeze a lot, but I doubt that was part of thymoma. I took him to the vet a few time, and everything was blamed on his age. I was also told that he was in good health for his age, and he would get antibiotics for his sneezing. The sneezing would go away but always come back once the antibiotics were gone. He was losing weight. One month before his 12th birthday, I took him to see a different vet. The vet felt his chest and said that he believed that Harley had some tumors in his chest. Because of the bulging eyes, the vet said that he believed it was thymoma. Harley was put to sleep so that he wouldn't suffer.

 

[MiliMilo]

His third eyelids were always showing. He would often have wet fur by his eye. I used to give him artificial tears because I didn't know what else to do. He would sneeze a lot, but I doubt that was part of thymoma. I took him to the vet a few time, and everything was blamed on his age. I was also told that he was in good health for his age, and he would get antibiotics for his sneezing. The sneezing would go away but always come back once the antibiotics were gone. He was losing weight. One month before his 12th birthday, I took him to see a different vet. The vet felt his chest and said that he believed that Harley had some tumors in his chest. Because of the bulging eyes, the vet said that he believed it was thymoma. Harley was put to sleep so that he wouldn't suffer.

Well, my rabbit had teary eye problems since 2019 and still persist until now. For sneezing problems, i think it might be pasteurella since my rabbit had those in 2019. She also sneeze and had sticky discharge in her nose back then. For weight loss, I read somewhere that it is common for geriatric rabbit losing weight, apart from diseases (which we need to see vet occasionally for annual checkup), i think the problem comes with the aging process. Does your rabbit eyes look like this? Well, mine's bulging but didn't have that third eyelid thing.

 

[Niomi]

Well, my rabbit had teary eye problems since 2019 and still persist until now. For sneezing problems, i think it might be pasteurella since my rabbit had those in 2019. She also sneeze and had sticky discharge in her nose back then. For weight loss, I read somewhere that it is common for geriatric rabbit losing weight, apart from diseases (which we need to see vet occasionally for annual checkup), i think the problem comes with the aging process. Does your rabbit eyes look like this? Well, mine's bulging but didn't have that third eyelid thing.

This is a picture of a rabbit online. Since I didn't get front pictures, this is a good example of what Harley's eyes looked like.

 

[Niomi]

These are my pictures of Harley. The second picture is six months before his death. The other pictures are days before his death. I don't have any showing his eyes watering. Sometime the fur around his eyes were wet. Other times he would have one saturated spot near his eye. I was also told that he had Pasturella.

 

[JBun]

What kind of drops that she need to take if i would treat her disease as a glaucoma? And what kind of symptomps that appear if it were retrobulbar abscess? Any visible signs that i should look out for? Maybe such as protrusion of the third eyelid or something?

I might as well try your suggestion because this is the only accessible option for me right now.

You won't know if it's glaucoma or an abscess unless the eye pressure is tested. You would need to find a veterinary ophthalmologist capable of testing the eye pressure to know if it's glaucoma or not. Then if the eye pressure is normal, it's likely going to be either an abscess or another type of mass. If the eye pressure is abnormal, then the vet would need to prescribe an eye drop used for glaucoma to see if that will help control the eye pressure. Something like timolol or other glaucoma eye drop.

https://wagwalking.com/rabbit/condition/bulging-of-the-eyes
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1557506320300471
https://en.wikivet.net/Glaucoma_–_Rabbit

 

[BusterBun]

I had a rabbit with what looks like the same condition. Turned out it was an abscess caused by snuffles. His developed very quickly. From normal healthy to a bulging eye and cold symptoms within two weeks.

We had the abscess drained and he recovered, but he lost his eye.

 

[Niomi]

I hope you can find a vet that can diagnose and treat your rabbit. Good Luck.

 

[MiliMilo]

I had a rabbit with what looks like the same condition. Turned out it was an abscess caused by snuffles. His developed very quickly. From normal healthy to a bulging eye and cold symptoms within two weeks.

We had the abscess drained and he recovered, but he lost his eye.

Did it affect both of their eyes? Did your rabbit also had bluish tinged circle around their eyes? Did your rabbit had visible third eyelid too? I'm sorry for asking everyone too many questions, i'm just trying to figure out her conditions by my own research bcs i can't find experienced exotic vet here.

Mine was developed rather slowly. It was around 8/9 months until mine was bulging since her eyes getting teary.

 

[MiliMilo]

You won't know if it's glaucoma or an abscess unless the eye pressure is tested. You would need to find a veterinary ophthalmologist capable of testing the eye pressure to know if it's glaucoma or not. Then if the eye pressure is normal, it's likely going to be either an abscess or another type of mass. If the eye pressure is abnormal, then the vet would need to prescribe an eye drop used for glaucoma to see if that will help control the eye pressure. Something like timolol or other glaucoma eye drop.

https://wagwalking.com/rabbit/condition/bulging-of-the-eyes
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1557506320300471
https://en.wikivet.net/Glaucoma_–_Rabbit

I have reached out to opthalmologist vet in my town and none of them had eye pressure tools to diagnose her condition. What kind of test do i need to run other than eye pressure test to make sure it was glaucoma or other things?

 

[MiliMilo]

I hope you can find a vet that can diagnose and treat your rabbit. Good Luck.

Thank you so much. I'm sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[JBun]

Without being able to have an eye pressure test done, I guess all that can be done is make a guess as to the cause and try a treatment to see if it helps. So that would be trying glaucoma eye medications, or trying a rabbit safe antibiotic for a possible head abscess(azithromycin, penicillin procaine/benzathine-injection only never oral, etc). I would be more inclined to treat for glaucoma, with the cloudy eye and eye bulging, that's what seems the most likely cause to me.

https://mohrs.org/rabbit-eye-health/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawab...ses in,usually associated with dental disease.

 

[MiliMilo]

Without being able to have an eye pressure test done, I guess all that can be done is make a guess as to the cause and try a treatment to see if it helps. So that would be trying glaucoma eye medications, or trying a rabbit safe antibiotic for a possible head abscess(azithromycin, penicillin procaine/benzathine-injection only never oral, etc). I would be more inclined to treat for glaucoma, with the cloudy eye and eye bulging, that's what seems the most likely cause to me.

https://mohrs.org/rabbit-eye-health/
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/jawab...ses in,usually associated with dental disease.

Thank you so much for your responses. I will treat her for glaucoma and see if it helps her eye pressure goes down. I will update as soon as i see changes in her eyes.