closed eye problem

[lilbecky8]

Hi everyone!

First time poster here looking for some help. I scanned briefly the health forum and couldn't find anything that answered my questions, so here I go.

My practically 4 year old Silver Martin, (I think, got him from Petco) Thumper, is suddenly having a problem with his eye. This morning I noticed while he ate his breakfast his left eye kept closing while right eye stayed wide open. I have never seen either of my two rabbits close their eyes not even when sleeping, so it alarmed me, but I had to go to work. When I came back home I noticed his left eye was still closing. It did it while he was eating and just resting. If I went to pet him or moved much he would open his eye, but then it would slowly close again. There is no runnyness at all. Not from his eye or nose. And he doesn't seem in pain and he's not itching it or anything.

I fortunately caught the vet before they closed tonight and Thumper has an appointment first thing tomorrow morning.

But I was wondering if anyone had experienced something similar with their rabbit and could give me an idea of what is going on.

I am worried about my little baby.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[lilbecky8]

Sorry here is a little bit more.

I am located in Lansing, MI

Thumper is neutered and has not any health problems before this except he's been backed up once or twice and gave him baby gas medicine and he recovers just fine.

He's hopping normal,going to the bathroom normal, eating.

 

[tonyshuman]

My guess is that it could be tooth or tooth-root related. Can you feel any bumps on that side of his face in the eye area? What I do is feel for symmetry on the face, as many times a tooth root can become infected or teeth can become sharp and cut into the tongue or cheeks. The fact that he closes it when he's eating also leads me to suggest that. Has he stopped eating any type of food? Is his body temp normal? I doubt it will get worse overnight, but keep an eye out. Bunnies are very good at hiding their discomfort.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Since based on your comments that Thumper is basically healthy, I would suspect possibly a scratched cornea. Since a rabbit's eyes sits outward from the skull....they are easily scratched. Could be a nail from scratching, a piece of hay or most anything. Most likely the vet will "stain" the eye looking for a scratch. This involved putting a reflective dye in the eye that can be seen under UV. If there is a scratch, the dye will stick in the injury and will be readily visible under the Woods Lamp. Scratches are usually treated by the use of non-steroidal eye drops and lubricating solution such as basic artificial tears. If left untreated, a scratch can ulcerate and that is a bigger problem.

Until you can see the vet....go down to your local pharmacy and pick up some sterile eye wash and some lubricating drops (I prefer Refresh Gel). Should not contain any additional medications....just basic irrigating drops/gel. Carefully open the eye and flush with the saline (sterile eye wash) and administer a couple of drops of lubricant drops. If a scratched cornea is the problem...this will give some soothing comfort....and if not, it won't hurt anything.

Randy

 

[lilbecky8]

Tony and Randy,
Thank you for the suggestions. I checked Thumper for any bumps and couldn't feel anything. I am letting him and Hailey run around right now and Thumper seems pretty happy. Running around doing bunny flails. He is keeping his eye open while running around, except he just did take a break and while he sat his eye closed again. Now he's climbing on my husband, he likes to climb on our backs when we are laying down.

I am going to run to the pharmacy to see if I can get the saline and lubricant.

Thank you again for the suggestions. I will let you know how things go with the vet in the morning

 

[lilbecky8]

Took Thumper to the vet early this morning. The vet did two tests. One that stuck what seemed to be a piece of paper in his eye to see if Thumper is producing enough tears. Then he stained the eye and showed me the small ulcer that the die was clinging too. It turns out Thumper has dry eyes and I will have to put eye drops in his eyes every day for the rest of his life. (The ulcer formed right where his two eye lids meet)

Since he has this problem he may get eye infections more easily, so I have to keep a look out for that. But otherwise Thumper is good.

He's got his drops for the day and let him out of his cage for some running around time. He was happy,bunny spazzing and ate some carrots I gave him for a treat.

Thank you guys for all your help! I greatly appreciate it..

 

[ra7751]

Umm....don't know about drops for the rest of his life. But the main concern at this point is resolving the ulcer. It is vitally important that the eye drops DO NOT contain steroids. I mention this even though you have been to a vet. I have had several people ask me about certain ocular drops that have been prescribed. Better safe than sorry. I usually treat ulcers with four meds.....three in the eye and a pain med as ulcers can be uncomfortable. I use the artificial tears as I mentioned in my previous post. I usually use either Tobramycin or Gentamicin 4X per day. And, few vets know this one, I use a drug called Acetylcysteine. This drug is used in humans to break up mucus in the lungs in certain situations and also to protect the liver if there is an overdose of NSAIDs like Tylenol. But when used as an eye drop...it is fantastic at healing cornea ulcers. I used if originally in a domestic that had a collapsing cornea...it was nasty. Only a very small scar remains. I also showed this protocol to one of my volunteer vets that does wildlife for me. Successfully treated a very intense ulcer on a baby cottontail. It's not exactly a cheap drug...but it really works well and is worth the expense.

My experience has been that ulcers are not the usual presentation of a dry eye....it's much more like a cloudy cornea much like a cataract. I would concentrate on getting this ulcer resolved and then see what happens. But there is never in harm in saline eye lubricants. As I also previously mentioned, I prefer the gels as they tend to "hand in the there" longer than liquid drops.

Randy

 

[lilbecky8]

Randy,
Thanks for the advice, while I am at work right now I will check when I get home and make sure the eye drops aren't steroids.

The vet I went to is not just any old vet. Michigan State University's Vet school referred me to this vet because of his knowledge of rabbits.

I may have used the wrong terms while describing Thumper's eye problem. Ulcer might not be the correct diagnostic term. The vet did the tear test and said that Thumper wasn't producing enough tears. He then flushed the eye and put the dye on it. He showed me where the dye clinged to and explained to me that because Thumper's eye isn't producing enough tears the part where his eye lids meet is the part that is the driest. (and hence where the dye was clinging to) I don't think the term ulcer was ever used by the vet, it's just what I called for the a lack of a better word. Maybe that is the definition of a ulcer? I dont know.

I have only given him 3 drops (2 yesterday, 1 today) so far and I have notice a huge improvement. He's no longer closing his eye at all. I am of course still keeping a close eye on him.

When I get home I will post the name of the med that Thumper is on.

Thanks again!

Becky

 

[Maureen Las]

No that's not the definiton of an ulcer so it probably is not an ulcer but maybe it could have become one; it's probably sratched
that's good that it's better
I have a rabbit that had an ulcer from trauma from another rabbit and it took forever to heal; it was a nightmare

 

[tonyshuman]

Yeah, an ulcer would be an actual scratch on the eye, like a scrape on the skin. I would be confident with that vet, because of the recommendation. I haven't heard of rabbits needing eye drops forever, but since it can happen with people and dogs, I don't see why it couldn't happen with rabbits.

 

[lilbecky8]

Hey!
Ok so that was my bad. Sorry for using the word ulcer.

The med the vet gave me is I-Drop vet. It says on the box it is a long-lasting viscoadaptive lubricating or moistening agent. Once I open one of the tubes of drops I have to refrigerate it. It seems so far to be good stuff and helping my baby.

I know I say this every time, but I really do appreciate both of your help. Thank you!

 

[Maureen Las]

http://www.vetamerica.com/browseproducts/I-Drop-Vet-Ophthalmic-Solution-----20-dose.html

Lookslike good stuff !