Eye gash.

[spagnoods]

Hi.. this is my first time on this site.

I was looking for some help...
I have two 8-week old female Netherland Dwarfs one named Cinnamon the other named Pancakes.

we've had them for a week now and they have been great little mates. They play together cuddle, lick each other etc. We've gotten them from the same litter.

This morning my fiance and I woke up to them fighting in the cage. Cinnamon's eye was bleeding quite a bit. I cleaned it up and applied pressure and his eye has stopped bleeding. She is playing around, eating and acting like herself.

Her lower eyelid has a cut, but we've looked at her eye it seems to have no markings or injuries. her upper eyelid is a little swollen but she seems fine and still has good coordination. Pancakes helped clean the
wound. The vet is closed today so I was wondering what I need to do. Will a vet stitch it or will it heal on its own or what solution should I use to clean the eye?

Also should I separate them? Should they still be litter mates? right now they're in their cage which is an XL cage and are cuddling and licking eachother. I don't know what to do i'm scared that they will fight again.

 

[Maureen Las]

I would separate them to prevent further injury . It is possible that they could be rebonded after they are spayed and neutered but this could reccur if they are left together.

If it was my rabbitsI would find a rabbit knowledgeable emergency vet and have them seen today. Eyes are a difficult part of the body to clean after a biteplus salivafrom the other rabbit is not sterile nor will it help healing (myth).

The worst case scenario is a bad infection in the eye or an abscess.

I will try to find a list of vets in your area or possibly you know an emergency clinic .
You can buy sterile eye wash in the contact lense section of a pharmacy and totally and completely run this over all areas of the little buns eyes and lids. Run the plastic bottle of eye wash under warm water sothe temp will be comfortable andit will not startle the rabbit; feel the temp of the eye wash before you apply.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12548&forum_id=9

You will need to get a prescription for an antibiotic eye drop

The Airport Clinic doesn't sound a like a good choice but Callendar Animal Hopstial does...
Let us know

 

[Maureen Las]

If you can soak sterile water or eye wash in sterilecottonballs and run solution over the eye this is a better option. the purpose is to rinse away all bacteria and cleanse the eye.

 

[jcottonl02]

First of all, I would keep a very close eye on her.....eye (sorry :biggrin- scratches and bites can lead to nasty abcesses, so just make sure you see no swellings, or pus, or heat around the area.
Has it healed properly? What does it look like? Is it more like a scab now, or an open wound? If it's the latter, then I would get her to the vet tomorrow, so they can perhaps stitch or do whatever they need to do to keep the wound closed so it can heal properly, without infection.

Secondly, the bonding situation. Rabbits that are kept together as litter mates are likely to get on, and remain 'friends' forever. However, if they are fighting already, then I would separate them, wait to get them both spayed, and then start reintroducing them after a few weeks, when their hormones have died down.

However, if you do decide to separate them now, then be prepared of the chance that the ties will be severed, and you'll have to try bonding them later, and it might not work.

I'm not sure I would keep them together purely on the basis that even just at 8 weeks old, as littermates, one has been quite seriously injured (ie. not a little scab on the foot).

Jen

 

[spagnoods]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I don't know how to respond accordingly, I will learn how one day

I've cleaned her eye very carefully and went to the drugstore to buy a saline eye wash that was recommended to us. It cleaned it very nicely and showed the cut clearly. It seems most of the cut is fur loss, but i'm still concerned with the corner of the eyelid. I've been monitoring it since this morning and it seems to have closed.

We've separated them for now and they seem to be doing good. We brought them outside and they played together like normal. When they're together Pancakes wants to lick the wound. So should I not let her? and how often should I cleanse the area?

Also thank you Angiluv I checked for vets in north bay that link was really helpful. We are waiting until the are old enough to get spayed. However when you talk about reintroducing them do you mean sharing the same litter or just being around eachother, because like i said they do very well outside of the litter. Maybe they just want their own sleeping space....

Much thanks for your advice

-Melanie

 

[Maureen Las]

By separating them I meant not allowing them to live together in the same cage .
It would be bestto have 2 cages side by side so that they are close to each other and can remain familar with each other.
if you want to let them play together outside their cages thenI would only do it if it was closesly supervised.

As 2 young females grow older (before spaying) there is a strong possibility of them becoming even more aggressive with each other when hormones start raging


It sounds like you are absolutely sure that the the eyeball was not injured in any way which is good.

If Pancakes is licking her eye I would wash it when they are done playing together
it sounds like you are waiting until tomorrow for the vet so assess it again in the morning.
If there is any suggestion of an infection( puffiness or redness) or if the eye looks abnormal in any way I would certainly make sure that you go to the vet. Antibiotic drops could help the cut in the inner eye.

 

[spagnoods]

What we did is split their XL cage into two with fencing. We secured it to their care and made sure there were no pointy ends where they could get hurt. there is plenty of room for them on each side.

We're keeping an eye on her eye. The cut on her lower eyelid still seems to be closing up and the puffiness is also going down. She has a great appetite so I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow and reassess.

Ill keep you updated

 

[tonyshuman]

Once does start to get hormonal, it can be hard to keep them together. We often send our bunnies at the shelter to new homes with a same-sex sibling if we have babies to adopt out, but once they start hitting sexual maturity they can fight, and there can be a lag time between once they start getting hormonal and the time that it's ok to spay them. I would only allow them together while you're watching, but keep their cages close to each other. Once they're spayed you can put them back together.

It's ok for Pancakes to clean the eye but it would also be good to do the daily cleaning of it after they run around together like angieluv said. You can put some neosporin on it, and even a bit on the eye itself (if you're careful--that stuff is slippery), as long as you get the ointment kind, without added pain meds. Vets can also give you a prescription neosporin that's made to go on the eye, although I don't think it's very different from the normal ointment.

 

[spagnoods]

So far so good. When we woke up this morning cinnamon's eye improved quite a bit. Since we haven't seen more swelling or pus we decided not to bring her to the vet. Her cut seems to still be closing on its own. We've been caring for it washing it thoroughly with "Blairex Sterile wound wash saline" and applying triple ointment.

She's still acting normal and pancakes and cinnamon still play together outside of the cage as nothing happened no signs of fights or signs or dominance.

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions

-Melanie

 

[jcottonl02]

Glad to hear it :thumbup


Still keep an eye on, and keep cleaning it until it scabs right over

Jen

 

[tonyshuman]

That sounds good, as long as the stuff you're using is safe to get in the eye or you're keeping it out of the eye.