Help! New here

[Peterh1995]

Morning everyone,

Completely new to this page but hoping someone can help me ASAP really!

We wokeup this morning and noticed something wasn't right with our bunnies eye!!! She isn't reacting to anything that side so we assume she can't see out it.

I have 3 pictures below - 2 of the bad eye and 1 to show comparison of how her eyes usually look!

Any help is much appreciated!!!
http://imageshack.com/a/img923/5827/RNcmQH.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img924/6213/oGHH0C.jpg
http://imageshack.com/a/img922/1323/cMRByw.jpg

Thank you!!!
Peter

 

[katiecrna]

So it could be just built up crust or an eye infection. It’s hard to seen in these pictures if it’s red whether there is pus. If it’s just crusty then take some saline and gauze pads and clean the crust around the eye. If it looks infected take her to the vet.

My rabbit is a lionhead and her eye crusted over once and scared me. All I had to do was clean the crust off gently. I did a little, let her rest, did a little more and so on. It’s kind of like eye boogers we get except they can’t clear it off themselves. Also if something touches their eye like their hair or whatever their eye waters and crusts over and irritates the eye more so the eye waters and crusts more and then it looks terrible. So now I always always check my rabbits eyes for little eye boogers and I’m gently taking them off a couple times a week so they don’t cause problems.

 

[Aki]

It looks like conjunctivitis. It can come from a lot of different causes. Considering it's only on one side, I would consider a mechanical problem, like a blocked tearduct, something that got into her eye and scratched the cornea, a tooth root pressing against something it shouldn't. Eyes are pretty fragile and it doesn't look like a small crust to me, moreover this rabbit is not a long haired one so it can't come from some hair rubbing a bit against the eye (it is indeed a pretty frequent issue with angoras and lionheads and in this case, the hair can't scratch the surface of the eye the way hay could so there is no 'wound' to speak of and washing it generally does the trick), so I wouldn't try to treat it yourself. Most eye problems require an antibiotic eyewash to clear the problem - it's generally pretty easy to treat, just putting eyewash in the eye several times a day for 4-5 days. I would take her to the vet to assess the problem and get the correct eyewash. Maybe it's nothing but when it comes to rabbits, my policy is better be safe than sorry as things can escalate quickly.

 

[Liung]

Discharge: the eye is irritated. That could come from any number of things. Do you have a second bunny? Maybe they got in a fight? Maybe the eye was scratched by some hay? Or as previous posts have mentioned, conjunctivitis is a possibility.

Honestly, no matter what you should go see a vet. If you find yourself thinking "should I see the vet?" it's always best to default to "yes". Lahi got conjunctivitis, and because I took him to see the vet, when we took him for his checkup the vet noticed that his eye was bulging and we caught the underlying retrobulbar abscess that had caused the conjunctivitis. That should have been a terminal diagnosis, but because we caught it early he's still frolicking today.

A good vet won't charge you for follow up appointments, so going now will ensure your bunny gets the antibiotics/painkillers/antiseptic wash he likely needs, as well as a medical expert helping you monitor his progress until he's fully healed.

Another thing to consider: is your bunny a dwarf hotot or a regular hotot? Lahi's abscess (and therefore his conjunctivitis) was caused by one of the roots of his teeth growing up to press on his eye. There's no fixing tooth root problems, but once the abscess was gone the tooth had to be removed before it fell out, and now Lahi sees the vet annually to check on the other teeth that are still loose as a result, in addition to trimming tooth spurs.

Dwarf breeds are very prone to teeth problems, as their skulls are often too small to comfortably accommodate their teeth—similar to how humans often have problems with their wisdom teeth if they're not removed. If your hotot is the dwarf variant, be aware that tooth issues are something to watch out for. Tooth root problems are more likely in older buns, but tooth spurs and malocclusion can happen at any age. Imagine my shock one day when a choking episode (which cleared up without issue) brought this to my attention:

View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1508780339.975387.jpg