Help with weepy eye please!!!!

[Gabriela]

Hello, my bunny Toby is a Lyon Head and is 3 years old. She has a chronic weepy eye since about a year ago. I took her already to two vets and both prescribed antibiotic eye drops, plus oral antibiotics and a nebulizer. As soon as I finished the treatments, the weepy eye came back, is not steady, just comes and goes. They checked her teeth and they didn't find any issue. I am tired to spend money and time with vets and not having a clear diagnostic. Can somebody help me out with suggestions please? I am worried Many thanks in advance

 

[JBun]

What antibiotics were used and how long were the eye drops and oral antibiotic prescribed for? Did the vet say anything or check for a clogged tear duct, a scratched cornea, or an eyelash rubbing the eye? Did your rabbit show any signs of having sticky white eye discharge, inflamed eyelids, or white clouding of the cornea?

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you for your prompt reply . The first vet prescribed Ciproflaxin in December and Tobramycin and Diclofenac in June , all ophthalmic solutions for 10 days
The second vet gave her Orbifloxacin, Metacam by mouth and Bayt-Cyst/Terbutaline Nebilization. For 14 days.
This was in June .
I don’t know if the vets checked for what you mentioned as , due to COVID restrictions I was not permitted to be with my bunny when the vet checked her .
And yes , her eyelid is red and the discharge is sticky . I don’t know if is white because her fur is white and i cannot see the color of the discharge , but for sure is sticky. See pictures.
In December an eye culture was done and result was : Bordetella bronchiseptica light growth observed. Ciproflaxin was prescribed .

Should I give her again Ciproflaxin ?

I don’t know what else to do, I was veré punctual when administered the medicines. I am worried about my Toby
Thank you for any info you can give me and suggestions of what do .

Looking forward to your comments and help !!!!

 

[JBun]

When it comes to rabbits and infections, they can be extremely difficult to clear up sometimes. So very long courses of antibiotics are often needed. I would suspect that it wasn't long enough a course that the vet prescribed for your rabbit, since you saw improvement on the antibiotic, then a worsening once it stopped. This time I wouldn't want to do any less than a 2 month course of antibiotic eye drops.

An inflamed eyelid and sticky discharge could mean conjunctivitis. Since cipro is prescription, I can't say if you should use it again, but I would in your position. If there isn't any improvement by the first week back on it, I would phone the vet and ask to come pick up a different antibiotic eye drop. If the cipro does work and there isn't enough for a 2 month course, I would request a refill from the vet.

The other thing to consider is if a much longer course doesn't clear it up, is that there can be a tear duct infection blocking the tear duct, or possibly an infected tooth where the infection has spread. So at that point you would need to have your rabbit sedated for a tear duct flush and possibly head xrays to check for an infected tooth. If your current vet isn't a very experienced rabbit vet, it might be worth seeing if there is a more experienced one near you.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/weepy.pdf
https://rabbit.org/vet-listings/

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you very much, super helpful the info you provided. I live in Miami and unfortunately there are only 2 vets here that see rabbits, they are considered "exotic pets". I already took her to both.... I made an appointment to go tomorrow to do a culture and see if is the same bacteria than before or another so they can prescribe the correct antibiotic. I will ask to check her tear duct for a possible infection there. For the time being I am giving her some Diclofenac drops to help with the lid inflammation.
Thanks again !!!!!!

 

[JBun]

You just want to make sure the vet does a much longer course of antibiotics this time. I have a rabbit that kept getting a reoccurring eye infection. After several unsuccessful attempts at treatment, it finally cleared up with antibiotic eye ointment and oral azithromycin for a month. And azithroymcin is a pretty heavy duty antibiotic, usually only given for a week or two.

 

[2Bunns]

Nugget had an identical issue, it took weeks and weeks of high strength eye drops, il have a look and see if i can find the name of them for you. But they are far better than others i tried before but it did take a long time and even after the visual signs are gone… please do not stop the drops for a few days coz it will come straight back.

 

[Gabriela]

Thank you JBun and 2Bunns for your replies. The vet did a culture, and while waiting the results, prescribe an ointment (Neomycin, Polymycin B sulfates and Bacitricin zinc) , her eye is basically no weeping but her eyelid is still red.
The results came back with a a growth of a bacteria that is a contaminant and she recommended to take her to an eye specialist. I have no idea what this results means so I am waiting the vet to call me back with a more clear explanation.

 

[Darojati]

Thank you JBun and 2Bunns for your replies. The vet did a culture, and while waiting the results, prescribe an ointment (Neomycin, Polymycin B sulfates and Bacitricin zinc) , her eye is basically no weeping but her eyelid is still red.
The results came back with a a growth of a bacteria that is a contaminant and she recommended to take her to an eye specialist. I have no idea what this results means so I am waiting the vet to call me back with a more clear explanation.

Hello... can you share the latest update of your bunny? I'm having similar issue like this with my bunny... got antibiotic prescribed eyed drop for a week, but weepy eyes still continue... another expert suspect bacterial infection, and thus suggest to give panacur paste for 28days.. have not started anything as i'm going for another vet to look for 2nd opinion..

hope to hear from you

 

[Gabriela]

Hello Darojati, I took her to the eye specialist in August and they flushed her duct (it was clean) and told me to continue with one of the ointments until finished (dont remember which one) and warm chamomile tea compresses 2 to 3 times per day. If she doesn't improve with this, she recommended 3 shots of penicillin (one week apart).
Fortunately she improved!!! So I didn't do the shots. I am still wiping her eye with a damp chamomile tea cotton ball every morning and night and if I see she is tearing I do it 3 or 4 times per day. Also I maintain the fur around her eye very short and I am now buying "Wafer cut" Timothy hay as it has less powder.
I think stress triggers the weeping eye, but I am not sure if this a fact or just my assumption. I think she has a chronic eye weeping problem, but I have no idea the root of the problem and no vet could tell me either.....I am tired of spending money in visits and medicines!!!
Try the chamomile tea, prepare some fresh tea and keep it in a plastic bottle in the fridge and use it as needed (this is what I do)
I hope your bunny gets better and please let me know how he evolves!!!

 

[Darojati]

Hello Darojati, I took her to the eye specialist in August and they flushed her duct (it was clean) and told me to continue with one of the ointments until finished (dont remember which one) and warm chamomile tea compresses 2 to 3 times per day. If she doesn't improve with this, she recommended 3 shots of penicillin (one week apart).
Fortunately she improved!!! So I didn't do the shots. I am still wiping her eye with a damp chamomile tea cotton ball every morning and night and if I see she is tearing I do it 3 or 4 times per day. Also I maintain the fur around her eye very short and I am now buying "Wafer cut" Timothy hay as it has less powder.
I think stress triggers the weeping eye, but I am not sure if this a fact or just my assumption. I think she has a chronic eye weeping problem, but I have no idea the root of the problem and no vet could tell me either.....I am tired of spending money in visits and medicines!!!
Try the chamomile tea, prepare some fresh tea and keep it in a plastic bottle in the fridge and use it as needed (this is what I do)
I hope your bunny gets better and please let me know how he evolves!!!

Thanks for sharing! Have you tried giving panacur paste?

I am getting Panacur paste to give for 28days treatment. Vet suggests to observe few more days non-medicated eyes to see any changes to the eyes. So meanwhile, i will treat my bunny with Panacur. And also warm chamomile tea as you suggested.

 

[Gabriela]

You are welcome! No I didn't try Pancur paste, never hear of it. I read that is for intestinal worms ?? Please let mw know if the paste is working on your bunny. Today my bunny has a lightly weepy eye again and her eye lid is slightly reddish.... I hope it does not get worse.

You said that you will take your bunny to a another vet to get another opinion, please let me know what he says.

Many thanks!!!

 

[Darojati]

You are welcome! No I didn't try Pancur paste, never hear of it. I read that is for intestinal worms ?? Please let mw know if the paste is working on your bunny. Today my bunny has a lightly weepy eye again and her eye lid is slightly reddish.... I hope it does not get worse.

You said that you will take your bunny to a another vet to get another opinion, please let me know what he says.

Many thanks!!!

Suggested for off medicine first, as we gave her various eyedrops which did not entirely help. Had xray for the teeth before too, and it shows normal. Same indication, that it can be either bacterial or allergy. From the historical data, the suspect is she got infected by the newly adopted bunny..

We're advised to cleanse the eyes with neutral eye rinser (no antibiotic ingredient) everyday to help ease the itch. Coz her eyelids are still pinkish.. means still having inflammation.

panacur is for de-worming. Some pictures below.

lets keep each other posted.

 

[Darojati]

I also post this under my thread

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/teary-eyes.102901/

 

[Darojati]

@Gabriela hello, so far panacur rabbit (dewormer) works, after 28days taking it. How's your bunny?