Rabbit Tearing - After Care?

[celineki]

Hi,

Just 2 weeks ago, i noticed that my bunny is tearing on her right eye (just clear fluids), the fur around her right eye is wet all the time and also coming off. 4 days later after the discovery, i brought her to the vet as there's no improvement.

The vet did some checks on her and assured me that everything is alright, but she might have tear duct infection.. they flushed her eye abit (not able to get all as her eye getting swollen) and gave me Ciprofloxacin (Ciloxan) eye drop and Trimetoprim-Sulfa syrup, to be administered to her twice a day (for 2 weeks). After the flushing, i noticed white mucus coming out from her right eye..

After the visit to the vet, i gave her the eye drop and syrup twice a day for a week.. and everything looks great.. no longer tearing and fur on her right eye growing back etc... today, i took her off the syrup as she absolutely hate it, and i dun want to force it in her since she seems like she recovered already.. but i did continue the eye drop.

However, i noticed she begins tearing on her right eye again tonight. I dunno if its because i took her off the syrup and she is getting back the tearing? The vet told me the syrup is for her sneezing and since she is no longer sneezing, i took it off. When i saw her tearing again, i immediately gave her the syrup.

Now i'm worried that the infection might be back again? Should i bring her to the vet, or should i wait for a few days to see if she improves? can i do anything more to help her?

 

[Nela]

I am guessing that it's an antibiotic? You should always continue the medicine despite them looking better. Not only does finishing early risk that it comes back, it risks that your bun can build an immunity to the antibiotics used, just like us humans, so it's really important that any antibiotics are given until they are finished. Out of curiosity, did the vet check your bun's teeth? I am not sure what others would recommend at this point, but I would guess that if it's coming back, perhaps another vet visit will be necessary. Perhaps you can call the vet and ask them directly? I hope someone else can come give you better advice. It's never fun to worry about our wee ones. :hug2:

 

[celineki]

I'm not really sure, but i think its antibiotics.. i only didnt give it to her this morning.. and by night she begins tearing.. so i immediately give it to her again... really hope she might be better ray: .. really beating myself for stopping the meds!! i hope she dun grow a resistance to it..

And yah, my vet did checked her teeth, told me that its a little bit longer than it should be, but it seems alright for now..

i just bathe her right eye with cotton pad and plain water.. dun know what else to do than just sit there and stare at her.. my vet is close now, and tomorrow is a public holiday, so i will have to wait til Wednesday before i can make any appointment.

But thank for your reply Nela.. really appreciate it.

 

[Nela]

Oh, I don't mean to alarm you, just wanted to explain why it should be done. I'm pretty sure most of us have done the exact same thing in the past! I'm also pretty sure that it would take more than the one time to really make a difference but yeah, it can complicate dealing with an infection if not done right You should be able to manage until Wednesday just fine. Keep up what you are doing (just make sure it is not tap water, you can use saline or even distilled water I think) and keep an eye on your bun's breathing, just to be sure If it starts sounding different at all, I wouldn't wait. I would keep emergency vet contact info on hand just to be ready in case but I doubt you will require it.This is just in case it would turn out to be an upper-respiratory infection of some sort but I really don't think it's likely if the vet checked your bun out properly.You should be alright with what you have on hand til then.

 

[celineki]

I've read from another thread that saline water is cooled boiled water with salt? Will bathe her eye with that..

Oh and the breathing.. she sounds normal all the time, but she panic when i carried her.. and her breathing will sound congested when i tried to get her to take the meds.. but i just put that down as her getting nervous and sort angry at being fed the meds... cos other than that, she seems normal..

Thanks.. i should probably try to get some sleep now and pray she will be better tomorrow morning!ray:

 

[LakeCondo]

I would use a saline solution meant for humans, just not an eyedrop with medication in it.

 

[celineki]

Would the Optrex eye solution be suitable to bathe her eye in? something like this: http://www.optrex.co.uk/optrex_range/optrex_multi_action_eye_wash.php

 

[Nela]

Yeah that one says no medicine so it should be alright. I would prefer to have someone else confirm that before you take my word for it though.

 

[LakeCondo]

It says it has herbs, though, & doesn't say what they are.

I know that people used to make their own saline solution, before you could buy it. I just don't know how much salt you would use. Not much, I assume. It's supposed to approximate the body's own tears.

 

[celineki]

Thanks! i use just a pinch of salt...

She stops tearing for a day, and starts tearing again tonight... will fix an appointment with my vet tomorrow, hopefully can get her in the next day..

Do you know if she is in any discomfort? She acts the same and seems to really enjoy it when i try to wipe the tear off her fur..

The vet did mentioned she might need another flushing again... poor snowy

 

[LakeCondo]

It's hard to tell about discomfort; rabbits tend to hide it. But I wouldn't think it would only be slight discomfort.

 

[MiniLopHop]

You may also want to have the vet check your bunny's ears, particularly with being a lop. My mini lop had the runny eye issue for almost a year before I changed vets. The new vet treated both the eyes and ears with drops (four weeks) and an oral antibiotic (two weeks). That finally cleared it up. My vet thought the infection was going back and forth in the sinuses. Becky's ears never looked bad, but treating them stopped the infection from coming back.

 

[celineki]

The previous vet did not check her ears, but she is a rather new vet and the only one available when i brought her in. Will make sure she gets her ears checked out this time.

Just made a new appointment with the most experience vet (she did snowy's sterilisation 3 yrs ago!). Only downside is she is only available next Wednesday, and snowy's meds will only last her til tomorrow.. i'm going to the clinic today to get her some more - though will consult with the vets there first.

Oh, and she stops tearing this morning.. i'm hoping it stays that way when i get back home today. she used her tiny paw to try to fight me off the syringe today to no avail.

 

[MiniLopHop]

I know, it breaks your heart to have to medicate them sincce they hate it so, but it is for their own good.

 

[celineki]

After the second visit to the vet, i was told to stop the oral meds but continue with the eye drops. The vet also told me that the tearing will take some time to stop.

Immediately after the vet visit (on 9 May) she started tearing (white discharge).. vet said its normal... after that, she appears to stop tearing until today, i noticed her fur wet around her eye.. anybody knows how long this is going to take?

The vet told me to call them back if the tearing does not stop.. but, she also told me its normal if she tears.. i'm abit confused by that..

Oh, and also, sometimes when i do her eye drop, i might have put 2 or 3 drops instead of 1 as i'm not sure if the first drop got on her eye.. is that ok? her eyelashes is really long!

 

[LakeCondo]

I don't think you can put too much in, as long as it's saline solution & not a medicine. It just rinses out the infection, so 2-3 drops probably is better than only 1.

 

[celineki]

I just googled the eye drops and its actually a type of medicine called a quinolone antibiotic that are used to treat infections caused by bacteria.
:nerves1

She has white discharge today.. managed to take picture:

Just hope that she will recover soon... I will continue to monitor for another week... if still does not improve, will bring her to the vet again... ray:

 

[celineki]

Snowy got alot worse.. i took her to the vet on the 16 May.. the vet said the block is quite severe.. there's an infection.. and they cant do any flushing as its too blocked.. Her eye is also quite red...

Vet prescribe me with baytril.. 0.17ml twice per day... no more eye drops... but i requested saline solution from her.. and she ask me to use it twice a day..

her condition does not seems to improve at all... am sick with worry now..

 

[LakeCondo]

I'm so sorry to hear she's gotten worse. You are doing all you can for her, poor thing.