One of the buns was hanging out with me on the bed when I realized one of his eyes looks red and irritated. I know this means he needs to be seen, but I'm wondering if it's something that can wait until the morning to go to the vet or if he needs the animal hospital (which would be tricky, as I'm on call). Is there anything I can do to help in the meantime? Thanks.
Red eye
- Thread starter Loopsy
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Here's a picture but its not very good. Just wanted to add a couple of details. His eye is not watering and he is behaving normally. As far as I know, he hasn't had any trauma to the eye. On close examination, it doesn't appear that the eye is bloodshot or actually red, but that the inner eyelid/ mucus membrane around the eye is swollen itself. He isn't squinting, holding the eye closed, or in any way acting as though it's bothering him. The only reason we even know anything is wrong is because I was petting him and noticed the color in that eye was off.
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Is it the eyelid skin that looks red? You have 2 rabbits, right? Are they kept together? I have a rabbit that had a red eyelid, and the fur was also getting thin around the eye. I realized it was her buddy that was overgrooming. He was always grooming around her one eye and causing some irritation. When I separated them it went away. This was when they were babies though. So maybe this could be the cause. If not, then it seems like something you could wait to see the vet about tomorrow, unless there is more than just the redness going on.
Yes, two rabbits housed together. They are 4 months old. When I look closely at his eye, it's like the inner eyelid is swollen and pink looking. Looking at him now, with him just laying down, his eye looks completely normal. At first it looked like the white of his eye was the problem, but it's normal and white.
missyscove
Christina - Moderator
It doesn't sound like an emergency to me. If it were my rabbit I'd feel comfortable waiting until the morning to see the vet.
tonyshuman
Well-Known Member
I agree, not an emergency. It's probably best to not mess with it for the time being as well. There are things you could do at home to make it less irritating if it were causing a lot of discomfort, but since it's not bothering him it's best not to put anything in there that could potentially make things worse. I'd get it seen within a week, though.
Thanks, guys. I got a little over worried when I saw it because we lost my daughter's dwarf hamster recently and the first sign she was ill was her little eye didn't look right. She died despite early treatment. We do worry about our pets! Called the vet and they didn't seem that concerned either, so he's going in to be seen tomorrow morning. Hopefully it's just some irritation or something like that.
Well I just got home from work and checked on him and his eye is even worse. Now it's all red and inflamed looking, and he's got some goop in the corner of his eye. I wish I could have taken him in today. :-(
HEM
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about his eye getting worse.
Hopefully you can get him into a vet ASAP to see what's happening and then the vet can help you out.
Hopefully you can get him into a vet ASAP to see what's happening and then the vet can help you out.
missyscove
Christina - Moderator
Would you mind sharing what the diagnosis and treatment were?
