Runny Eye, white discharge

[Foofy]

Hi everyone, my first post on the new site.

Can anyone help me please? I have a problem with my Benjy (the black one). He is an old boy now nearly 8 and has been having a few problems over the past year or so. Firstly with a jaw infection and some rotten teeth which was sorted out last year by having some teeth removed and regular dentals.

He also now has kidney stones in both kidneys and is back on pain killers at the moment and just finished antibiotics today. Since Sunday he has one runny eye it's a milky white colour discharge in the corner of his eye. Does anyone know what the most likely cause of this is? Have been reading in my rabbit books and they say could be an infection, but he has been on antibiotics for the past month? I also found some photos somewhere on this site which looked exacly like it and it said that was a bacterial infection. Rang my vet today but I can't get an apointment until Wednesday evening so not too long to wait I suppose.

He is still eating and drinking thank goodness. All advice will be most welcome and may put my mind at rest until Wednesday. At last he won't be in any pain as he is on painkillers and probably will be for the rest of his life now.

 

[naturestee]

Poor boy!

White discharge usually means an infection. What antibiotic was he on? This bacteria is probably resistant to it. It would be a good idea to ask the vet to do a culture to determine the bacteria and what the most effective antibiotic would be.

It's also possible that it is caused by dental problems. Sometimes overgrown dental roots interfere with the eyes and tear ducts. Your vet should be able to determine this with an xray.

Please keep us updated!

P.S. Welcome back! I haven't seen you for ages!

 

[Foofy]

Thank you so much for your reply naturestee and the welcome back, will try and keep up to date with the forum now.

Benjy has been on Marboycl antobiotic for the last month. Maybe he has become immune to it then as he has had this one lots of times beforefor his previous teeth and kidney problems.

I have noticed that when he is eating the discharge gets a lot worse. In between eating you can't really see much discharge at all, but after eating it collects really quickly. So maybe it is his teeth?

Do you know any foods that will make him put on weight? Due to his recent bout of pain from his kidneys he has lost weight and I am trying to fatten him up! He will eat just about anything I think. I am giving him lots of everything at the moment herbs (his favourites are basil, chives & mint), greens, pellets, fruit (high in calories I think).

Will let you know how he is tomorrow and what the vet says on Wednesday. Thank goodness for rabbit insurance!

 

[naturestee]

What kind of pellets are you feeding him? Older rabbits and ill rabbits might need alfalfa pellets like the ones made for growing babies. Or you can mix some alfalfa into his regular hay. You can also give a pinch of rolled oats too. Just don't add anything too fast, and watch out for icky cecals in case the changes don't agree with him.

FYI, most rabbit food lists say chives are not safe. They're in the onion family which does tend to cause problems for many animals. It doesn't seem to have caused issues but it might be best to avoid them.

 

[Foofy]

I am feeding Benjy Burgess Supa Rabbit pellets. I have tried to buy some alfalfa hay or cubes today from our local pet superstore but they don't sell either. Maybe you can't get them in the UK? I bought some timothy hay instead and have put some of that in his cage this evening to see if he will eat it. He does already have oats as a treat although again you can't buy small amounts of rolled oats here in the pet shops anymore you used to be able to. I have to buy just plain porridge oats meant for humans he has been having this for quite a long time now and loves them.

Interesting about the chives as in my rabbit book it says they are a general tonic! But maybe not I will cut down on them for him and give him more of the other herbs I grow especially for the bunnies. Do you know if spinach is good for bunnies? I bought some yesterday for him and he seems to like it. Any more idea for fattening him up or any ideas where I might be able to buy alfalfa?

He seems Ok tonight in fact I would say a bit better, there does not seem to be so much of the white discharge coming from his eye. Have had a good look tonight and the eye with the discharge is in fact on the same side as he has had the infection in his jaw although this was on the lower jaw and he has a lump on the jaw now which the vet says will never go away. Although he has had some teeth out on the top jaw on the same side as runny eye also. So maybe it is something to do with his teeth or jaw.

Do old bunnies get thin and skinny like old cats and dogs can get? We had an old cat who lived until she was 17 and she went very thin towards the end of her life. Unfortunately although I have had a lot of rabbits in my time I have never had one that has lived until it was 8 so I don't know? My other rabbit Honey who lives with Benjy is only 3. Any advice will be most welcome thanks.

 

[Flashy]

I hope that your bunny get better

You can get alfalfa here in the UK, I get cubes from a website, I forget which one, but it was probably the vaga valley one (one min and I'll get you the link). I think that it is more likely to be near the guinea pig stuff over here if you buy it in a store though.

 

[Flashy]

http://www.vagavalley.co.uk/bunnysupplies/hay&straw.htm

If you scroll down, it's on that page. They are really good with their service

 

[ra7751]

Hi Foofy,

What you are describing sounds like a jaw abscess. That can be very challenging to treat. Most vets do surgery but we have had success with drug therapies. Unfortunately, these little problems seem to come back even after having being dealt with previously. Not a good thing. And it appears from your post that you may have been dealing with a molar impaction previously.

Something that caught my attention in your post was the antibiotic being used. I had never heard of it...so me being me, I had to research it. It appears to be another generation and upgrade to Baytril. It is a third generation Fluoroquinolone drug.....technical name is Marbofloxacin. It is not available at this time in the US so I got to learn something today. It appears the same as Enrofloxacin (Baytril) in that it is available only in the veterinary field.

Now I am not a vet but I do treat some very serious rabbit situations....remaining in contact with my vets on my ideas....and something comes across when you are dealing with abscesses. If this drug is similar to Baytril, it might not be able to fight the anaerobic bacteria found in these situations. I am not suggesting that you just use these drugs, but I am mentioning this as a point of conversation with your doctor....ask him/her to research treatment using a combination of Procaine (Pen G) and Zithromax.

And I totally agree with Naturestee....I might would leave off the chives.

Something else....since your bun has renal issues, it might not be a bad idea to do a blood panel to check the damage to the kidneys. Are you supporting the renal system with supplemental fluids? If he has stones, it is vitally important that he remain properly hydrated especially when using certain drugs.

Just some thoughts to discuss with your doctor. Best wishes to Benjy.

Randy

 

[Foofy]

Thanks veru much to Moominmoo firstly for the information about where to buy alfalfa here in the UK. Looked at the site and appears very good so will order some for Benjy and hope he likes it.

Thanks very much also to ra7751 for the information. I have taken Benjy to the vet this evening about his eye. Vet put some green dye in both eyes and the weeping eye had a largish patch of green right in the middle, dye was then flushed out with water and he had bright green water coming out his nose. The vet said this proved his tear ducts were not blocked and he had probably injured his eye on something out in garden, eye ball was not scratched. He said the damage had made eye infected and brought on conjuctivitis. He has given me some eye drops for him to put in 3 times a day for a week and I have to take him back next week and he will dye the eye again to see if it has gone.

The Marboycl antibiotic was given to him this time for a month to ensure he did not get a kidney infection as they were hurting him again. He has now finished them and is just on Metacam for the pain & inflamation. We are going to see how he does just on the Metacam and am hoping to start reducing the daily drops in a few weeks but if he stops or slows down on the eating again vet told me tonight he may have to go back on Marboycl as well as the Metacam for the rest of his life. He has had Marboycl lots of times now over the past couple of years but I don't think I have ever had Baytril for any of my rabbits before maybe you can't get it in the UK.

Benjy did have a full set of blood screenings and x-rays in February this year which is how I found out he had kidney stones and although he has stones which the vet showed me on his x-ray, the actual kidneys themselves were working OKas were all his other organs. He was in intensive care for a week at the surgery as he would not eat after his routine dental treatment. I have not been told by my vet to support his renal system with supplemental fluids do you think I should ask my vet about it?

Anyway it's great news that it looks like it may be only an infection on eye ball and not abcess as vet said it was unlikely to be anything to do with that as it was on the lower jaw and not upper. Fingers crossed it is just conjunctivitis. Best news of all was that he actually but back on quite a bit of weight which I am thrilled about, so here's hoping he will put some more on this week as well.

I will let you know how he gets on with his ailments poor Benjy. Thanks for the advice.