Sore eyes

[Stan_and_Jane]

We have a rabbit of our own, and are lookingafter our daughters rabbit. He is called treacle and is about 11. Justbefore he came here Dec last year he had an eye infection and this wascleared up with eye drops before he arrived. Last week I noticed awhite stain under his left eye and the vet said both eyes were sore,she gave us some drops which seem to have worked well. She said that weshould have Treacles teeth filed as they have spurs, I do not find thissurprising in a rabbit of that age. She also wants to syring out histear ducts and I'm not so sure aboput that, it sounds invasive and haspotetial to go wrong. Anyone on here got an opion or experince. I havesome pics of Treacle but will have to compress them

 

[naturestee]

Hi Stan_and_Jane! I haven't seen you around for a while. :wave2

Did your vet do a culture and sensitivity test to determine thebacteria in the infection? Also, did she do an xray of thehead? If there are tooth problems then the tooth roots mayalso be overgrown, which would cause the eye problems.

Tear duct flushes are a common and very useful treatment.Sometimes the problem is just that the ducts have gotten clogged andthe symptoms go away after one treatment. Some rabbits getregular duct flushes to help control the problem.

This is a really good article on runny eyes and noses:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html

And have you seen the Runny Eyes thread in the new Rabbit HealthReferences section? It has more great links plus some threadsfrom members' experiences.
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=12017&forum_id=10

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

I am sorry to have to admit that my passwordstopped working ??? and until I needed help I didn't fix it. Thanks forthe advice, I will get Treacles ducts flushed. The drops he has arecalled Tiacil the active ingredient is Gentamicin. It seems to haveworked.

 

[Maureen Las]

I have to get one of myrabbitstear ductsflushed periodically..if the ductsare blocked the antibiotic drops won't clear up theinfection...its not invasive to have them flushed

 

[Bramble Briar86]

I have a question similar to this one. My minilop i rescued had a bad eye infection in her left eye and was treatedby a vet. There is always a little "eye goober" that is white in thecorner and it waters a lot so the fur underneath is always matted downa bit. It's not life-threatening by any means and was told it would beokay. Is there anything i can do to treat it? Flush the ducts???

Thanks,

Ellie

 

[Maureen Las]

The duct probably does need to beflushed,however if there is still a whitish discharge from the eye Iwonder whether the infection is really gone. When the ducts are cloggedeither by infection,pus or debris the teats spill out on the face andmat the fur. I moved from Chicago to a small Wi. city about 2 yrs ago.In Chicago I went to an exotic animal hospital and learned about theneed for flushing tear ducts in some rabbits. Here in Wi. i had to callabout 10 vets until I found one who knew what I was talking about orwhy it would be done. You need to look for a vet who knows rabbits verywell. My rabbit is a small mini-lop who had the eye problem when Iadopted him. The first time I had the eyes treated ,the ductswere flushed, he received Gentocin eyedrops for 5 days andwas also put on Baytrol for a brief period. The vet felt that thislittle guy may have mild pasturella (which is latent in most rabbits).He had no more problems for a few years and now its backagain and we need to go back tothe vet.

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

Thanks everyone, and for the links. Treacle's eyes are nearly claer now but I will have him flushed. The vet is this PM.

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

The vet was pleased with Treacles improvementbut did not flush his ducts. She wants him to have another week oftreatment and then have him in to file the spurs on his teeth and flushhis ducts. She reckons that at his age and considering his generalhealth , which is good, he would stand a 99 to 95% chance of survivingthe anaesthetic. Our daughter is happy for this to be done and I thinkit makes sense to do his teeth now before he becomes so ill that he hasa vanishingly small chance of surviving. As ever if someone here has anopinion based on experience I would be interested to hear it.

 

[naturestee]

Sounds like you have a pretty goodvet! I've heard of one flat-out refusing to anesthetize olderrabbits, even if they were in good health.:rollseyes:

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Maureen Las]

They must be using anesthsia for filing histeeth and maybe thinking they will do the flush while he is under. Myvet did not have to use an anesthesia for tear duct flushing..howevermy rabbit will cooperate with almost anything. Your vet may beattributing the eye problem to his teeth which was not my bunniessituation Are you sure he is intending on using an anesthesia that issafe for rabbits?

 

[Maureen Las]

I misread what you wrote..sorry...I read it that he would have 95-99% chance of NOT surviving..disregard my last post.

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

Hey that's OK, thanks for thinking of me, andmore importatly Treacle. He has got quite used to his eye drops so longas I can see to do it in his hutch, he is so sweet did you see his picsin the Rabbit forum?

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

Well just a note to thank you all for your helpand advice. Treacle went back in today and had his tear ducts flushedfor the second time, and it worked. This time he was doneunder local and made no fuss, he is such a good boy. The vet put 10ccof saline through both and saw it come out of his nose. For now he isstill on antbitics but may come off in 2 weeks time. Only downer isthat thisis likelyhappen again.

 

[naturestee]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad thisis working. It sounds like he doesn't get stressed to badlyabout this, so hopefully even repeated duct flushings shouldn't botherhim too much.

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

The first time his ducts were flushed under thegeneral anaesthetic it did not work, they were too blocked. Howeverthis time he was not having his teeth filed so since he was a good boyit could be done under local. I'm so happy for him he is sucha sweet little rabbit.

 

[naturestee]

Were his eyes sore at all afterwards?I'm curious, because Loki might need one of his eyes flushed.I was down to the bottom of the pellet bag last week and one of hiseyes got a little runny. He's had this before and it usuallyclears up a day or two after I start a new bag, but it's stillrunning. I'm waiting for my vet to call me back to see when Ican get him in, but I'm suspecting a clogged duct.

 

[Maureen Las]

I have a friend in Ill. who had a rabbit thatshe rescued from a shelter. The rabbit was middle-aged and not wellcared for. As it was discovered( She ended up going to many vets) therabbit had chronic eye inflammation which was most likely a result ofovergrown roots from his molars. and neglect of it. She had his molarsground about every 2 months and the bun was on eye salve anddrops for life. The eye and teeth problems are most likely related.

 

[Maureen Las]

Angela ... Jacques has his ducts flushed withoutanesthesia. They appear slightly red afterwards but it is temporary.takes only a few minutes

 

[JimD]

naturestee wrote:

Were his eyes sore at all afterwards? I'm curious,because Loki might need one of his eyes flushed. I was downto the bottom of the pellet bag last week and one of his eyes got alittle runny. He's had this before and it usually clears up aday or two after I start a new bag, but it's still running.I'm waiting for my vet to call me back to see when I can get him in,but I'm suspecting a clogged duct.

Benji has this same recurring problem. I'm starting to think it's aclogged duct, too. Any small amount of hay or pellet dust seems to setit off. Usually clears up in a day or two, but each time it seems totake a bit longer to clear up.

It also happens when we clean the cages, vacum the bunnie room, or open the windows.

We're pretty sure he has allergies too, with the result being that histear duct is getting inflammed or irritated and/or clogged.

~Jim

 

[Stan_and_Jane]

He was fine after the flush. I droped him off at8-30 in case they needed to give him a GA, at 10-30 they rangup to collect him, it was just a 1/2 hour consultation fee plus the newbottle of antibiotic and he was sitting in his travel carrier likenothing had happened.