Weeping sore eyes in old age - dilemma!

[liomeeringca]

I'm currently away from my house and I received an email from my family detailing that my rabbit's eyes have gotten worse. He started to have the weepy, clogged eyes in his old age, though a very minor case.

Here is the email copied and pasted:
'Just for info, Archie getting very crusted eyes and has been scratching at them making his left eye very cross and sore. ____ and I bathed his eyes today in salted cooled boiled water and they seem a bit better, we will keep a close eye on him and hope to clear them up. If they don't get better, how do you feel about us taking him to the vet to get either eye drops or antibiotics?
My background concern is that if he gets an infection he might not be strong enough to fight it, versus the stress of going to the vet .'

My rabbit is 9 years old, and is a dwarf lop black otter breed. He does not have a bonded mate any more, she passed away four years ago, so his grooming habits are not what they used to be.

The vet would be a natural place to take him, however our vet's have a bad reputation for 'diagnosing' problems with your animal that aren't actually there. I am worried that they would 'diagnose' him and give him a treatment that may stress him out or be too strong for him to handle, in his elder state.

I've had a look at the 'Eye problems' health section on the forums, but due to the fact that I haven't seen his condition, I'm not sure what I can do/what he has specifically. Warm compresses seem to be a favourable treatment.

My question is essentially:

• do we take him to the vet and risk the stress/misdiagnoses for a gel antibiotic,

• or use home remedies or suggested products by the lovely people who clicked on this thread?

Thank you all so much,

lio :carrot

 

[missyscove]

Can you get a picture of what's going on with his eyes? What color and consistency is the discharge? I'd worry less if it's watery and clear; more if it's opaque. The description "cross and sore" makes me worry that he's scratching at them so hard he may damage his cornea (I would stain his eyes to check for corneal damage).
The way you describe your vet sounds like you don't trust him/her and perhaps should find a new one.

 

[squidpop]

I understand how you feel about going to the vet, I live in a small town and am also not having much luck with my vets and worry about what they might do. However, I think I would take your rabbit to the vet. A vet can't go to wrong with antibiotic eyedrops.
But if you don't want to go to the vet I would see if you could buy Terramycin antibiotic eye ointment, in some countries you can buy it over the counter. I bought mine on Ebay and it did work to treat one of my rabbits that had a mild case of conjunctivitis.

 

[liomeeringca]

Can you get a picture of what's going on with his eyes? What color and consistency is the discharge? I'd worry less if it's watery and clear; more if it's opaque. The description "cross and sore" makes me worry that he's scratching at them so hard he may damage his cornea (I would stain his eyes to check for corneal damage).
The way you describe your vet sounds like you don't trust him/her and perhaps should find a new one.

Thank you for your reply, here is a photo I was sent yesterday. Does this help?

 

[Azerane]

The photo isn't very clear. Eye problems in rabbits can be tough to diagnose. It could be allergies, irritation, some sort of eye infection, or it could be a teeth issue too.

 

[liomeeringca]

Here is another two. His appetite is fine, he is interested in his surroundings as normal. Does this help any more in seeing what is the problem?

 

[missyscove]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I have pretty spotty internet connection where I am this week.

That last picture does look pretty uncomfortable to me. I'd say worse than a mild allergy or something along those lines. If he were my rabbit I'd definitely take him in to the vet. In the meantime, try to keep the area clean by soaking that discharge with a warm, wet washcloth and wiping it away if he'll tolerate it.

 

[zosia]

Everyone is right, you'll need your vet to rule out a number of issues. My Holland lop (2.5 yrs) had exactly the same appearance (the last photo is deja vu). My veterinarian checked for sinus infection, tooth problem (back teeth need attention, too), etc. I was worried because he had a little discharge that was opaque. He was diagnosed as having allergies, possibly due to carpeting and prescribed Septra suspension, 240 mg for 10 days and ciprofloxacin ophthalmic solution (1st photo). I paid a cool $100 for that visit (she wasn't local, so that is a factor), but he looked mighty fine after 10 days when his hair started growing back. Before the scheduled visit, she told me to use sodium chloride ophthalmic ointment (2nd photo) to help the sore areas around the eye after I removed the crust.

 

[Aki]

Might be dacryocistitis or cunjonctivitis.In both cases, the treatment is antibiotic anti-inflammatory eyewash. I don't think it's a very risky treatment. You can ask around what people whose rabbit suffered from those ailments gave them and have your rabbit taken to the vet to see if it matches. Is there no way of taking your rabbit to a different vet?
In any case, I think your rabbit needs the eyewash because in the photos his eyes look pretty infected and I don't think it will be resolved with just cleaning it up (even if it's better than nothing).