Weepy eyes

[Haru the Lionhead]

Hello, I haven’t posted here in a while.
Yesterday i was petting haru, and the fur around her left eye was STIFF i thought it was hay! I cleaned it with a damp cotton pad. Now 10 hours later, it’s starting to get stiff again. I think it’s clear discharge, I don’t see any color. It’s only in one eye. What can i do to fix it? And is it a vet emergency?
I don’t think it’s a dental issue, she’s eating like usual.
I’m not sure if Timothy hay can cause weepy eyes, but if it does then it’s probably the reason. I’ve been feeding her orchard for a while now since she likes it more, but I couldn’t get any lately so I got Timothy.

 

[JBun]

With it only being one eye, a sensitivity to the hay is unlikely. Hay allergies aren't common with rabbits, and it will usually affect both eyes when there is an allergy, not just one eye.

The most likely cause of a single eye repeatedly tearing up, is there may be some debris stuck in there. I would try flushing the eye with some plain sterile saline eye drops to try and flush out any possible debris. Especially making sure there's nothing stuck under that lower eye lid.

If it keeps happening after you've flushed out the eye to clean any debris out, or if you see any signs of white sticky discharge or white clouding of the cornea, this can mean there's an infection and/or scratch to the cornea that needs rabbit safe antibiotic eye drops/ointment to treat.

There are some other possible causes, like blocked tear duct or the dental issues, but debris would be the most common. And any sticky white discharge or clouding of the cornea is a sign of bacterial infection.

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Differential/Runny_eyes.htm

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Disorder/Ulcer/Ulc_en.htm

 

[Haru the Lionhead]

With it only being one eye, a sensitivity to the hay is unlikely. Hay allergies aren't common with rabbits, and it will usually affect both eyes when there is an allergy, not just one eye.

The most likely cause of a single eye repeatedly tearing up, is there may be some debris stuck in there. I would try flushing the eye with some plain sterile saline eye drops to try and flush out any possible debris. Especially making sure there's nothing stuck under that lower eye lid.

If it keeps happening after you've flushed out the eye to clean any debris out, or if you see any signs of white sticky discharge or white clouding of the cornea, this can mean there's an infection and/or scratch to the cornea that needs rabbit safe antibiotic eye drops/ointment to treat.

There are some other possible causes, like blocked tear duct or the dental issues, but debris would be the most common. And any sticky white discharge or clouding of the cornea is a sign of bacterial infection.

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Differential/Runny_eyes.htm

https://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Disorder/Ulcer/Ulc_en.htm

If the amount of discharge in the first time was a 10, the second time was a 4. So i think that it’s getting better by itself. But i did flush her eye anyway. I don’t have saline at home so i made it with normal kitchen salt is that okay? And i checked her eye, I didn’t see anything, and there is no redness or irritation 100% normal. I hope this is a good sign.

 

[JBun]

It should be ok. Clean water, preferably sterile, is the main point to make sure of. You just don't want to be introducing bacteria or debris into the eye from water that isn't clean.

If the eye has stopped tearing up, I'd suggest to still keep checking it for the next few days, to make sure no cloudiness develops on the cornea. You're just making sure this wasn't all caused by a scratch to the eye.