Cooper’s Eye (enucleation)

[Cindy]

Hi All!

I’m a new member on Binky Bunny, though I’ve read some on the forum.

I adopted my rabbit cooper November of 2014 from the Oregon Humane Society; he’s an American Blue. He’s very active, eats a nice blend of local timothy and oat hay sold by a rabbit advocacy group in Portland, along with 3-4 Tablespoons of Ox Bow Adult Pellets. He LOVES to eat. He’s never had any guy problems.

A few months ago I noticed a small white spot in his eye near his pupil. I immediately made him an appointment but when I woke up the next morning he was holding his eye closed so I rushed him to the nearest animal hospital. The vet who examined him was very kind and seems to have a solid knowledge of rabbit care, she got into veterinary work because of her love for rabbits. Rabbits make up 1/3 of what they see at this clinic. 

The vet at the hospital did a dye test to check for an ulcer, which came back negative. She was worried about E. Cuniculi. So was I.

I had a $200 blood panel done to test for E. Cuniculi. While we waited for results she gave me some anti-inflammatory drops to use in his eye. With the drops he started to hold his eye open again. 

The results showed that he most likely had E. Cuniculi, she started him on fenbendazole.

A week and a half into being on fenbendazole, I made another appointment for him, as the spot seemed larger.

At that point she seemed to think the medication was not getting to the eye fast enough, and even questioned whether or not E. Cuniculi was the problem. She mentioned maybe this problem could be a abscess after all, she didn’t think so at first because his behavior, eating habits, and overall exam has been great.

So he’s now been on Metacam and Baytril for two weeks, with the hopes that the spot would respond. Meanwhile she discontinued the fenbendazole, since it has negative side effects and didn’t seem to be making a difference.

I (unfortunately) had a trip planned previous to all of this and have been out of town. My mom, who takes excellent care of him has been bun sitting for me. 

A few days after I left she bought a new arm chair and he immediately marked on it, then on the couch. Which is not like him. I had her make an appointment with the vet. She took him in and the spot in his eye has gotten bigger (which we all were prepared for.) She had mentioned at my last appointment that the end game treatment could just be removing the eye altogether. 

I talked to the vet after my mom took him in, she said his bladder feels normal, his underside is dry and there is no evidence of sludge. His gut, heart and lungs sound perfect. He was hopping happily around the exam room and ripping treats out of the vet tech’s hand!

(They carry Ox Bow treats.)

She said her best recommendation at this point is to remove the eye. The spot is nearly covering his entire eye and she said he has no more vision left. She recommends I do it within the month rather than try any other treatment seeing as he is currently 
feeling well and will be able to manage the surgery. I scheduled the enucleation for April 29th with her.

Could it still be E. Cuniculi? If so, what should be done in terms of medication?

What is the eye removal going to be like for him? What sort of pain medication does he need? The vet said they give them pain meds the day of, and I should just keep him on Baytril and Metacam… That doesn’t seem like enough to me!! 

Should I get a second opinion?

In the past I have him seen by a vet that specializes in exotics, but the vet there does not have a great bed side manner (so to speak) and their prices are very high. I called them before I left for my trip and the vet tech seemed to agree with everything this current vet has done. She recommended having him seen by a veterinarian ophthalmologist. 

Which my first vet did recommend at first, but when I called the only one in this area they seemed unsure about seeing a rabbit  

I know removing the eye is the best option at this point, I just feel apprehensive about his follow up care. I also worry about the surgery. The vet said usually they just mask the rabbit for surgery but because he’s a bit bigger she will try to intubate him. Is that common for surgery on rabbits?

Help!

Thanks for reading my novel about my sweet bun Coop! I’m so glad there’s an online community like this!

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Cindy and Cooper : )

I’m sorry your having to face such a decision!  I would be inclined to seek a second opinion before committing to this surgery. If you don’t feel confident in going to that ophthalmologist, I would find a rabbit vet that is familiar with these eye issues and perhaps has done a lot of enucleations surgeries. If they agree surgery is required, you’ve got a couple options of who to go with. 

A friend of mine had this surgery done for her bunny boy. They vet that removed the eye was going to study it after to get more idea if definitely EC that affecting it. As you know, the test done prior are not always definitive. 
She did see a veterinary opthamologist but in the end had the surgery done through an exotics vet who had seen a lot of EC in the eye before.  I believe her rabbit was on fusidic acid, metacam and fenbedazole.  You may also like to look at older threads by Ouisie

 and RetroSquid. They had the surgery for their rabbit Link. 

 If it is EC, the positive to this is that it is usually contained to the eye.

I’m going to contact a member who may have a vet recommendation for you, 

[Bam]

As Jersey says, you could check out Link’s story. I think you’ll find it in RetroSquids profile. Link did very well after the surgery, he jumped on the bed and seemed to have perfect aim in spite of his one-eyedness. (We got to see videos of him doing that!)

[jerseygirl]

If you do seek a second opinion, Monkeybun recommends Dr. Burgess, at Southwest Animal Hospital.  2425 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR.

She speaks highly of him and says he has experience with this issue. I believe he trains other vets also. 

[Cindy]

Thank you everyone for the links and advice!

I have an emergency drop off appointment with Dr. Burgess tomorrow. Cooper has been seen by him before.

My mother had been caring for him while I was on my trip and when I returned home (Saturday night) he was almost out of his Metacam. I gave him what was left yesterday but this morning his eye is significantly worse and he will not open it. The vet’s office I have been taking him to is closed, and I called SW animal hospital but because they have not been treating him they cannot approve of a Metacam refill. Help! Where can I get Metacam or something similar to it between today and tomorrow morning?? I can’t stand the idea of him being in pain, and the appearance of his bad eye brings me to tears. The tech at SW seemed to think I would just have to wait it out until my appointment in the morning. What should I do for him while I wait?

I’m so afraid that I’m going to lose him. 

+ the financial part of this whole situation is getting overwhelming. 

Any advice is welcome! 

[Bam]

You could perhaps put a cool moist compress over his eye to alleviate the pain some? There are no good OTC rabbit painkillers. Medirabbit says you can give a bunny aspirin but it can damage their stomach.

I’m so sorry to hear this, it must be awful for both of you. Try and pet him if he likes being pet, it releases endorphins that help a bit with pain + it can distract him and comfort him.

[jerseygirl]

What was the name of the anti-inflammatory eye drops you initially used? Do you have any of those left?

Regarding finance, would you be able to apply for CareCredit to help take of the strain?
https://mobile.carecredit.com/procedures

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