buns can overgroom i know. so if the black bun is grooming her eye area, that could be why there is some fur missing. buns can have allergies. i have no experience with that tho, so i’ll leave that to the others.

hmm… i’m possibly facing a similar situation.  my bun has already been thru 2 types of eye drops (ciloxan & gentocin) but her weepy eyes persist.  my vet also checked her for teeth problems during her last physical exam.  have you had a vet scope her teeth to check them out?  i’m wondering if my bun’s problem is allergy related and so i’m also interested in tips dealing with rabbit allergies.  my bun’s eyes always seem to be wet but once i noticed she came from her hay box with a big milky tear.  fortunately the skin around her eyes is not irritated. 

anyways…  the only things i know to do so far are: shake out as much hay dust as possible before setting it out for bun and give daily face washes with a warm wet face cloth.

Most of the times rabbits do overgroom and this can lead to missing fur around the eyes. You might want to check with your vetrinarian about the moist eyes and I don’t suggest giving him/her eyedrops because that will add moisture to his/her eyes. I would leave it alone until you see serious eye problems that you know should be dealt with emmediatly such as conjuntivitis.

I know that my bunny was diagnosed with a blocked duct, which caused his eye to run (clear, not milky) and he was given eye drops for that. It worked in just a couple of days. I’d say a visit to the vet is in order. (My vet used this instrument with a flat blue light to diagnose him, which was really cool to watch.)

I believe bunnies can have allergies also. If it seems linked to the hay, try a small amount of a completely different kind of hay to see if she likes it and tears with it also. You need to change food over gradually, but many people have said they mix hay for tasty variety, so I doubt it would be unwelcome if the hay is causing her discomfort. There’s Timothy, Oat, Orchard grass – maybe a little change will make a big difference. (Definitely shake out the dust.)

hmm… yes… i should clarify that the eye drops for my bun were prescribed by my vet.  i was def not suggesting you get some to try without consulting a vet first, but mentioned them to explain that my bun’s condition was not helped by them, thus ruling out problems such as conjunctivitis. 

the long & short of it is… there are several possible causes for runny eyes (tooth problems, conjunctivitis, allergies to name a few) and so it’s really best to have a vet diagnose & suggest a course of treatment.

Hi and welcome SpazJumps! We actually have quite a few HRN people here too as well.

Let me assure you that my Daffodil has the same affliction and the same issues with her eyes (it looks exactly like your picture), she is also a REW (red eye white) with gray splotches. Anyhow, Bonsai her mate usually licks her eyes clean, however what I find that helps is to provide as dust free of hay as possible, vacuum the cage and floor at least twice a week, keep an air purifier close to the cage, and on occasion I will flush out her eye with saline to get rid of any particles like pollen, dust etc. that may have lodged in there, causing the problem. Be careful with deoderizers, scented candles, carpet treatments, perfume, etc. as they can also cause a flare-up. I hesitate to get meds for this from your vet and my vet hesiates to medicate uneccessarily as well, try flushing the eyes out with a bit of saline and it generally helps to clear things up as with being a little more diligent with dust and cleaning. Oh another thing, be sure the kind or type of litter you are using isn’t too dusty or scented either as that can also cause problems. Is your rabbit under the bed where there is a lot of dust? I know sometimes when I clean I forget about the places that bunnies can go but humans can’t, like under a bed or couch where allergens can collect.

Hi, SpazJumps,

I just wanted to add that I am from MA too (only moved to FL 5 years ago.) I know why you’d think it was allergies – everything blooms fiercely as soon as the snow melts (it looks like yellow snow in some places with the pollen.) Scarlet Rose described how I should be taking care of myself, my allergies are so predictable. (My new co-worker’s perfume is killing me and I haven’t told her yet.) Her advice is very informed, so I’d try that first. The only Bostonians who don’t suffer right now are the ones that moved to Arizona! Let’s hope she gets better soon. I love your Yin/Yang picture BTW.

Buns can *definitely* have allergies. Mine sneezes very severely–about five to ten sneezes in a row–and has nasal discharge sometimes. The vet says it’s not anything wrong with him, just allergies. Poor little guy. I know he must be shocked, too, because he was born in the winter and all this pollen must be new to him. We keep the house pretty much closed off, with the AC on now that it’s getting warmer, and the air purifier on. In addition, when I come in from the outside, I like to change my clothes and wash my hands before petting him, so he is not exposed to pollen clinging to me.

You’re welcome SpazJumps! I spent several years in Boston going to college and I loved it! Daffodil seems to shed more but I reckon it is because longer white fur is easier to see than short black fur. Oh yes and a prime place for bunny fur – lint brush screen doors and wipe down your ceiling fan and regular fan blades too! Mini-blinds are also terrible dust collectors. I often use a tossable dusting cloth that traps the dust and not the wands that just throw it back in the air and the vacuum cleaner I have has extra filters as well.

doesn’t look like conjuntivitis

My house rabbits have never had allergies (that I know of) but I volunteer at a Rabbit Sanctuary and some of the rabbits there have had allergies.  The Sanctuary vet says to use children’s liquid Benadryl to treat it.

I would not administer anything to your rabbit without a consult and recommendation from your rabbits veterinarian. Do not self-treat or dose your rabbit without it as it can be dangerous.