I would get him to a vet to have him checked over. Healing vibes your way.

Yes, make an appointment with your vet right away. Runny eyes have multiple causes, and are quite treatable when properly diagnosed. But it took a special light my vet used to diagnose a blocked duct (common cause) and give me the correct ointment to use to clear it up. You need to know to treat properly. It would be uncomfortable for him to go untreated.

Get the vet to check the teeth also because sometimes the molar roots can impinge on the tear ducts. You may be given something to treat the runny eyes but you probably will need to look around for a rabbit vet to look into the cause further. If the one you see today is not one, come back here and I’m sure other members here will be able to direct you to one. They have ways!

oh i’m glad you can get him in today! i would tell teh vet exactly what you told us. you were gone for two weeks, he was fine when you left, now his eyes are runny. make sure he checks the teeth also. is there any discharge from his nose too?

Oh yes that’s perfect, I was going to suggest going to the vets (best thing to do) but you’re already on your way. Please keep us posted on how it goes!! And Beka’s right, vet should check his teeth -weird as that sounds it can cause runny eyes

He sounds like a great vet. I agree too about trimming the spurs and doing the spay at the same time. Molar problems can be a continuous problem too but with regular trimmings you and the vet can hopefully get them under control.

That all sounds very good. I like the idea of HER being sedated once. I was thinking her nails probably needed a trim while you were there.

Sorry her molars are a problem, but if taken care of early it’s usually able to be controlled.

I would suggest that you get the cost of all of this up front. You may find it is an expensive combo, and before you go into sticker shock next Tuesday, have an idea and possibly work out a payment plan with them. You may need to see if they will bill in installments and take credit cards. Don’t change your appointment, just plan for it.

They do seem to be little angels with the vets. I think it’s the heavy handed “I’m in charge don’t wiggle” way a vet works with them. Occasionally I had my bunny fly off the vet’s table and scurry around to the back of my neck under my hair. But not for long. 

hi, im so glad everythings ok now youve got your antibiotics and talked 2 a vet! but just incase anyone else wondered about runny eyes.. i was told by my vet that lops are often more prone to occasionally getting runny eyes for no worrying reason because their noses are more ‘pushed in’ than other breeds… just thought id try and be smart lol! – im probably wrong now!! hehehe

i’m sorry about the teeth problems, but how awesome that you found a savvy vet and i think it is wonderful that you’re going to go ahead and get everything taken care of ASAP! and what a shock, your sweet lil boy is really your sweet lil girl! lol! surprise! let us know how it goes…

That’s not such bad pricing!  I’m estimating $2 US for every pound. 

My lionhead Leo has chronic tooth issues.  We get teeth trims about every 3-6 months.  You will start to identify the precursors to teeth drama.  My big one is dried drool on the chin.  When he gets really bad, he gets the red/ drippy eyes.  I have insurance on Leo, but they didn’t cover teeth b/c it was considered a pre-existing condition.  He had to keep 6-8 months w/ no probs for it to be covered…needless to say we didn’t make it.

Keep us posted on how she does.  Sounds like you found a good vet.

i’m so happy that you found a great rabbit vet! He sounds like a great vet, and very knowledgeable if he know about the lionheads have a tendency towards teeth issues. You did a great job dealing with your first bunny issue

It sounds like Gizmo is well on HER way to feeling much better very soon! Don’t worry too much about the spay and sedation, just make sure Gizmo has plenty to eat right up until the spay. I have brought about 10 bunnies to the vet for spays and they do very well with the surgery. The only tough part is getting them back to normal after the spay, sometimes it will take them about a day to start feeling better and eating veg and hay, so make sure to have Gizmo’s favorite vegetables and treats on hand for when she is recovering.

Good luck and let us know what the vet finds out about the molars!

It can be frustrating after you’ve seen a vet and done all you can at the moment, but are faced with taking some time to watch her heal. YOu are a good bunny mom and did the right thing. There’s no way to discern when a bunny has a big problem when they not only hide it, but zoom around and binky. As soon as you saw any indication of a problem, you went to have it taken care of.

She will be better for having the spay, and her recovery and rest will help her mouth as well. I’ll bet she’s a bit better now, just a few hours since your last post. Give her a day or two and watch for progress. Your vet sounds very good.

You are a great bunny carer! Paying attention to signs like runny eyes is very important, and not everyone knows to do this, so I think its great that you knew that it was an important situation as well as the fact that you found a rabbit savvy vet AND that you tested the vet to make sure he was really savvy AND you got the bunny to the vet right away Every bunny should be so lucky as to have a owner like you! Its hard to watch your bunny recover, but keeping her as comfortable as possible is the best you can do. Tempt her with treats from time to time to see how she is feeling, but if she is not in the mood to eat anything that is very normal. If she does not drink any water, try to give her a bit from an eye dropper. Let us know how she is doing tonight or in the morning!

feel better Gizmo! keep us posted on her teeth.

and you are doing an excellent job, do not doubt yourself! (hugs!)

Yes you are NOT useless!! Useless would have been not taking her to the vet in the first place or dumping her at a shelter after hearing that news! You are an absolutely awesome momma!! Trust me, bad bunny moms don’t worry that they are bad!!!

{{ GIZMO }} Keep us posted

A very good food to give would be baby pumpkin food or baby carrot food, just so you aren’t giving too much sugar with the fruit. Ascorbic acid is vitamin C so thats fine for them

It’s not your fault for not seeing symptoms, rabbits hide symptoms!! They are prey animals and the sick/weak get picked off first, so they hide it!!

We definitely understand how your feeling You’ve got masses of virtual shoulders to cry on here {{HUGS}}

I am very glad to be reading the details of her treatment and recovery. It sounds like things are going well and she is responding. It’s amazing what a difference pain meds make to them. I was on a regimen of daily syringe injections, vitamin spiked morning treats and teeth treatments all in the last year, so I know how much work it is for all of you. Spockie had very, very good teeth most of his life and then wham! Suddenly there was one growing skewed into his gum. It was pretty involved treatment until his teeth suddenly stopped growing due to his advanced age. You do what you can and they learn to take the treatments in stride. You know this I’m sure, but injections are easier when administered to the side of their mouths, rather than the front. Sort of slides in and they can chew/slurp in the back of their mouths when it comes at them from the left or the right.

{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs & Healing Vibes}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

What a huge relief it is to hear that you have a rabbit savvy vet! Spays are always more difficult than neuters, so females need more healing time. You have done a wonderful job making sure she is taken care of as well as making sure to relayi what’s going on to your vet so he can treat accordingly. GOOD JOB!! I know it’s so hard to watch our animal companions dealing with such challenges, but she knows she’s not alone. And that’s a huge comfort.

Regarding her teeth. Rucy has had several surgeries which in total removed one of her front incisors, several molars and part of her jaw bone. She has to get her spurs (growths on the molars) checked to make sure they don’t cut into her cheek, every few months. Over time though, they have become less and less and so far she has only had to have them trimmed once this year if I am recalling correctly.

Because one side of her mouth has so many missing molars, she favors one side to eat. She only can eat softer hay like second cutting Timothy. She actually prefers the browner strands since they are the softest of all. She has a much harder time with stiffer hays – like 1st cut Timothy.

Also, with some greens that are thicker like dandelion greens, I usually tear them up into small pieces.

You usually find little tricks that work with bunnies who have teeth issues or are missing teeth.

We don’t ship to the UK, but you should try thehayexperts.co.uk,  they have many of the same things we sell, and more!  They are UK based. The specific link to the Timothy hay is https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays%2C+Grasses+%252526+Herbs.4/Select+by+Hay+Type.130/Timothy+Hay.21/?osCsid=2m386039408aarqg3nn2pm5s83, but there are also other hays that they sell.  You could contact them and let them you know you are looking for the softest hay they sell, and I bet they would recommend something. 

You can also try BusyBunny.com, as they sell the soft 2nd cut Timothy Hay from American Pet Diner. Called Timothy Gold.   That is the very soft stuff that Rucy eats.  It’s not as high in fiber, but it’s better than nothing at all for her.  You can also go to the American Pet Diner Website and see if they ship internationally.   Both companies are U.S. based so I am sure shipping  may be a bit pricey.  But it’s worth checking out at least. 

OH, and also, there are certain Orchards that are very soft.  I just  found that out that there are actually different types of Orchard hay. Unlike with Timothy, where Timothy is Timothy, there are actually different types of Orchard.   We kept getting different textures until our supplier settled on a very soft green type. (can’t remember  the name right now)

So you can also ask about the texture of  Orchards from different stores.

Hehe awww Gizmo’s gonna get spoiled!! Hehe hope Matt doesn’t see this post

I’m off to check out that site and I just got paid !! hehe

I wonder if it was “Lisa” that you spoke with. Anyway, yes, that is a great resource! And I am so glad they were so helpful! I saw those sampler packs too and thought they would be great.

Can’t wait to hear how Gizmo takes to everything. Also, don’t be discouraged if a bunny snubs his nose up at some things first. Sometimes, what happens, is you think it’s been rejected, but leave there overnight and the next day it’s gone! Bunnies can be funny like that.

FYI – everyone I have added this discussion to the FAQ section under “Runny Eyes” in case you ever need to reference it.

Ruth, I am so glad that things are going so well, keep up the wonderful work!

All they did was just trim the spurs yes? Something like that should not affect the incisors. But it is definitely worth talking to the vet about.

What I suspect is happening is because rabbit teeth continually grow (think of how our nails grow), and how fast they grow can depend on nutrition, age, health and just genetics. Each rabbit is different, and not only that, my understanding is the incisors also can grow at different rates too. Now normally, this is not a big deal as rabbits just continue to wear down their teeth, but if you have a bunny that is beginning to exhibit teeth issues, malocclusions, then it will become even more apparent with time. So it just may be coincidental that you are seeing this after surgery.

Keep us updated though. Sounds like your vet is rabbit-savvy and I would be interested to know what s/he says.

i’m so happy Gizmo is dong well now! did you get the hay stuff yet, how is it?

You know I think you are right to take her back in; I’ve never had tooth probs (knock on wood) but I think two weeks is too soon to need them filed again. Keep us posted!!

It’s been a long time since an update.
Gizmo has been very Up and Down since Ruth’s last post

We’ve had many visits to the vet for spur trimming – unfortunately her teeth are in a very bad way
She refuses to eat hay or grass, she only eats foods that she can chew and not grind
She’s lost a few of her molars and we are now having to also have her Incisors trimmed

She has develloped absceces (sp?) on both sides of her lower jaw and now has a discharge from her nose

We’ve have been to see an exotic pet specialist, and the options put to us are:
Opening up her jaw, draining out the pus and removing damaged jaw bone and then repairing the bone with some form of cement and putting in place some beads with chemicals in them to help fight off infections

He also mentioned drilling into the roots of the teeth to kill them – but we are unsure if this was another option, or something that would be done at the same time as the beads

The only other option for Gizmo would sadly be to put her to sleep

We’re going for X-rays on wednesday and then with the info he can gain from them he’ll know for definite if the procedures are viable, but at this time we are unsure if it is fair on Gizmo to embark on this route

Anyone who has had similar procedures done on their rabbits please post your story here so we know what to expect and hopefully help us to make our decision

All the best

Ruth, Gizmo and Matt

Rucy struggled with that. She had one incisor removed, and many molars removed on once side of her mouth only, which allowed her to chew on the others. I haven’t heard drilling through the roots to kill them, because my understanding is that even a little bit of root left behind can become infected, as that is what happened in Rucy’s case.

Beads did seem to help Rucy with infection for the first couple of years. But then overtime, the bacteria seemed to be resistant. What the vet finally ended up doing is taking a bacteria culture from down deep when she was doing surgery, not just at the surface abscess. The results that came back were very helpful in determining why it was resistant to certain meds (there were about 5 different bacteria). The vet was going to start a treatment plan based the bacteria combination. Unfortunately Rucy passed away before we started due to unrelated issues. – So I don’t know for sure if the treatment plan would have worked, but it was the first glimmer of hope of something finally working for her as Rucy had been through several surgeries over the years.

Note: she also had full use of her molars on one side and so she had no problem eating.(though we would have to get her spurs trimmed periodically)

Rucy also was a spunky girl who had really enjoyed life and it never seemed to get her down. If I felt she was suffering and her life was not good, I would have had to look at some painful options to bring her peace. Only you know what is best for Gizmo in regards to that.

I know this is not easy either way. Hopefully others who may be able to share their experiences with you too.

Wishing you the best. Keep us updated.

This morning Gizmo went for her assessment x-rays with the Specialist

We’ve been unable to really decide what is best for Gizmo, she seems a little down in herself – but then if you go into her room she seems to perk up
So we decided to get the x-rays done and make a more informed decision with them to look at

Unfortunaltey the specialist has said that her mouth is quite bad, that he would invisage about 5 major operations would be needed, and even then the outcome wasnt a guaranteed success

His professional opinion was that it would be too much for Gizmo to go through with little chance of success

So, we’ll be picking her up tonight, spending a few days with her and then taking her to her normal vet for the last time on saturday

Oh, I’m so sorry. You are doing what is best for Gizmo but I know it’s a hard decision to make and you have to think of Gizmo’s quality of life. Hugs to you.

I’m so very sorry. I just can’t imagine how hard this will be. You and Ruth have done so much for Gizmo and this last step really is an act of love for her. My thoughts are with you all during this time. Be sure to celebrate the better times you’ve shared with Gizmo.

Sadly the day has come, we’ve been spoiling her rotten for the past couple of days

I think she guessed something was up and has spent a lot of time with us

We took her to the vet this morning, they sedated her, and then gave her the injection, we stayed with her all the way through, and then they left us with her for a little while to say our goodbyes

We decided to have her cremated, and keep her ashes in a nice box with her name on it

We’ve just got back, it seems strange – but it still feels like we’ll be picking her up from the vets later on, cant bring myself to put her stuff away

I’m just uploading some photos of her house and photos of her from the last couple of days

I’ll post them with some older photos of her in a bit

Again, you are both in my thoughts during this difficult time. Looking forward to seeing more pictures of your little girlbun.

Binky Free Gizmo!
 

Photos as promised – still cant believe she’s gone

This was Gizmo’s second house, before this she had the model down – this was the largest they did

For some reason she loved to go on top of it

Then Ruth told me what she wanted, and i built her this house

You’ll note that it wasnt on it’s base yet – Gizmo decided to move in before it was finished

and here are pics of our baby girl from yesterday and this morning before we went

oh, I am so very, very sorry to hear about Gizmo.It is so hard to provide that last act of mercy and kindness, but we do it for their sake. Gizmo knew she was a beloved bunny and you’re wonderful bunny slaves.Binky free Gizmo ((((hugs to you all))) Now I’m crying for your beautiful girl

Kathy

(gulp…tears) I’m so sorry for the pain you are going through right now. What a wonderful life she had with you and Ruth. What great memories you will have, and it’s amazing how these little adorable creatures can create a big place in our heart. The love she brought into your lives will live on.

Binky Free Gizmo!

Omg, Just read through this entire thread, and my heart goes out to you both. You obviously took very good care of her right up to the end, my thoughts are with you what a beautifull girl you had and will always have in your hearts. xxxx

I’m so very sad and sorry to hear about Gizmo. You gave her a wonderful life and the best care possible with her comfort and well being in mind always.
She obviously had a happy life with you both.

{{{{{Binky free, beautiful Gizmo.}}}}}}}}

She was beautiful. I’m so sorry for your loss.

Oh my gosh. I just read through this thread. I am so sorry for everything you’ve been through with Gizmo. She was a very pretty bun. I love that grey fur. My heart goes out to you. ****Binky free Gizmo****

Thankyou for all your kind words
It still hasnt fully sunk in – I’ve been cleaning Gizmo’s cage out today, but i cant bring myself to take it down or to pack her toys and treats away

I’ll get some photos of her cage and sort out some more photos of Giz, who do i contact about adding photos to the gallery?

Matt

 It takes time.  No need to rush taking anything down – just  whenever you feel ready. 

As far at photos for the gallery – send them to        infoATbinkybunnyDOTcom  (phonetically spelled to prevent netbots scrolling pages for email address to spam)

It will take me a few days or so as  I am behind in entering in photos, but I’ll email you when they are up.

I’m so sad for you. What beautiful photos of your Gizmo. Hugs to you.

*HUGS* I am so sorry for this. I can tell Gizmo was one spoiled and beloved rabbit. *Binky Free Gizmo*
BB is right -there is no need to rush to take everything down-do things at your own pace. *HUGS*

This poem always helps me find peace-I hope it helps you too. *HUGS*

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

I am so sorry to hear about Gizmo, she was such a beautiful bun! I cant imagine how hard things are for you right now. My heart goes out to you, and I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. (((((((HUGS))))))) Binky free little Gizmo!