My rabbit eye suddenly shut with thick mucus with pain when touched

FORUM

What are we about? Please read about our Forum Culture and check out the Rules.

BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately! Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

This topic has 7sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 6 months ago by Bam.

Viewing 7 reply threads

Author

Messages
- 01/07/2017 at 11:47 AM
  thesl
  Participant
  3 posts
  Hi everyone,
  
  So my Hottot rabbit is almost 10 years old. He still eats very well, and runs around and poops well too. But about 2 years ago, he started having runny eyes, so we took him to the vet, and he said it might be infection or the tear duck block. So he said let’s try infection ointment first, and see if that helps, and if not, it will be tear duct block. At the time, the ointment didn’t seem to help much. The vet said the runny eyes from tear duct block will not have serious negative health effect, as long as I help my rabbit wipe off the wet tears, etc.
  
  So after that time, from time to time the runny eyes kept coming and going. Sometimes, his eyes are both very healthy, but suddenly after a couple months, the same eye goes runny. Sometimes, it was more serious, so I tried putting the ointment again, and it sometime seemed to help, but I’m really not sure if it’s because of the ointment. I wiped his dried mucus crust off with warm water with tissue, and it always worked well.
  
  It’s been pretty good since then, but suddenly yesterday after work, he wasn’t coming out from under sofa at all. I didn’t really notice much, but when I saw him, his eye was completely matted shut with yellow and white mucus. The other eye of course is completely fine. He eats well too, but it’s that one eye. And the difference this time is that he feels pain in the eye. If I try to gently wipe it, he freaks out and pulls away, as I think it hurts. :'(
  
  At the moment, I want to see if I can handle this at home. Do you think the pain will go away after a few days, as long as he eats well? I can’t apply the ointment as it will hurt his eye. Is there any home remedies for the eye?
  
  If I have to take him to the vet, what different things can a vet do, even though he will still have pain when the eye is touched?
  
  Thanks everyone.
- 01/07/2017 at 12:51 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17045 posts
  A vet can give oral antibiotics if needed and a painkiller. They can x-ray the skull to try and determine what’s going on – if it’s a tooth root abscess or a more local infection. If it’s a blocked tear-duct they can flush it out, of course.
  
  Since he is in pain, I’d recommend a vet visit. You can’t clean the eye if it hurts terribly. A painkiller such as metacam is also an anti-inflammatory, and that helps if there’s swollen tisssue.
- 01/07/2017 at 1:21 PM
  12345ABCDE
  Participant
  5584 posts
  If he’s in pain, you really should get him to a vet. The least they could do is offer pain killers – there is no reason that he should have to be in pain.
- 01/07/2017 at 2:19 PM
  thesl
  Participant
  3 posts
  Okay thanks for your replies. I am taking him to the vet in an hour. Thankfully there is a spot so soon today at a vet close to me.
- 01/07/2017 at 2:33 PM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17045 posts
  That sounds great! We’d be very happy for updates. Best of luck at the vets!
- 01/07/2017 at 3:45 PM
  thesl
  Participant
  3 posts
  Hi again!
  
  So we’re back from the vets. They cleaned the stuck eye that was disturbingly mucus-y, and now it’s clean but slightly pink and swollen. I feel so sad how much it most likely hurt when they did it So they gave me two meds for him, one eye drop, and one oral antibiotic that tastes like strawberry. I asked them to show me how to apply the two meds because I never had to give him meds before other than the ointment 2 years ago. They showed me to use a towel to hold him so that he doesn’t jump. And the eye drop will be the hard part I think because I have to open his eye up with fingers, but it hurts for him when I touch the eye. They were professionals so they did it very easily though..And I will be at work so I hope my mother can apply the meds fine in the morning and afternoon. I’m kind of worried about this. The liquid oral antibiotic seems quite a bit easier to give him because it’s strawberry flavour, and as long as I can put the plastic syringe (without needle) in his mouth and squirt the liquid in, he eats well because it’s strawberry flavour
  
  I’m supposed to see the vet again in 10 days, and I hope his infection clears up soon. Thanks guys for your support.
- 01/07/2017 at 3:58 PM
  12345ABCDE
  Participant
  5584 posts
  Fingers crossed he likes the antibiotic – rabbits do have odd taste buds both of mine liked the taste of their worming treatment, they thought it was a treat lol.
- 01/08/2017 at 2:55 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17045 posts
  Hopefully the meds will start working very soon, that will reduce the pain. It’s great they have strawberry-tasting meds for buns, buns can be tricky to medicate!
Author

Messages

Viewing 7 reply threads

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.