Advice for bun w/ severley infected eye?

[Lauren & Buns]

Long story short: my bun got burnt in a freak accident a little over a week ago and took a lot of damage to his right eye. He went straight to the vet and we were told there was no ulcer and we wouldn’t know if he would regain his sight just yet. Worst case scenario would be having to remove the eye.
We were then sent home with oral antibiotics, antibiotic ointment and pain meds. Even with antibiotics and constantly cleaning it, the eye still got infected fairly quickly. The swelling has pretty much gone away, but the infection is still there. It has cleared up a little bit, but not as much as I was expecting with him being on antibiotics and us taking very good care of it.

He went back to the vet 2 days ago and was given a different type of antibiotic drop and instructions to flush the eye daily. I still don’t see much progress and so my question is: is there anyone that has had a similar experience and could give me some tips on what more I could be doing or what I shouldn’t be doing? When you open his eye, you can’t tell what’s going on with the actual eyeball, because of the infection blocking whats underneath (even after flushing the eye). I am just so distraught over all of this and don’t know what else to do. Any info is greatly appreciated.

[jerseygirl]

Healing {{{vibes}}} for your little one. So scary! Has he been alright?

Was it just the cornea that was damaged? Based on your description, is it the outer layer that is completely opaque now, so you cannot see the pupil and iris?
I suppose it may be a matter of waiting until the damage tissue is completely replaced with new that you’d see the eye looking more normal??

The only thing I can think of is lubricating eye drops and/or a contact lens. This helped the site owner, BB’s rabbit who had a ulcer that wouldn’t completely heal. Drops were used 4x/day. I believe, and the lens was an animal contact lens fitted over the whole eye that kept it moist. I realise your rabbit doesn’t have an ulcer, so the method might not be appropriate but could be worth asking about regardless.

I really like Manuka honey for healing in rabbits. There are some manuka honey eye drops and ointments on the market.

[Lauren & Buns]

He is acting normal for the most part. Eating and drinking as normal. Eating his hay again(thank god). The only difference in his behavior is him not exploring hardly at all, but I think that has more to do with him being scared , because he’s unable to see out of the eye. The few times he’s gone out of his safe space and gone outside, he’s bumped into a few things. Heartbreaking to watch.

The infection has cleared up a lot since posting this. A LOT less drainage. It’s still hard to tell what’s going on in the eye, because I can’t tell what part is the eye and what part is just infection. It’s hard to explain. I’d post pics, but it’s pretty gruesome and I’m not sure if I am supposed to be posting things like that on here?

I have read about the contact lens. I am going to mention it to my vet when we go back in next week for sure.

Thank you so much for the respone! This is so difficult and I have moments where I break down, because I can’t imagine how horrifying it has to be for a rabbit , as a prey animal, to not be able to see on one side. If he does have to have the eye removed or is blind in the eye, we have decided to get him a partner. I have read that blind rabbits to well with companions and they can act as their eyes for them, as well as making them feel safer. Until then, wish us luck for healing. This little boy means the world to me.

[LittlePuffyTail]

((((((((Healing Vibes)))))

My little senior bun is blind in both eyes. He adjusted very well and knows the house very well and hops around just like he used to. Bunnies are very good at adapting to things like this.

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