Advice for cleaning matted fur from eye infection?

[Lindsay]

 Hey all, looking for some advice from anyone with a bun who’s had eye problems.

Monty’s had what appears to be (reasonably mild) conjunctivitis for a few days. We took him to the vet on Monday and he gave us Fucithalmic vet. eye drops which have worked well and the infection seems to be clearing up, less pinkishness and seemingly less discharge.

He still has quite matted fur around his eye though, partly from the runny eye and partly from the drops, which can leave a bit of white powdery residue after some applications (we read the leaflet included and it said this was normal).

Has anyone got any tips for cleaning up the area around the eye gently? I’ve been using plain warm water as I’m worried that anything else might irritate his eye or skin. But I’m also worried if I don’t get it clean the skin underneath will get irritated anyway.

He’s very good about letting me touch/clean the eye area so any tips on how to clean him more thoroughly gratefully received! 

[jerseygirl]

Slightly warm water or some saline solution on a wash cloth or cotton ball. Most rabbits enjoy having their eyes groomed so hopefully he won’t put up a fuss.

By the way, you’ve been keeping Monty from us too long. Tsk, tsk!

[Monkeybun]

I second the warm damp washcloth. It worked for Monkey when she had eye issues, and the warmth doesn’t bother them at all

[Deleted User]

Your rabbit should enjoy the cleaning of the eye with a warm cloth. Just be sure to use either sterile cotton balls, or if you are using a washable cloth, you want to boil it out in a pot on the stove to get it sterile. Don’t use soap or bleach on it, just boil it for 10 minutes and then take it out and allow to cool off before using it.

*edit: I mean boil it in water

[Lindsay]

Well, I managed to get the fur around his eyes really nice and clean today finally, just went in to check on him and the area around his eye is wet all over again so it’s obviously still weeping :-(. It was difficult to tell before because there was so much old discharge you couldn’t tell what was old and what was new. He’s a bit fed up of all the attention now and won’t let me touch it again. Wish he’d let me clean it while it’s still wet, before it crusts up his pretty fur again!
So looks like it’s back to the vet.

[Andi]

My pasturella bunny has very weepy eyes. I wash his eyes with a warm damp cloth and then I also trim the hair around the eye now. I found that the discharge is so goopy, it realy sticks to to the fur and is hard to remove. Trimming the fur down, and combing it out with a flea style comb seems to help a lot.
I groom him with the damp cloth over his head and body to, even whipe the ears, he loves it.

[mindy10]

Im confused because my vet told me my rabbit had conjunctivits but she has no goop at all.  The rim around her eye looks a little swollen and pink but no goop.  so now after reading everyones comments im wondering if it is what she has>

[Diamond]

I had a question my bunny eye is all red inside i think she might have a eye infection i cant take her to the vet to check her out due to finally problems is there anything i can do ? That will help her eye better ? She has it closed and it looks like she has mucus in her eye i so far been cleaning it with worm water this is her first day having it in scared its gonna get infected i just need so home tips i can use ? For it to get better?

[Brambino]

The wonder liquid for cleaning eyes is chamomile tea. It’s soothing and helps clear infection. Fantastic stuff when used in conjunction with eye drops etc from the vet. Obviously make the tea and let it cool to Luke warm temperature. Always check it is 100% chamomile and I use organic just in case and apply with a cotton wool pad. Bramble used to have eye problems and the chamomile tea was a life saver. It helped soften the goop enough for me to gently use my nail to get rid of the remaining goop.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Diamond on 12/20/2016 5:19 AM

I had a question my bunny eye is all red inside i think she might have a eye infection i cant take her to the vet to check her out due to finally problems is there anything i can do ? That will help her eye better ? She has it closed and it looks like she has mucus in her eye i so far been cleaning it with worm water this is her first day having it in scared its gonna get infected i just need so home tips i can use ? For it to get better?

If she has an infection, she needs a vet.

[Bam]

Try the chamomile first, sometimes that takes care of the problem. But if it gets worse, she will of course need a vet. A small amount of fucidine cream (ointment with fucidic acid) can be used for rabbit eye-infections according to Medirabbit, in case you’re in a country where fucidine cream is OTC.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/Safe_antibiotics.htm
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