Eye Boogers – and MORE!

[bitterepiphany]

Oh internet, I have a problem.

We have a little white rabbit and we’ve had her for a little under a year.  She is a solo rabbit, has never been outside (during our having her) and last saw a vet three months ago (to have her nails trimmed – we’ve done it since, we just took her to the vet at the time because we were afraid.)

Lately, she’s been having an awful time with eye-crusties in her right eye – though the left is fine – to the degree that when Mike would try to pick them out, he started taking fur wiht it, so we tried to wipe them out using a slightly damp cloth and, ladies and gentlemen, they’re awful.   I would say that her fur, maybe a half inch out from her eye is completely caked with crusties.  Tonight I removed what I could with a damp cloth while Mike held her and trimmed the hair in the immediate area so that the hair was a little shorter to and we wouldn’t tug on her skin so much.  At this point, the plan is to simply keep at it until her fur comes clear, but I’m concerned because it appears to be on one eye only – which looks fine (her eyes are both clear, the mucus isn’t opaque or colored, so I really think it’s just the standard collection of protiens..

What really concerned me is, while Mike was holding her a tiny black bug crawled around his hand, through her fur.  Now, before we all panic, none of us have had any bites, she hasn’t been itching, her ears look clear and we’ve recently had an infestation of fruit flies (Okay, it’s not an infestation it’s just a bunch of banana’s that attacked us…but it FEELS like an infestation.)  It’s reasonable that it could be a fruit fly, but ladies and gents I am NERVOUS.

[KatnipCrzy]

If the skin around the eye is so irritated and moist that she is losing fur she needs to see a vet.  WIth eye issues if they go on long enough damage can be permant leading to eyesight loss or even damage to the eye itself resulting in enough pain that the eye needs to be removed.  There are many conditions that could affect just one eye- a scratch from bumping into something (hay is very pokey, an eyelash that has turned in and is rubbing the eye, etc.

Could it be possible she has fleas?  Do you have any cats or dogs- or had any over at your house?  Rabbits like cats are very clean and groom alot- but if you have a very fine toothed comb and comb her- any “dirt” that you find- put on a white piece of paper- add a drop of water and smear with your finger.  If it turns rusty or reddish looking- that is a sign of fleas.  Fleas eat blood so their poop has a lot of blood “debris” in it.  Cheap flea combs can be purchased from the pet store for about $1 and that should help you to determine is she has fleas by combing out any debris or catching the fleas in the fine tines.

Fleas run from light- so it can be hard to fine them on a pet.  As you part the fur- they usually run away. Fleas seem to prefer the rump and underbelly area.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I’ll second that eye issues can cause blindness-that’s how my rabbit ended up blind!! Defiitely when it’s consistently got boogers, and especially when it’s one eye-that’s an infection and should be treated by a vet.

I don’t know about the bug-I guess it could be fleas or your fruit flies (They are AWFUL aren’t they?) But at any rate she should see a vet, so the vet can see if there is another prob with fleas.

Please keep us posted!!

[Monkeybun]

i recently had some crusty/watery eye issues with my Monkey-bun, and it turned out she had an ulcer in each of her eyes, so yes: take her in!

[Author]

Messages