EYE INFECTION? Please help!

[Gabby]

First time poster! My rabbit is a 11 month old Netherland Dwarf. It roams around our bunny-proofed home freely, but it does have its usual spot in front of our floor to ceiling glass window. We’ve laid a towel here, and put his hay, pellets, water and toys here.

He has some hind leg weakness from a previous illness which our vet thankfully intervened. Luckily the disease did not affect his hind legs severely – he can still hop around and urinate without wetting his bottom. He just has some issues with balancing on his back legs while grooming.

Yesterday, we noticed he had some sleep stuck in his eye. We saw that instead of blinking, this pink bit of skin would emerge from the inner corner of his eye. I managed to remove the sleep with a damp cloth, and the pink thing stopped appearing.

I’ve come home from work today and there appears to be this bright red, little lump on the inner corner of his eye. Has anyone seen this before? Is this something I can assist him with or will I need the vet to intervene? We don’t mind paying for the vet at all, but he has had so many visits and it really distresses him so we would like to avoid it as much as we can.

Hope you can help!

[DanaNM]

Hi there, welcome

It sounds like he might have cherry eye, or possibly something going on with his tear duct. Can you post a photo? Cherry eye is when part of the tear duct prolapses, and can be fixed surgically (it’s not too terrifying though).

My bun had cherry eye surgery before, and occasionally we see part of the tear duct. It looks worse some times than others. So, it might not need to be treated right now, but you should still get your vet’s opinion on what should be done (and confirm what the issue is).

If it is a clogged tear duct, the vet can flush it out. An infection would likely be treated by some eye drops.

His eye also could have been irritated a bit by the clog, making the duct more obvious.

My other bun’s third eye lid has also gotten a bit red and irritated from dusty hay, so that’s a possibility as well.

Let me know if you need help posting a photo so we can advise a bit better.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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