Help! Watery Eye!

[hooty22]

So I woke up this morning and freaked out because it looked like Felony was missing half his fur on his face. He wasn’t, it was matted down from a watery eye. He let me groom it, but his eye is still slightly watery. It isn’t goopy, and he’s running around and eating and pooping normally. It doesn’t seem like its bothering him, and he isn’t senstive to light. I guess what I’m saying is that everything looks normal except its just a little watery. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas on what it is? I stayed home from work today to watch him because I’m a crazy bunny lady….

[Sarita]

Oh this could be so many things so it’s hard to really know without a vet examining.

It could be clogged tear ducts which could be the result of many things as well – some type of dental problem or some type of infection. That would be my first guess.

[KatnipCrzy]

If after cleaning it initially, it the drainage continues I would have him seen by a vet.

But if you cleaned it up (warm washcloth works great) and the fur dries and stays the eye and surrounding area stays completely normal looking it might have been dust or an irritant to the eye which the body reacted to by “flushing” it out by increasing tear production.

What about the eye itself- does it look red or irritated?  You could compare the “bad” eye to the “good” eye to see if there is a visible difference.

Julie

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That’s a great idea, to clean it up and see how it looks after, in case it was just an irritant.

I clean Chucks eye area daily. I find if it’s more gooky then usual, rather then a cloth, I put him beside the sink and run the water comfortably warm. Then I use my fingers to pat water around the fur near the eye to cleanse it. If their is gook in the fur I can loosen it when wet and pull it out gently or comb it. Once we’re all finished I rub the area with a clean towel (gently of course!) to dry it well (so he doesn’t have to sit and dry it afterwards ). That’s a pretty easy way of doing it I find. I’ve tried cotton balls, clothes, tissues etc. The Cotton balls and tissues break up and then I have to get those bits out of the fur, the wash cloth is OK but I really find my hands work best!

[jerseygirl]

Just note which eye it is and keep watch for it happening again. Lion heads are known for dental issues. Let’s hope it was just an irritant!

[BookerTRabbit]

Benny had this same problem, I watched it for a few days before I took him to the vet. It didn’t get worse, but it didn’t get better so we took him in. He just had a clogged tear duct. The vet gave us some drops and after about a week it cleared right up.

If there is not redness, swelling and no white discharge, he may just have a little irritation.

[hooty22]

Yeah, there is no redness, no discharge, it just a a little weepy. I’m going to watch it and maybe it will clear up on its own. As long as it doesn’t get any worse, if it doesn’t look better by Monday, I guess we will be taking a trip to the vet. I know the vet trip would be super stressful for him because he doesn’t like people he doesn’t know handling him. I don’t want to put him through the stress if its just an irritant that will flush out.

[MooBunnay]

If there isn’t any discharge or anything, I agree that its a good idea to monitor it closely and then get him to the vet if anything changes. Juli has had a blocked tear duct before and I was recommended to just use a saline eye wash to was the eye out to see if it improved the situation and that helped a lot.

[MimzMum]

Often Mimzy gets gunk in his eye, or (and I hate it when this happens) during my own handling of him I often brush my hands too close to his open eye…next day I see clear discharge from it and have to do the washcloth thing. Usually by the day after that it’s back to it’s old self.

Did he poke, or get poked by, something near his eye lately that you can tell?

[hooty22]

There is nothing I can tell that has poked, but he has an amazing ability to get into everything so it hard to tell.

Should I get saline to flush out his eye? Just like normal saline that people use for like contacts and what not? I’m not very medically inclined…

[jakep]

oh that happened to baxter his eye got really watery like yuo said and his hair got dragged down and it went away the next day, nothin was wrong with him like yous said maybe just wait until tomorrow morning then take him to the vet if it doesnt go away thats what i was going to do.

[Slater91]

The same thing is happening with Jimmy at the minute.

He seems to have it with both eyes…. We have cleaned him, and it goes away for a while and then returns. He is due for his neutering in a week or so, so if it gts worse i will bring the appointment forward to get that checked at the same time.

Unless anyone thinks it is way more serious (he seems fine apart from it)

Help!!!

[BinkyBunny]

Do you notice if this happens more at certain times of the day? Like when he eats? Or when he’s getting into his litterbox or digging through his hay? Have you changed hay or anything in his environment?

You do want to be careful that if this continues to not wait too long to see the vet because if it is an infection of some sort it can get worse. Also, if it some sort of respiratory infection, the vet may advise to first get him well BEFORE putting him under anesthesia. Water eyes can also be a symptom of something wrong with their teeth. Which would be another reason to check that out prior to the neuter so that if it is a tooth problem, the vet could know to work on the teeth at the same time.

So I would advise that if this comes back and it wasn’t just some irritant, that you should have the vet check this out prior to the neuter.

Keep us updated!

[hooty22]

Do you have any candles or scented wall plugins in your house? I figured out Felony’s problem… he didn’t like the candle I was burning.

[Author]

Messages