i need help with eye care!

[Lilo]

My bunny has been losing hair around her eye because of discharge. I clean eye regularly but it keeps coming back. When i run my finger under her eye its damp. She also has a little sticky, mushy translucent thing in her tear tucts. I clean it out and within minutes its back. My mom wont fork over the money we have for vet cause she doesn’t think its a serious problem. Am i feeding her something wrong? She gets kale, parsley, occasional cilantro and carrots. She gets hay cubes and pellets(hay is really hard to clean so she gets cubes) her bedding is sheets of paper from ads(not the ink that stains) and her cage is cleaned every 2 days. Shes housed in the kitchen. How do i stop the discharge?

[vanessa]

It could be a blocked tear duct, or a symptom of dental trouble. Or a sinus infection. Or allergies. SMZ is usually the choice antibiotic for first-line treatment, as well as a dental exam. Without takign yrou bunny to a vet, it will be really difficult if not impossible to know what you need to do to fix it. That being said – Lancelot has weepy eyes, and no amount of antibiotics wil fix it. He gets his teeth filed 4 times a year, he has no sinus infection, there is no obvious cause for his weepy eyes. When I have him seperated from his bonded pal for medical reasons, his eyes get really bad. I use a clean cloth, with warm distilled water and groom his eyes to simulate his pal licking them, but I can’t be cleanign his eyes every 5 minutes like she does. So honestly – Lancelot’s weepy eyes have never gone away. He loses fur when he is on his own, but when he is with his pal, she keeps them clean enough that his has a full face of fur. You can try cleaning more often, but I really think a vet visit is called for. A pity she won’t help you with that. Perhaps you could explain to her that weepy eyes could indicate a bacterial onfection or dental trouble so she can understand that it means more than she realizes?

[Lilo]

Thank you!

[sarahthegemini]

Okay firstly you can’t self treat when you don’t know what the issue is. Your Mum needs to pay for the vet visit – how on earth can your Mum know that it’s nothing serious? Does she expect it to clear up on its own? Secondly, you need to provide proper hay – hay cubes will not wear down the rabbits teeth (which could actually be the cause of the runny eye) It doesn’t matter that hay is messier. Thirdly, with all due respect, it REALLY concerns me that you are a rabbit breeder given your situation. Also, does your bunny pee on the bedding? If so, the paper needs to be changed more than every two days.

[vanessa]

I have to say I agree with Sarahthegemini. My little guy Lancelot eats similar to yoru bun, he eats pellets, hay cubes, and veggies. I think you need to vary your choice of veggies. Kale is high in calories and calcium, parsely is a diuretic. Hay cubes are good for the belly, but don’t do anything for the teeth.While I’m super happy that Lancelot is eating hay cubes (he only started eating them recently), he hasn’t touched hay since June last year. Because of this – I spend $960 to have his teeth filed 4 times a year. Your bunny needs unlimited hay. Without eating hay, your rabbit is garuanteed to have serious dental issues.
If it is your bunnie’s teeth causing the weepy eyes, her teeth are causing her pain, and could lead to ulcers inside the mouth, and eventually trouble eating and drinking.

I didn’t realise you are breeding. While forum rules prevent discussion of intentional breeding – I do think it is especially dangerous to be doing this without access to vet care. It sounds like you care about yoru rabbit, and many times our parents don’t share our feelings towards our bunnies. IT is easy for people to think of them as cheap, hardly critters that don’t need or deserve expensive vet care. But they are actually very complex, they hide pain and illness very well, and often times we only realise that they are in urgent need of care – when it is just about too late. It is important to be able to have your rabbit seen by an extic specialist vet, not just a cat/dog vet.

[Yoyo]

Oi,.. Lilo,… a lot going on there with you and ur buns,.. I DEF going to back up the others,..VET CARE,… I understand what you are saying about your mum, but,.. maybe, if you can get her to read this thread, she may be more inclined to take this seriously.
Eye infections are NOTHING that you want to tread lightly on,.. many times, they will need either antibiotics, ointments, or.. who knows.. and, plz,.. god almighty,.. separate this bun, from your others, until vet can look at,.. it could be something highly contagious.
I don’t want to be a baddy, and try to judge you for breeding rabbits, but,.. sweetie,.. if you don’t have the resources, for the basic vet care… I really have a sad heart
I sincerely hope, your rabbit gets some good care for his eyes tho! -~ blessings

[Bam]

I agree with the others. Your bun should see a vet. This could be a lot of things ranging from a simple eye-infection that needs rabbit-safe prescription antibiotics to something much more serious, like a tooth root problem. It doesn’t seem to go away on its own with cleaning. If the area around her eye is constantly wet, the skin will become compromized and nasty bacteria or fungi can take hold there and do further damage.

Only clean it with saline eye wash, the type for humans is fine. Some eye cleansers have substances that further irritate the bunny’s eye.

Here’s some good info from The House Rabbit Society about rabbit eye-problems. Please read it.

http://rabbit.org/cheerful-tearful-eye-problems/

[sarahthegemini]

I agree with Vanessa that you need to give a wider variety of veggies – just kale and parsley will not provide enough nutrients, not to mention it could become very boring to your bun. Carrots should be given as treats only.

[Lilo]

Thank you all for your imput. The litter Lilo had was an oops and since i couldnt keep all of them i want to sell them and if possible later if funds are available to breed them specifically for money. Lilo’s eating like a bunny would, i check the babies, and her teeth go make sure theyre growing right. We buy her food at Fresh Thyme and most of the produce is organic(if it was just her we would buy everything available but since its 4 of them its basically $2.00 for a bunch of vegetables times 4) which means it costs more. Meijer and Kroger have good stuff but its usually old. All their teeth are properly worn down to standard. Their bedding is changed when we have time to change it(usually 2-3 days) but sometimes we do the next day. My mom is very stern and will not pay. Saline eyedrops will be administered s quickly as possible. I will call up a vet for some tips. The bottom of her eye is only damp if i don’t clean it for days. Thank you YoYo. My mom gets paid on Tuesday, so fulfilling your wishes i will buy some Timothy hay. Its just I’ve heard hay getting inhaled by bunnies and bunnies getting hay in their eyes, which scares me. But I’ll try to buy some anyway.

[sarahthegemini]

Posted By Lilo on 2/27/2017 5:46 PM

Thank you all for your imput. The litter Lilo had was an oops and since i couldnt keep all of them i want to sell them and if possible later if funds are available to breed them specifically for money. Lilo’s eating like a bunny would, i check the babies, and her teeth go make sure theyre growing right. We buy her food at Fresh Thyme and most of the produce is organic(if it was just her we would buy everything available but since its 4 of them its basically $2.00 for a bunch of vegetables times 4) which means it costs more. Meijer and Kroger have good stuff but its usually old. All their teeth are properly worn down to standard. Their bedding is changed when we have time to change it(usually 2-3 days) but sometimes we do the next day. My mom is very stern and will not pay. Saline eyedrops will be administered s quickly as possible. I will call up a vet for some tips. The bottom of her eye is only damp if i don’t clean it for days. Thank you YoYo. My mom gets paid on Tuesday, so fulfilling your wishes i will buy some Timothy hay. Its just I’ve heard hay getting inhaled by bunnies and bunnies getting hay in their eyes, which scares me. But I’ll try to buy some anyway.

You cannot check all of her teeth without anaesthesia so…and if her teeth aren’t worn down enough due to lack of hay, they’re not going to suddenly wear down once given proper hay. They will need to be filed down. Another argument for taking the bun to a vet.

Bit bolded – as previously said, if your bunny/bunnies are peeing on the newspaper bedding,  it needs to be changed more often than every 2 to 3 days. Frankly, you need to find the time. If you don’t have the time to change bedding as frequently as you should,  how on earth have you got time to properly care for a rabbit and raise a litter??

As for your Mum, well I could say a few things but I won’t. I will say at the very least, she is being irresponsible and by refusing to seek veterinary treatment, she is neglecting to care for the animal properly.  Neglect = abuse. 

[jerseygirl]

I am locking this thread for now so it can be reviewed.

[Author]

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