Opinions on growth on eye?

[astridstarr]

Hello, new here!

I recently adopted a 2 1/2 yr old holland lop from a gentleman who’s gf is allergic.  When he dropped him off I noticed a small growth on his lower eye lid.  I pointed it out to him & he said he noticed it almost a week prior, but thought he might’ve scratched himself or got into a fight with the other bunny since they don’t get along.  

After a week of having him I noticed it wasn’t getting any better, and thought maybe it was a cyst of some sort.  After scouring the area looking for a good vet that wouldn’t break the bank, I found one, and took him there today.  The vet was pretty weird & wasn’t good at answering my questions (no idea how he gets so many good reviews). If I understood him correctly, I think he said it’s a meibomian growth & he sees it often in dogs.  He believes another one is forming inside the upper lid as well.  However, he said squeezing everything out usually doesn’t correct the problem long term, and he recommends removing it.  Again, his bedside manner was lacking, but I think he said that he doesn’t recommend doing so unless it goes bigger & starts to bloom, which then would cause it to start scratching the eye.  

He gave me an anti-inflammatory antibiotic ointment to put on 3 times a day.  He said it should definitely stop the new one, but it probably won’t entirely get rid of the bottom one.  

Basically I was wondering if anyone else has experience in dealing with this with their buns, and is there anything else I can do?  I would go to another vet, but the man I adopted him from was nice enough to pay for everything since we weren’t expecting to have to deal with anything medical right off the bat when we were told he was very healthy.  

  I’ve added pics as well.

[attachments inserted by Forum Leader]

[LBJ10]

They do occur in rabbits, although it isn’t something you see too often.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Disorder/Meib/Meib_en.htm

Can you post a picture? Does it look like a cyst? Or is it fleshy?

[astridstarr]

Sorry added pics, are they showing up?

[jerseygirl]

Yes the images are showing. I inserted them for you earlier but didn’t have time to reply.
Once you upload files as an attachment, you just need to click on the “Insert Image” icon next to the file name. Then they will appear in the body of your post.

It does look rather like the meibomian growth in the link LBJ posted. The article suggest putting a warm compress on it 4-5 times a day…

What does inside of the lid look like where the growth is?

The only other thing I can think off top of my head is nodular myxomatosis which vaccinated rabbits can sometimes get.

[Bam]

It looks like the meibomian cyst my bridge dog had, but hers was on the upper eyelid and that is probably worse since you blink with your upper eyelids. It was surgically removed when she had surgery for something else (mammary lump that proved harmless).
It never came back, but some say they tend to come back.

[astridstarr]

Posted By jerseygirl on 11/24/2016 8:59 AM

Yes the images are showing. I inserted them for you earlier but didn’t have time to reply.
Once you upload files as an attachment, you just need to click on the “Insert Image” icon next to the file name. Then they will appear in the body of your post.

It does look rather like the meibomian growth in the link LBJ posted. The article suggest putting a warm compress on it 4-5 times a day…

What does inside of the lid look like where the growth is?

The only other thing I can think off top of my head is nodular myxomatosis which vaccinated rabbits can sometimes get. 

The vet showed it to me, but honestly I couldn’t really see it.  Maybe it’s in the very early stages?  I was doing a warm compress on it twice a day, but I’ll try increasing that.  I guess I’m wondering whether I should get it removed even though he said you don’t have to unless it gets bigger?  Like I said the vet didn’t really give me any straight answers on this.  

[LBJ10]

I agree, it does seem consistent with the pictures on MediRabbit. Honestly, if that is what it is, I wouldn’t be horribly worried yet. The vet could try to drain it/clean it out, but I would try the warm compress treatment first. It can take a long time for them to go away. If it appears infected, you could get antibiotic ointment or drops.

[Author]

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