Rabbit soaked cheek

[Buttercup514]

Hello,
Our rabbit Elvis is male and 6 months old. He has had a soaking wet left cheek for the last few days and there appears to be some kind of bump near the wetness that feels like a bone but it is not there on his right cheek. He is acting like himself and playing/eating normally.
Any idea what this might be?

[Azerane]

Hello there. The bump is likely to be an infection or abscess, that and the wet cheek are both major signs for either overgrown teeth (possibly the roots) and/or a tooth infection. These sort of things require swift attention by a vet before they become much more serious. The fact that your boy is still eating well is a very good sign, it means you’ve caught it early. But definitely see a rabbit savvy vet as soon as you can to diagnose the cause and start working on fixing it. Abscesses in rabbits can be very difficult to cure.

[Rookie]

i’m dealing with this myself…for sure a vet visit is needed.

[flemishwhite]

Rabbits have a tube that runs from their eye to either their sinus or their mouth.  The purpose of the tube is to drain excess eye fluids: aka tears.  The tube can get blocked, and so the excess fluid will run down their cheek, matting their fur.  Fortunately, clearing the tube is easy for a vet.  They take a syringe and, at the eye opening, squirt some saline solution into the tube to clear it out.  It can be done without anesthetic.  It only takes a moment. Be thankful you have a rabbit.  The same problem can occur with a dog or cat, but the tube is much smaller and more difficult to clear.  Dogs and cats need to be anesthesized.  

Yes, an abscess can cause a runny eye if the abscess lump pinches the tube closed.

Our previous rabbit, Bunny, had this clogged tube problem.  After treatment, the problem never returned.

[Author]

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