Snuffle eye discharge

[BubbaMomma]

Hi all. My 8 year old female rabbit has been struggling with a upper respiratory infection aka snuffles for a couple of months. She has this intense discharge that is almost like glue when it dries. It’s all over her face. Poor girl.

Does anyone know how to safely remove this dried discharge?

(She has been treated with oflaxacin and enroflaxacin to no avail. We’re going to try a nebulizer next.)

[Wick & Fable]

Is a culture and sensitivity test an option? Outside of this, you can also take an x-ray to see if perhaps something else is causing the discharge instead of a URI (for example, sometimes it can actually be dental-related, due to teeth roots).

I would do a warm, damp towel to soften it up and see if you can gently remove it. If your rabbit will let you calmly, you can do q-tips for a more targeted approach.

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.

[BubbaMomma]

Hi Wick & Fable!

Thank you very much for the reply and insight. I learned about the culture searching the site for answers a few weeks ago. In sharing it with the vet she felt the tests are often inconclusive and didn’t recommend it strangely. We tried switching her to azithromycin and she went into stasis immediately. (She clearly didn’t like it)

My bunny did have a overgrown tooth we had shaved down several months ago and as soon as we did that this discharge started. I don’t know if we ever did an x ray though to look at tooth roots. I’ll definitely ask. I believe they discovered the overgrown tooth bye visual exam only. I know we’ve done irrigation many times too, since. Poor girl. It’s hard to watch.

It seems the more antibiotics we give her the worse it gets. I’m definitely going to use the concept you shared about using a warm towel and q tip to get it cleaned up.   If I’m missing anything else I’d appreciate learning more. Thank you again for the insight.

[DanaNM]

Poor baby 🙁

I agree with Wick that this could be dental, especially given the timing with the tooth filing. There could also be something like an abscess that formed around the tooth that’s pressing on sinuses and causing issues.

. . . 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.  

[BubbaMomma]

Thank you DanaNM. I’ll definitely revisit this again with the vet. Hope all is well in your world.

[Author]

Messages