# Rabbit chronic runny eye treatment



## awesomebunny (Mar 14, 2016)

I think my rabbit has chronic runny eye, and I was wondering what treatments you guys use. I found eye drops for dogs that I think may help, but I am unsure if it is safe for rabbits.


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## flemishwhite (Mar 16, 2016)

This is a common bunny problem! Fortunately, the solution can be not much of a problem for a rabbit. Rabbits have a tear duct that allows naturally produced eye moisture/tears to flow from the eye to the sinus cavity, where the moisture is naturally absorbed. This is a wholly natural function for a healthy bunny. What happens is that the tear duct can become clogged by a mucus plug which is in turn often triggered off by an eye infection. The cure is for the vett to drop a few drops of liquid anesthetic in the eye, use a syringe of saline/antibiotic fluid to squirt into the opening of the tear duct in the eye and force the mucus plug out, allowing eye tears to once again flow normally to the sinus. You'll get a follow up prescription of antibiotic eyedrops to squirt in the rabbit's eye for a few days. This solved Bunny's weeping eye problem. Problem never came back.

The vett said you should be lucky when his happens with a rabbit. Dogs and cats can have the same problem, except that this tear duct is much smaller in diameter and the dog/cat must be generally anesthecised for this procedure...$$$ for a cat or dog. Relatively inexpensive for a bunn.


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## Watermelons (Mar 16, 2016)

flemishwhite said:


> This is a common bunny problem! Fortunately, the solution can be not much of a problem for a rabbit. Rabbits have a tear duct that allows naturally produced eye moisture/tears to flow from the eye to the sinus cavity, where the moisture is naturally absorbed. This is a wholly natural function for a healthy bunny. What happens is that the tear duct can become clogged by a mucus plug which is in turn often triggered off by an eye infection. The cure is for the vett to drop a few drops of liquid anesthetic in the eye, use a syringe of saline/antibiotic fluid to squirt into the opening of the tear duct in the eye and force the mucus plug out, allowing eye tears to once again flow normally to the sinus. You'll get a follow up prescription of antibiotic eyedrops to squirt in the rabbit's eye for a few days. This solved Bunny's weeping eye problem. Problem never came back.
> 
> The vett said you should be lucky when his happens with a rabbit. Dogs and cats can have the same problem, except that this tear duct is much smaller in diameter and the dog/cat must be generally anesthecised for this procedure...$$$ for a cat or dog. Relatively inexpensive for a bunn.


Please dont recommend a single shot solution like this.
We have no idea why this rabbit has runny/goopey eyes in the first place.

OP
Can you please describe the issue better? Photos? What colour? How is the eye itself? Have you seen a vet? What solutions have you tried? Any other symptoms?


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## awesomebunny (Mar 16, 2016)

My rabbit has always had eye discharge. I thought it was normal, as humans also have normal eye discharge. It became more extreme, causing it to clump on her eye fur and making it damp. I went away for a while, until now. On one of her eyes, where the eye fur usually is, is raw. It is hard to tell but her eye fur is not there.
The first picture shows the eye with the missing eye fur. The second one shows what the eye fur should look like.
* I haven't seen the actual discharge in a while, but I know there is discharge because the fur under her eye is wet.
View attachment 17179
View attachment 17180


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## JBun (Mar 17, 2016)

Runny eyes is not normal in rabbits. There are multiple causes such as an eye infection, blocked tear duct, overgrown tooth roots blocking the tear duct, an eyelash rubbing on the eye, etc. If you haven't done so already, your rabbit needs to be seen by a rabbit savvy vet to correctly diagnose what is causing your rabbits runny eye, and treat it appropriately.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/weepy.pdf


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## flemishwhite (Mar 17, 2016)

Watermelons said:


> Please dont recommend a single shot solution like this.
> We have no idea why this rabbit has runny/goopey eyes in the first place.



I didn't mean to recommend a "single shot " solution to this problem. I just meant to describe my anecdote of having a similar experience and then described what the vet did and how he described the basis and solution for the problem. I'd imagine there are other possibilities for a runny/goopey eye. At least the OP understands what one possible cause of a runny/goopey eye can be. If you Google this condition, there are several cites that describe this blocked eye drain duct as a common problem. Anyhow even though someone understands what a possible causation could be, it's nevertheless up to an experienced vet to decide what the causation is.


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## HyperRabbit01 (Mar 20, 2016)

I took my guy to the vet approx. a month ago and the vet found him with conjunctivitis because he had a milky/sticky substance coming from his left eye (which has NEVER happened before) so the vet while looking for reasons as to why/where that came from, found his molars aren't properly aligned, so I would eventually have to bring him back to get his molars trimmed which wasn't the cause of his tears, she didn't find any abscesses either, so she ruled it as infection in the eye and gave me ciprofloxacin (sp?) eye drops for the meantime. Now, my rabbit's constantly tearing (milky substance came back, but I put a drop of the antibiotic in his eye Friday night and haven't seen anything but watery tears since) and now I wonder, could all this excess tears be caused by his teeth?


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## Azerane (Mar 21, 2016)

Eye problems in rabbits are commonly caused by teeth issues. Did the vet do an x-ray? Rabbit teeth can overgrow in the roots as well which can cause issues with the tear duct or infection for the eyes. It may not be the teeth, but an x-ray is required to rule it out if your vet hasn't found another cause.

Since she's always had the condition, I'm wondering what type of litter or bedding you use in her litter tray or cage, and what type of hay you feed and if she's ever had other types of hay. Some litter types can cause irritation or allergy symptoms, but usually with that you'll see sneezing as well and nasal discharge, and clear discharge as well, not white which indicates infection.


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## HyperRabbit01 (Mar 21, 2016)

Azerane said:


> Eye problems in rabbits are commonly caused by teeth issues. Did the vet do an x-ray? Rabbit teeth can overgrow in the roots as well which can cause issues with the tear duct or infection for the eyes. It may not be the teeth, but an x-ray is required to rule it out if your vet hasn't found another cause.




Vet did not do an x-ray, she had the tool to open his mouth, which is somewhat V-shaped and showed me his back molars, which were starting to get misaligned, so I'm taking him back on Wednesday for another check-up (I wish I could take him tomorrow, but I have work and I leave work late  )


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## Azerane (Mar 22, 2016)

HyperRabbit01 said:


> Vet did not do an x-ray, she had the tool to open his mouth, which is somewhat V-shaped and showed me his back molars, which were starting to get misaligned, so I'm taking him back on Wednesday for another check-up (I wish I could take him tomorrow, but I have work and I leave work late  )



Let us know how the check up goes, I think it would be worth asking to have an x-ray done to check for overgrowth in the roots of the teeth.


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## HyperRabbit01 (Apr 3, 2016)

Thought I'd update on the status of my rabbit's condition (apologies for the lateness!!). So, I didn't end up taking him into the vet that day, instead I called the vet and spoke to her on the phone. She told me to try and extend the 7-day eye drop treatment to 14-days. For the first few days he was still tearing, then I noticed that he started pooping soft, so I stopped giving him his papaya treats and increasing his hay consumption. Since then, he hasn't shed a single tear, no white stuff, zilch, nada. His eye as of today is doing great so I suspect that the papaya treats had something to do with it, because I spoke to my friend about it (who also had rabbits) and said that the sugar in those treats may have had something to do with his good bacteria, thus resulting in the milky/watery tears. So, tomorrow would be the 14th treatment day, and once I take him off the drops, I hope it doesn't come back (fingers crossed!). Also, he is now on timothy hay cubes for now instead of the papaya.


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