U/D Been to vets 2/1.Whats wrong with my bunny?

Hi all

I have three buns, a pair of brothers Miffy and Snuffy and my little Scampi Doodle.

Miffy, one of the pair has always been our "worry bunny", he is always the one who gets something wrong with him.
He has a history of malocclusion, though he has not had it for years. His diet is spot on, lots of hay, some greens/vegn in the evenings and little dry food.
The trouble is recently he has been really quite lazy and his eyes weep, esp when he eats his dry food, a runny milky fluid. He now prefers his nuggets (supa rabbit excel) softened with water.
He did have two seperate courses of eye drops in afew months ago, but they didnt really seem to help.
He has a clean bum but has started to leave caceotrophs again like he used to.
I took him to the vets just before christmas and they had a look in his mouth and said they were 90% certain that his teeth are fine. I am loathe to put him under so they can undertake a thorough check, mainly as I do worry when they are under and also money is very very bad for us at the moment and malocclusion is not covered under their insurance. Although of course if I have to i wont hesitate to get it done.
He has not lost weight and he is not dribbling like when he did have teeth problems.

He is four years old and very much cared for, all are all my treasures.

Any ideas?

Did the weeping from the eye start happening after the last vet visit? I would take him back again.

Is he an outdoor bunny? If possible I would bring him in doors or into a garage or something as he seems under the weather.

Weepy eyes can be caused by things like cold weather and drafts, i know around me it's been very cold and windy.

Also it can be caused by teeth problems, espcially if he prefers to eat his food moistened.

I'd get the vet to check his teeth, even the back ones, and take it from there.
He may need a routine dental, that will invove anaesethic.

Sounds very much like a dental condition, his eyes are probably linked to a blockage or pressure on the tearducts from his tooth roots and the colouring suggests he may also have an infection which will need antibiotic treatment.

Your vet should inspect his mouth with an otoscope to check for molar spurs and maloclussion.

I suspect he may have elongated tooth roots. The roots overgrow and press on the nasolacrimal ducts causing the runny eyes as the tears cant drain inwards.
A skull Xray is the only way to assess the tooth roots. As he has a known malocclusion I would be very surprised if this were not the problem.

timb0h said:

Did the weeping from the eye start happening after the last vet visit? I would take him back again.

Is he an outdoor bunny? If possible I would bring him in doors or into a garage or something as he seems under the weather.

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No his eyes were weeping before the visit

Jack's-Jane said:

I suspect he may have elongated tooth roots. The roots overgrow and press on the nasolacrimal ducts causing the runny eyes as the tears cant drain inwards.
A skull Xray is the only way to assess the tooth roots. As he has a known malocclusion I would be very surprised if this were not the problem.

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Yes you are very likely to be right, I just know there is something wrong with him. I will have to arrange and find out, will let you know how I get on.

*Spider* said:

Weepy eyes can be caused by things like cold weather and drafts, i know around me it's been very cold and windy.

Also it can be caused by teeth problems, espcially if he prefers to eat his food moistened.

I'd get the vet to check his teeth, even the back ones, and take it from there.
He may need a routine dental, that will invove anaesethic.

Click to expand...

Its interesting you all say about the cold, as he is an outdoor bunny, but they do come in every day from about 3pm till we go to bed. They have so much hay in their hutches and the hutches are clean and dry, and they have made to measure scratch and newton hutch covers too.
The wind should not get to them very much, however I was always led to believe that the cold was ok for bunnies as long as it not too cold. Should I be keeping them in? This will pose as a nightmare as I dont have anywhere suitable for them unsupervised during the day. We rabbit proofed our living room for them but they cannot be left unsupervised as they have chewed just about everything in there now...... TV, Sky and phone cables, my antique table, sofa, sofa throws, books, magazine rack, carpet......etc... and that is with a huge amount of rabbit toys, paper and cardboard as well!

I would say teeth are the likely culprit too. I had a rabbit with bad teeth problems and his eyes were often still weepy even AFTER he'd had a dental. His tear ducts had been permanently damaged by the teeth problems in the past and as a result he ended up being almost permanently on antibiotic eye drops. He needed regular duct flushes too.

I'm not saying it is the cause, it could be a factor. Toffee used to get weepy eyes because of this. We went to the vets to give him a tooth check, x-rayed him and he was perfectly fine, so we were advised to bring him in for the Winter, and it stopped.

I would think it's more likely to be his teeth though especially with his change in substance preferance.

Jacks-Jane and Sooz have given you great advise about what is needed for the vet's trip

I hope it all goes well :wave:

I have had 2 rabbits with weepy eyes, both caused by teeth problems, they both had their tear ducts flushed and teeth burred/clipped.

U/D it was his teeth 2/1/09

Hi all

he had a GA today and the vet conf that it was his back teeth. They were so hard to see that the vet even had trouble seeing them whilst he was under. He has had them trimmed, he had one that was going into his cheek, poor thing. I am glad I perservered as last week the vet said she was 90% certain there wasnt something wrong..

I can stop worrying now.