my Lion head cross has a repeat eye infection

Hi my mother owns 2 rabbits which i am currently looking after. One is a male long eared rabbit the other is a female cross lion head / Netherland Dwarf (I think).

The male is absolutely fine and a right character the female is very timid and has an right eye infection which has been lingering for the last 3 months and seems to be spreading to the left eye.

She has had 2 or 3 trips to the vets... both times the eye clears up and then comes back red and saw.... ive been told her teeth are fine but her tear drop tubes are too blocked to flush???

Im currently putting an eye drop in her eye once a day called Golden eye which was advised by a local breeder. Should i be putting eye drops on her paws incase the infection is gathering on her paws and re infecting the eye when she scratches it??

Im not sure if i need to put drops in twice a day but because she is so timid she is a nightmare to catch. Both of them live in the Garage which also has a hutch in there for them and she rarely comes out and if she is out and she see's a human she runs back inside.

The vet has nearly given up from what i am told but i refuse to believe that a simple eye infection can lead to a rabbit being put down...

I have been told that ammonia from urine and bad ventilation can cause eye infections and although the garage door is open it is not open fully so perhaps if i open the windows and the garage door all the way it will help create better ventilation stopping an ammonia build up??

Another concern i have is could the male rabbit also catch the eye infection??

Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

OMG this sounds like the exact same problem I'm having right now with my lionhead girl, she has had eye problems for the past few months and been to the vets a few times, had her tearducks flushed, been on two different types of drops putting them in her eyes twice a day and washing her eyes, although her eyes never seemed to be or looked sore. I've been to the vets with her today and tomorrow she is having a head x ray to see if it is her teeth causing the problem, I am worried about my bun so I know how you must feel with yours.
I would say about your bun is also see if she could have a head xray as this could help see whats going on and see if it is the teeth or not?

Are they both bonded?

Let's go back a step. Has the vet tried to flush her tear ducts? If yes, what happened?

Has she had a skull x-ray? If yes, what did it show?

I know she is challenging to handle, but have you tried bathing her eye? Or flushing her eye?

Has she had the fur around her eye checked in case her fur is rubbing into her eyes and making them sore? I've seen this happen in several lionheads.

What have you been prescribed by the vets? how long for?

Eye infection has become worse

Sky-O said:

Are they both bonded?

Let's go back a step. Has the vet tried to flush her tear ducts? If yes, what happened?

Has she had a skull x-ray? If yes, what did it show?

I know she is challenging to handle, but have you tried bathing her eye? Or flushing her eye?

Has she had the fur around her eye checked in case her fur is rubbing into her eyes and making them sore? I've seen this happen in several lionheads.

What have you been prescribed by the vets? how long for?

Click to expand...

Thank you for the responses guys.

Unfortunately the infection has got worse and is causing a swelling where the tear duct is and looks very pink and tender, the 3rd eyelid is also swelling up and the eye is slightly closed and puss is starting to appear. The tear duct was flushed a few days ago and swelling went down, since then we have been giving her 2 oral drops a day of Baytril Oral 2.5%. It was working but doesn't seem to be having an effect now and the problem is recurring.

In the past we were giving her 2 eye drops a day of Fucithalmic, this seemed to keep the infection at bay but never cured it. She has had her teeth cheeked and they are not whats causing the problem.

We often cut her hair back it helps but grows back very quickly.

Starting to get concerned that there may not be much else we can do to get rid of this infection.