Eye issues.

Hello all, a few years back i had a username on this but i've forgotten it so i'm back with a new one.
I'm the owner of a lovely white bunny named Miffy.
Over the past two weeks or so, Miffys eyes have been tearing quite a bit and it's causing some concern.
At first i noticed the tears when i was giving her a loving pet. I cleaned these up and gently gave her face a little dab with some warm water. The next evening she seemed fine and there were no tears. Problem solved, i thought. However, i noticed they had made a come back a few nights later at around the same time in the evening. Since then i've washed again, to be fine for a day or two and then tears again, always at the same time of night! Very odd.
I've heard of blocked tear ducts in bunnies, any chance it could be this? How would the vet go about treating this if this is the problem and how serious is it? What's the cause of this blockage? I'm really quite concerned and i hate seeing her when she's not 100%. Anything else it could be??
Fast replies would be appreciated greatly. Thanks all.

:wave:

It could be blocked tear ducts, in which case a vet may flush them.

It could however be caused by quite a few things, the main one that comes to mind is dental issues. If a bun has elongated tooth roots, they can push up into the nasolacriminal (i always spell that wrong :thumb area and cause infections which can cause sneezing, discharge from the nose, discharge from the eyes 'crying'. I have a bun with said issues who needs dentals every couple of months, and her eyes watering have become our 'tell tell sign'. The only way to confirm this is skull xrays by the vet.

I'd certainly recommend a trip to a rabbit savvy vet.

Good luck

Thanks for the fast reply.

Oh dear, that sounds bad... I was rather hoping it would be a one off trip to the vet and she'd be fighting fit. Eeeek. Excuse me for asking, and don't reply if you don't want to say, but can i ask how much these treatments cost per session? Does it hurt the rabbit?

moonbrownie said:

Thanks for the fast reply.

Oh dear, that sounds bad... I was rather hoping it would be a one off trip to the vet and she'd be fighting fit. Eeeek. Excuse me for asking, and don't reply if you don't want to say, but can i ask how much these treatments cost per session? Does it hurt the rabbit?

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It's just a possibility, obviously, im not a vet, so i can't comment and be 100% sure. It might be she needs a tear duct flush and then everything will be fine, i just can't comment

Ginger's dentals cost me a fixed £60 per go every ~8 weeks (it varies) but she has all manner of other issues also. The treatments don't hurt, as they are under a General Anaesthetic. She's on daily metacam (pain relief) for her teeth and other issues, so she doesnt necessarily feel the pain as much as a bun who isnt on pain relief, but we know when its hurting her to eat and thats how we react.

Ginger had an attempted tear duct flush, but her tear ducts are performed, i can't remember how much that cost, but it was not a lot of money.

Does that help?

GrahamL said:

It's just a possibility, obviously, im not a vet, so i can't comment and be 100% sure. It might be she needs a tear duct flush and then everything will be fine, i just can't comment

Ginger's dentals cost me a fixed £60 per go every ~8 weeks (it varies) but she has all manner of other issues also. The treatments don't hurt, as they are under a General Anaesthetic. She's on daily metacam (pain relief) for her teeth and other issues, so she doesnt necessarily feel the pain as much as a bun who isnt on pain relief, but we know when its hurting her to eat and thats how we react.

Ginger had an attempted tear duct flush, but her tear ducts are performed, i can't remember how much that cost, but it was not a lot of money.

Does that help?

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Yes, thanks Graham it's very much appreciated. I understand you're not a vet but hearing of similar circumstances is a great help.

She doesn't seem to be in any pain when eating and is always eager for her food, other than the tears of late she's certainly not showing any symptoms.
However, i will be booking a trip to the vet (miffys favourite place - not.) I'll need to post another thread to see if anyone knows of any good rabbit specialists in Glasgow. Previously the only problems Miffy's had are ear mites which were easy dealt with and when she got spayed so i think a change of vet might be in order if my current one isn't up to scratch on their bunny knowledge. Anyway, thanks for the help.

moonbrownie said:

Yes, thanks Graham it's very much appreciated. I understand you're not a vet but hearing of similar circumstances is a great help.

She doesn't seem to be in any pain when eating and is always eager for her food, other than the tears of late she's certainly not showing any symptoms.
However, i will be booking a trip to the vet (miffys favourite place - not.) I'll need to post another thread to see if anyone knows of any good rabbit specialists in Glasgow. Previously the only problems Miffy's had are ear mites which were easy dealt with and when she got spayed so i think a change of vet might be in order if my current one isn't up to scratch on their bunny knowledge. Anyway, thanks for the help.

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Glad i could be of some form of assistance.

There are quite a few scottish members now, so hopefully someone can offer a good vet for you!

Loads of vibes for Miffy!

GrahamL said:

Glad i could be of some form of assistance.

There are quite a few scottish members now, so hopefully someone can offer a good vet for you!

Loads of vibes for Miffy!

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Sorry to be a pain, where would i go about posting such a thread? General chat or health? There should be an instruction manual with this website :roll:

moonbrownie said:

Sorry to be a pain, where would i go about posting such a thread? General chat or health? There should be an instruction manual with this website :roll:

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Rabbit Chat

:wave: one of ours has problems with his eyes, he had his tear duct flushed last year, though his tear duct isn't blocked now, every so often his eye starts running. Like we do with Snowy is when it happens, the main thing is to keep the fur round her eye as dry as possible, so to their paw, it will help her feel a bit more comfortable. Good luck with taking her to the vets, think best get checked out:wave::wave: