Starbuck's Eye Problems U/D Post 16

Starbuck has always had on and off eye problems (he is a dental bunny) and has had to have several tear duct flushes. Before Christmas his eye had got infected and we had some drops to give to him, and antibiotics. After this cleared up he was booked in for a tear duct flush. One of his tear ducts has now completely closed over/collapsed so they could only "back-flush" it - the other side they managed to clear well. We were told that we would need to massage his eye and clean it regularly to help get the gunk out, but there was not any other treatment the vet could offer.

Muesli does a good job of constantly grooming his eyes for him which helps but over the last week or so his right eye has been red/inflamed, around the third eye lid/tear duct area, and his eye looks swollen and just not right.

We are taking them both to the vets on Saturday so I will ask them to check that it is not infected again. My question is - is there anything else we can do or ask the vets to do for him? Its the actual eye/tear duct that looks inflamed and swollen, not the area around the eye. I dont like to think of him in discomfort as it does look very uncomfortable.

Hi Helen, sorry to hear this, I don't have experience of tear duct flushing at all, I don't like the sound of it either. I personally would be looking for antiobiotics or some sort of ointment to reduce infection/inflammation and some pain relief, I hope he didn't get an infection from the flushing?

Hope he can be made comfy so that he can fight any infection when his little immune system recovers. Sending vibes for the little chap & you.

one of my buns has the exact same problem, except that the area around her eye has became irritated now, have tried many drops but its looking like she will need the tear duct flushed again but she cant go under GA atm.
have you tried steriod drops? thats what my vet gave to try and reduce the inflamation

hope you get it sorted and he starts to feel better soon

It sounds horribly like an abscess within the collapsed duct. A skull Xray may be a good idea. It could all be due to tooth root elongation.

Does he have regular Dentals under GA to keep the crowns burred down to gum level ? TRE cannot be adequately managed by just taking off sharp points/spurs.

Thank you for the replies, all useful things for me to discuss with the vet tomorrow.

When he went for his last tear duct flush, we actually wanted him to have sedation/GA and a thorough check of his back molar teeth and for any necessary dental work to be done at the same time. However I got the phone call from the vet saying that he had been so good that they hadnt felt any need for sedation :shock: It wasnt my usual vet as far as I was aware, but later that evening when we collected him we discusssed it with the rabbit-savvy vet. She said that the tear duct has completely blocked (and it was last time they tried so I am not surprised).

Usually Starbuck has conscious dentals but after the last thread that was put on here about it I have become more in favour of them (Kenco is also a dental bunny) having a GA dental to do more thorough work and to ensure any other underlying or unseen issues are addressed at the same time. So I was a little disappointed that Starbuck didnt have sedation/GA to allow them look right up the back. That said, they felt his teeth are currently in good shape.

My OH discussed with the vet about whether there was any merit in having a skull x-ray to look at it but at his last x-ray (a year or so ago) his tooth root problems were only mild so they didnt think there was any point putting him through the x-ray because they could tell his tear duct was blocked and an x-ray would only confirm this, without anything they can do about it.

Jane, thank you very much for suggesting the possibility of abscess, will definitely mention that - do you think it is also possible that the TRE could have progressed and got worse?

helgalush said:

Thank you for the replies, all useful things for me to discuss with the vet tomorrow.

When he went for his last tear duct flush, we actually wanted him to have sedation/GA and a thorough check of his back molar teeth and for any necessary dental work to be done at the same time. However I got the phone call from the vet saying that he had been so good that they hadnt felt any need for sedation :shock: It wasnt my usual vet as far as I was aware, but later that evening when we collected him we discusssed it with the rabbit-savvy vet. She said that the tear duct has completely blocked (and it was last time they tried so I am not surprised).

Usually Starbuck has conscious dentals but after the last thread that was put on here about it I have become more in favour of them (Kenco is also a dental bunny) having a GA dental to do more thorough work and to ensure any other underlying or unseen issues are addressed at the same time. So I was a little disappointed that Starbuck didnt have sedation/GA to allow them look right up the back. That said, they felt his teeth are currently in good shape.

My OH discussed with the vet about whether there was any merit in having a skull x-ray to look at it but at his last x-ray (a year or so ago) his tooth root problems were only mild so they didnt think there was any point putting him through the x-ray because they could tell his tear duct was blocked and an x-ray would only confirm this, without anything they can do about it.

Jane, thank you very much for suggesting the possibility of abscess, will definitely mention that - do you think it is also possible that the TRE could have progressed and got worse?

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Sadly yes, especially if he has been having conscious Dentals The condition just cannot be managed in that way and TRE is a progressive feature of Dental Disease

TRE? My brain isn't working

prettylupin said:

TRE? My brain isn't working

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Tooth Root Elongation xx

Jack's-Jane said:

Tooth Root Elongation xx

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Oh yeah! Doh :roll:

Sorry to hear this Helen, I guess some Xrays are probably in order in that case. Poor Starbuck x

Thank you Jane, I appreciate your honesty about this and will definitely be taking that on board. In that case, I think tomorrow I will be pushing for an x-ray to assess both the eye and the tooth roots and see where we are with this. Thank you.

Hope it goes OK at the vets.

Has he had penicillin?

Two years ago now Poppy had v.similar symptoms to what you are describing, I was at my wits end until I changed vets and my new vet prescribed penicillin. Her eyes are not perfect but they are so much better than they were. She too had sore/red looking 3rd eyelids etc, she was also a very depressed bunny. Her tear ducts could not be flushed at all and x-rays were in-conclusive so this is what worked for her.

Good luck at the vets.x.

Starbuck has seen the vet today. He does have a recurrence of the infection, so he has Baytril and fucithalmic (sp) drops. We will give this for a week until the infection clears up. The vet agreed that there was a possibility of an abscess or tooth root problems so has booked him in for an x-ray for a week on Tuesday. So hopefully we will know more about any underlying issues then.

We asked about penicillin but the vet had some concerns about the use of this in rabbits and so was not prepared to prescribe that for him, but said we could discuss it with the rabbit-savvy vet at a later date if we wanted to.

Thanks for all the advice, will update once he has had the x-ray.

helgalush said:

Starbuck has seen the vet today. He does have a recurrence of the infection, so he has Baytril and fucithalmic (sp) drops. We will give this for a week until the infection clears up. The vet agreed that there was a possibility of an abscess or tooth root problems so has booked him in for an x-ray for a week on Tuesday. So hopefully we will know more about any underlying issues then.

We asked about penicillin but the vet had some concerns about the use of this in rabbits and so was not prepared to prescribe that for him, but said we could discuss it with the rabbit-savvy vet at a later date if we wanted to.

Thanks for all the advice, will update once he has had the x-ray.

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I hope the treatment gets the infection under control xx

helgalush said:

Starbuck has seen the vet today. He does have a recurrence of the infection, so he has Baytril and fucithalmic (sp) drops. We will give this for a week until the infection clears up. The vet agreed that there was a possibility of an abscess or tooth root problems so has booked him in for an x-ray for a week on Tuesday. So hopefully we will know more about any underlying issues then.

We asked about penicillin but the vet had some concerns about the use of this in rabbits and so was not prepared to prescribe that for him, but said we could discuss it with the rabbit-savvy vet at a later date if we wanted to.

Thanks for all the advice, will update once he has had the x-ray.

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Many vets if they haven't used penicillin before in rabbits are nervous of doing so, understandably. If the infection progresses despite the treatment you have now then do discuss alternative stronger abx with your rabbit-savy vet at a later date. A few years back a young female vet at our practice was reluctant to give Nino Penicillin having lost a few rabbits after she treated them with it (I feel unlikely that the abx was definitely the cause of death but hey ho). However, she happily prescribed Engymycin, or you may find metronidazole your vets are happier with, or they can always make a referral for advice themselves if they still aren't sure. I do know that the penicillin does seem to be particularly useful for tooth root abcesses. Hoping Starbuck feels better soon x

Update

Just a little update about Starbuck's eyes.

He had a GA today at the vets, they thoroughly examined his teeth while he was under and also took x-rays. His tooth roots are not causing any problems and are not pressing on the tearducts, all his teeth look in good shape at the moment. There was also no sign of an abscess or anything like that.

What they think is that he has had persistent eye problems and has probably had them for years now, and so the tear ducts have just become fused together, which is what they originally thought. Where the tear ducts have become fused, this causes a backlog of pus, which is then likely to get infected and its hard to get it all out. They took a swab which they are going to send off to the lab for us, just so they know if there is any particular strain of infection so they know what to treat it with. We are very relieved that everything else was ruled out.

Starbuck is back home recovering (a little bit drunk, bless him).

Thanks for all the advice too.

I am glad that you now know what you are dealing with and that it is not tooth root related xx

Thank you Jane, I am very glad to know that as well, and very grateful for your advice and suggestions.