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How to easily administer eye drops

S

Solarwind

Young Bun
Hi everyone. Any advice please with the following would be appreciated. My Rabbit will not open her eyes to administer eye drops to the lower eyelid. For conjunctivitis she has been prescribed Clinagel which is supposed to be administered to the conjunctival sac of the lower lid. Easier said than done. My rabbit struggles to keep her eye open when I try to gently pull down the lower lid while holding open the upper lid. She is a Netherlands dwarf rabbit so she is tiny and fragile looking and I am afraid to hurt her. Any suggestions please. Thank you

Christine
 
My bridge bun Harry had an eyelid problem and was always on eye drops. This may not be helpful because Harry was so easy to handle I could hold him and put the eye drops in all by myself, however we found the easiest way was to pick him up with his spine supported by the full length of the forearm and just gently pull the eyelid down and put the drop in. But we never put him far enough onto his back as to 'trance' him: it was kind of the position you'd use to check their bottoms for fly strike.

One big tip- make sure there is no air in the tube before you put the drop in, even Harry used to flinch when air went in his eye!
 
P.S. Make sure you really hold her firmly and support all the key joints especially the back! She may look fragile but you're probably more at risk by not holding her firmly enough then the other way- if she doesn't feel secure then she'll wriggle and might hurt herself.
 
Hesperus said:
P.S. Make sure you really hold her firmly and support all the key joints especially the back! She may look fragile but you're probably more at risk by not holding her firmly enough then the other way- if she doesn't feel secure then she'll wriggle and might hurt herself.
Click to expand...


Thank you Hesperus. Will try what you suggest. I think she picks up on my anxiety. My husband holds her and I try and administer the drops, so will try your way see if this works better. Thanks for the tip about the air in the tube . She has had eye drops before but usually administered by lifting the upper lid. For this she is okay but somehow will not co-operate with allowing me to pull down the lower lid. Thank you for your help.
 
If that doesn't work, I had to do a really long course of eye drops with a bun that hates being picked up and screwed her eyes shut when the drops approached. I found the best way to do it without picking her up was to put her between my knees facing outwards then to gently hold her down with one forearm along each side of her spine. This leaves both hands free one to pull up the upper eyelid and the other to pull down the lower eyelid and squeeze the drops in. I second the recommendation to make sure the air is squeezed out of the tube first - mine also hates the puff of air whereas the actual drops she didn't seem to notice so much.
 
You could try the 'sausage bunny' towel wrap and get someone to firmly hold her shoulders down - the vet taught me (it doesn't hurt them) they feel secure and don't move, then leaves you with two hands to do the drops, hope she feels better soon x
 
Heather has eye drops several times a day. I must admit I often just lift the top lid, drop them up the top and then gently close her eye and 'massage' the drops around that way. There's no way she would tolerate me putting the drops in the lower eyelid all the time so it seems safer to me to get them in there somewhere!
 
Hermione1234 said:
If that doesn't work, I had to do a really long course of eye drops with a bun that hates being picked up and screwed her eyes shut when the drops approached. I found the best way to do it without picking her up was to put her between my knees facing outwards then to gently hold her down with one forearm along each side of her spine. This leaves both hands free one to pull up the upper eyelid and the other to pull down the lower eyelid and squeeze the drops in. I second the recommendation to make sure the air is squeezed out of the tube first - mine also hates the puff of air whereas the actual drops she didn't seem to notice so much.
Click to expand...

Thank you Hermione1234 Yes I think approaching her from behind may help so she does not see the drops coming, she has had drops before in the upper eye lid with no problem it is just she does not like having them administered to the lower lid. Appreciate your advice thank you
 
Rupert & Tia said:
You could try the 'sausage bunny' towel wrap and get someone to firmly hold her shoulders down - the vet taught me (it doesn't hurt them) they feel secure and don't move, then leaves you with two hands to do the drops, hope she feels better soon x
Click to expand...

Good idea thank you Rupert & tTia. Yes I hope she gets better soon, such a worry, its been two weeks. The change of ointment this week is the problem as it has to be administered to the lower lid rather than the upper which she seems not to like at all. Thanks for your help
 
Santa said:
Heather has eye drops several times a day. I must admit I often just lift the top lid, drop them up the top and then gently close her eye and 'massage' the drops around that way. There's no way she would tolerate me putting the drops in the lower eyelid all the time so it seems safer to me to get them in there somewhere!
Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice Santa. Several times a day sounds like a bit of an ordeal must be difficult for you and your bunny, three times a day seems difficult enough. Yes you are right the important thing is to get the drops in somewhere, though the vet said they should be placed in the lower lid I can't see it matters as it spreads. Perhaps I am worrying too much, hope heather gets better soon. Thank you I appreciate your help and feel less anxious now.
 
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