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First time rabbit owner worries

grace2294

grace2294

New Kit
Hi,

This is my first post on this site as I've only joined today (so bare with me whilst I upload photos).

I've had my lop eared rabbit for about a year now after rehoming him from a 'breeder' who didn't have enough time to take care of him anymore. He is roughly 3/4 years old and un-neutered.

(Please don't jump down my throat at this bit, just keep reading until the end) I was made redundant by HMV when they went into administration in January, since then I have been applying for lots of different jobs but nothing has come up. I am now on JSA benefit and therefore have to save for driving lesson fees, theory test fees and all other expenses that just seem to come out of no where.

It seems Billy has got a (what looks like) flat patch of fur underneath and around his left eye, his eye looks red but not swollen and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort. I use allergy safe hay and sawdust, he has an varied diet of greens and pellets (PAH ones) I can't think of any thing he would get an infection from as he has been fine up until now. I even bought him a 'Snuggle Safe' heater for the winter as well as weather proofing his whole hutch and bringing him in when it was snowing. I've looked up weepy eyes and blocked tear ducts online and I'm terrified for him. I've read so many horrible stories of people's bunnies having this condition (for lack of a better word).

I want to take him to the vet, but because they are charging £35 for a consultation and plus extra for any medicine, I just can't afford it without borrowing money off of my parents (which is last resort, as I'm nearly 19 and need to sort myself out etc). I have been cleaning it with a diluted saline solution my which my vet sneakily recommended free of charge, his eye looked like it was getting better but since I've stopped it, it's come right back again.

I really would love to know if anyone else's wabbits have had this and what they did to solve it, home remedies, certain foods..?

Billy is my first bunny and I love him to pieces, I can't bare to think of anything happening to him or him being in pain.

Thank you in advance

Gracie x
 
Thats what I'm looking up now, to be eligible for vet services from PDSA and Blue Cross you have to have to be receiving housing benefits and live in the catchment area :mad: typically, I live in the country. I've trying to get through to the RSPCA as they have 'financial aid'.
 
Firstly hello and welcome to RU. :wave:

If you could post some photos on here that would be a great help.

Meanwhile I do hope that Billy is still eating, drinking, peeing and pooing as normal.

Fingers crossed for the little chap. x
 
grace2294 said:
Thats what I'm looking up now, to be eligible for vet services from PDSA and Blue Cross you have to have to be receiving housing benefits and live in the catchment area :mad: typically, I live in the country. I've trying to get through to the RSPCA as they have 'financial aid'.
Click to expand...

You could try telling this to your vet and if they are really nice they may set up a payment plan for you? Not sure but it may be worth a try? x
 
:wave:

One of mine has a weepy eye and needs her tear ducts flushed a few times a year, she's fine :wave:

Main worry is that it could be dental related, Poppy has horrendous teeth and this exacerbates her weepy eye, her dental problems have made her tear ducts work over time.

I would take him to the vets to rule out dental problems, if it is dental then the quicker it is sorted, the longer he can go between dentals :) as an example, or other dental rabbit went for his dental yesterday and one of the spurs had started to cut his tongue :( he's on metacam now but if we took him sooner it wouldn't have got as far as that.

What is his diet exactly? Rabbits ideally need 90% hay, 5% pellets and 5% veg, herbs and/or forage. Good quality hay is important too, so baled hay from a horse supply shop (cheap) or hay for pets hay, the £16 bag (inc p&p) sounds expensive but it lasts my outdoor pair ages and they're on a hay only diet! :)
 
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Photos of the eye please.

Also, using sawdust is known to irritate eyes and respiratory systems, i'd stop using that immediately and move to newspaper+hay or newspaper+megazorb/aubiose+hay.
 
Bobo had a weepy eye that seemed a bit red but there wasn't actually anything wrong with it - he just needed a wife to keep it clean for him.

I am guessing that at the moment getting your Billy neutered and a friend is out of the question but you can still do the cleaning yourself with the saline solution the vet recommended.

It may be nothing - like Bobo's - but the only way to be sure is a vet appointment. I do hope you manage to get something through RSPCA.
 
Oh god, thank you so much already guys. I'm so happy none of you have mentioned anything fatal, I worry way too much for my own good.

He gets a bowl of Pets At Home Nuggets mixed with a small amount of different pellets, that I got from Sainsburys. They were on offer from £6 to £3, so I thought why not... He always has hay, I stick about 3/4 of a football sized amount in his hutch every night. His poop corner gets cleaned out every day and his 'living quarters' get cleaned out every 2 days. He gets the occasional carrot and apple, but I don't want to over do it. When walking the dog, I collect a big bag of Dandelions and give him a few every day, I get the ones where dogs haven't peed on them and even then I wash them in cold tap water just to be sure.

His bowl movements are good and when he is out in his big run he bombs it round and binkies all over the place like a loony.

He's got about loads of toys, a big log den thing from pets at home and a stick he has become really attached to...

x
 
GrahamL said:
Photos of the eye please.

Also, using sawdust is known to irritate eyes and respiratory systems, i'd stop using that immediately and move to newspaper+hay or newspaper+megazorb/aubiose+hay.
Click to expand...

I'm just about to do that now, his poop corner is majority newspapers and a small bundle of hay they he puts in there.
 
I'd stick with one food, changing bunnies food can upset their very delicate tums :wave: Also carrot is very sugary so when he does have it, just a little bit is ok :) same with apple, or just do what I do and avoid them completely :) Green, leafy veg is better :)

I also agree with Graham, avoid woodshavings, I used them with Poppy and she has scarring on her lungs and gets chest infections easily because the affected her so much. A lining of newspaper and covering that with hay works just as well :)

Edit- also, you say you brought him in when it was snowing. Was this permanently or for a few nights? Bringing bunnies in when it's cold outside can do more damage than good, it's better to leave them outside in weather they are used to than bringing them into a warm house, then back out to cold temperatures. If you bring bunnies in for winter then it's around now/May that they should go back out but even that should be done gradually (moving into a cooler room, eventually going back out) :) the change in temperature can set off something called snuffles in rabbits.
 
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Here are some pictures I took just a minute ago, some are in his run and some are in his hutch. Btw, the run is the one I use when I clean him out and I just pop him in there for a couple of minutes whilst I sort him out.

x3e7vo.jpg

His right (normal) eye and him being a little monkey.

b71fs9.jpg

His left eye, doesn't look as bad now admittedly. Still a bit off colour and red.

117srh2.jpg

Left eye again...
 
Sawdust is bad

i don't have of rabbit of my own yet but have one soon, but when i had hamsters they use to get eye infections because i used sawdust my vet said that sawdust has alot of dust in it and you should use woodshaving. I now only use wood shaving and its much better!
 
Bunnie said:
i don't have of rabbit of my own yet but have one soon, but when i had hamsters they use to get eye infections because i used sawdust my vet said that sawdust has alot of dust in it and you should use woodshaving. I now only use wood shaving and its much better!
Click to expand...

Woodshavings act the same, only they're not as dusty:) I use megazorb for my hamsters now as my first syrian got a large bit of shaving stuck in her eye and her eye half popped out. Along with the respiratory infections and endless problems Poppy has had I would avoid them completely :wave: Lino is much better to have in the hutch, then hay can be kept in a litter tray to contain toileting and mess.
 
I had a rabbit that got eye infections all the time and they usually started as a weepy eye.

You mention that you live in the country, are there any other practices near you, I just say that so perhaps you could ring round and find a cheaper one for a consultation? As a guide, my vet was about £40 in total for the consultation and the antibiotics or medication for an eye problem.

I would be quite careful about treating an eye problem for too long at home if it hasn't gone completely in the next 2-3 days when you've got rid of the sawdust. You may be able to keep on top of it for a while, but especially in a lop with a flat face, the eye, nose, teeth etc (like in a human) are all very close together and infections and problems can travel quickly. You don't want a small problem to escalate into a bigger problem. They can also get skin infections from where the skin is constantly wet and sore.
 
Thanks for all your advice, I was talking about it with mum last night and we think it is the hay I have been using, I'm going to go to Pets at Home and buy a massive bag of allergy free hay and see if that makes a difference. x
 
I think p@h hay can be quite choppy and dusty, so he doesn't get the full effect of a long strand of hay, if you can, I would try and find a horse supply shop and get a bale, they can be anything from £3+. Or hay for pets hay which my last 5 bags of haven't been dusty at all.
 
grace2294 said:
Hi,

This is my first post on this site as I've only joined today (so bare with me whilst I upload photos).

I've had my lop eared rabbit for about a year now after rehoming him from a 'breeder' who didn't have enough time to take care of him anymore. He is roughly 3/4 years old and un-neutered.

(Please don't jump down my throat at this bit, just keep reading until the end) I was made redundant by HMV when they went into administration in January, since then I have been applying for lots of different jobs but nothing has come up. I am now on JSA benefit and therefore have to save for driving lesson fees, theory test fees and all other expenses that just seem to come out of no where.

It seems Billy has got a (what looks like) flat patch of fur underneath and around his left eye, his eye looks red but not swollen and doesn't appear to be in any discomfort. I use allergy safe hay and sawdust, he has an varied diet of greens and pellets (PAH ones) I can't think of any thing he would get an infection from as he has been fine up until now. I even bought him a 'Snuggle Safe' heater for the winter as well as weather proofing his whole hutch and bringing him in when it was snowing. I've looked up weepy eyes and blocked tear ducts online and I'm terrified for him. I've read so many horrible stories of people's bunnies having this condition (for lack of a better word).

I want to take him to the vet, but because they are charging £35 for a consultation and plus extra for any medicine, I just can't afford it without borrowing money off of my parents (which is last resort, as I'm nearly 19 and need to sort myself out etc). I have been cleaning it with a diluted saline solution my which my vet sneakily recommended free of charge, his eye looked like it was getting better but since I've stopped it, it's come right back again.

I really would love to know if anyone else's wabbits have had this and what they did to solve it, home remedies, certain foods..?

Billy is my first bunny and I love him to pieces, I can't bare to think of anything happening to him or him being in pain.

Thank you in advance

Gracie x
Click to expand...

There are many problems a bun might have and a weepy eye is one that could waaaait a liiiitle bit. Not much tough. An irritation/infection may occur out of nowhere so even if you take all the precautions it may just be hair in the eye that results in a weepy eye. In this case you can try eye drops, my vet recommended some for humans :lol: If it doesn't get better, as you said, then I know of 2 outcomes:
-A tearduct flush is needed and then bunny gets better. Not a costly procedure in Bulgaria, I dunno how it is at your place. My vet sometimes does it for free....
-There may be underlying teeth problems....then first thing needed is an x-ray. Then if there really is a problem, bills come one after the other.....:oops:

Make sure your bunny is eating well&is energic! Eating well is one of the few things that can show you that your bun is not in pain
Unfortunately it is not a proof for health, just a positive sign.
 
Hello, Welcome to the forum:wave:

My bunny Bambi had the same eye issue your bunny does and it was course by the sawdust... taken the sawdust away it went away but you can always clean around your rabbits eye with hot salt water
 
He's beautiful :love:

His left eye looks fine to me, if at all perhaps a little irritated - I would shift away from the woodshavings/sawdust - as mentioned before and you'll probably notice it clear up quite quickly.
 
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