Recurring weepy eye.. UD 21/9

Right. Alf, for the past eight months or so I'd say, has had a funny eye on and off. It is like it is runny, or something, because the fur always looks wet around it and he almost looks bald because the fur comes away from around it? He's not scratching it or anything so it doesn't seem to distress him at all, but something just doesn't feel right with me about it...I'm not totally convinced it's not problematic!

I've mentioned it to the vet when he's been along for vacs. She's put drops in it - didn't show anything of concern. She's checked the teeth she can see (this was about six months ago) and couldn't see anything to suggest dental probs (although I know it could be to do with the teeth further back that she can't see) and he's not had any eating issues/drooling.

What concerns me the most is the fact it is recurring. It'll go away for a fortnight or so - then it comes back. I'm not convinced it's fine, although there is nothing else that suggests it's a problem other than my niggling feeling if that makes sense?

Any ideas? I can attach a pic if that might help, although it's not the best as he was periscoping as I took it and it's blurred.

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See what I mean about the fur coming away from his eyes?! If these photos are massive sorry, but I can't resize them as am on my ipod!

could it be a blocked tear duct? maybe a get a second opinion from another vet.

Sometimes overgrown tooth bases can cause weepy eye problems. It would take radiographs to check for this type of problem.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/weepy.pdf

catxx said:

could it be a blocked tear duct? maybe a get a second opinion from another vet.

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There's been no discharge as such though, it literally is like tears? No gunk at all and I don't know much about blocked tear ducts at all, but I thought there was gunk if they were blocked? May be wrong though!

Do you notice any sign of dental problems? Any dropping food/drooling? Does he eat a decent amount of hay? Are his incisors in good nick?

Ash had this just before she was diagnosed with dental disease (bad pic sorry):



It went away since her incisors were removed/she's been having regular dentals, even though she has massive root elongation issues.

Edit: I don't think it needs to be gunky to be a blocked tear duct/down to dental issues, Ash's weren't.

Has the tear duct been flushed? This would help clear it if there is a foreign body blocking it
I would deffinatly get his back teeth checked, by a vet using an otoscope and also the bottom jaw felt for any bumps/lumps. If the back teeth are
squint/ not growing properly then the tooth roots can push up onto the eye/ tear duct and cause problems, such as a weepy eye.
in the eye socket, where the tear ducts are can often be looked in and checked for pus etc
I would also think that an x ray would be a good idea if it persists, this would give an even better view of the back teeth and thier roots. You can also see the tear duct and if/ where its blocked.

I would talk to your vet, but it surprises me that they didnt seem concerned as it is a sign of something quite sinister such as dental disease.

Mumu had what my vet described as 'lop eye' where the eyelid ingrows slightly, and he had regular eye infections. She suggested specialist surgery to remove a tiny amount if the eyelid to fix it (it has a proper name but I can't remember it!)

JemimaH said:

There's been no discharge as such though, it literally is like tears? No gunk at all and I don't know much about blocked tear ducts at all, but I thought there was gunk if they were blocked? May be wrong though!

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There dosent need to be any pus discharge for it to be blocked, one of my rabbits had this problem a few months ago. It turned out it was the root of her incisor blocking it (as we could see from her x ray).

Also i forgot to mention it could possibly be due to entropion which means the eyelids roll in and the eyelashes irriate the eye

vee-jay said:

Has the tear duct been flushed? This would help clear it if there is a foreign body blocking it
I would deffinatly get his back teeth checked, by a vet using an otoscope and also the bottom jaw felt for any bumps/lumps. If the back teeth are
squint/ not growing properly then the tooth roots can push up onto the eye/ tear duct and cause problems, such as a weepy eye.
in the eye socket, where the tear ducts are can often be looked in and checked for pus etc
I would also think that an x ray would be a good idea if it persists, this would give an even better view of the back teeth and thier roots. You can also see the tear duct and if/ where its blocked.

I would talk to your vet, but it surprises me that they didnt seem concerned as it is a sign of something quite sinister such as dental disease.

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No it hasn't been flushed.

The vets did tell me to keep an eye on it and they did check his teeth using an otoscope now you say, you've reminded me. This was in March/April though...hm. Alf gets very stressed so am not in a big rush to get off to the vet unless it's absolutely necessary, but will ring them next week and see if they can fit me in with the very rabbit savvy nurse

elmoandfern said:

Mumu had what my vet described as 'lop eye' where the eyelid ingrows slightly, and he had regular eye infections. She suggested specialist surgery to remove a tiny amount if the eyelid to fix it (it has a proper name but I can't remember it!)

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Was it called 'lop eye' because Mufasa was a lop? Is it something lops are prone to?! Alfie is a lop as well.

Lops are more prone to this because their faces are shorter so their tear ducts are often narrower.

Dental disease can't be diagnosed until skull radiographs are done, they can't see the extent of the problem with the roots until then. They only get 50% of the picture with an otoscope.

JemimaH said:

Was it called 'lop eye' because Mufasa was a lop? Is it something lops are prone to?! Alfie is a lop as well.

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Yes it's a lop thing, i'd never heard of it before and Elmo is a lop too but apparently it's something to do with their face shape. Hope you get it sorted soon

It may be related to elongated tooth roots. The only way to diagnose ETR is by taking skull radiographs.

Lops are indeed much more prone to Dental problems, especially involving ETR.

I was going to ask if he lives with a friend but I think from previous posts he does?

My mini lop had weepy eye(s) a couple of times (cleared up with Tiacil) but he's never had a problem since I found him a friend as she is always licking his face.

I hope the vet can help.

Maggie had this problem. One vet told me it was a blocked tear duct. We had it flushed out a few times but it didn't solve the problem. Another vet suggested putting Vaseline on her face which was fur-less to stop the tears/gunk from festering the rest of her fur. After doing this for a couple of weeks it seems to have stopped. Her eye still sometimes weeps but if it looks like it is going o become a problem I will just put Vaseline on her face.

Hope your problem gets solved.

Alfie went to the vets today with Mum whilst I was out. The vet Alf saw was a newly qualified vet, so wasn't totally experienced, but she had a look in his mouth and there was nothing, felt his jawline etc and came to the conclusion nothing was wrong with his teeth, especially seen as he's been eating with no problems. She realised she wasn't the most experienced person to be dealing with this, but did think it might be his tear ducts which I'd also thought. She's booked us an appointment for next week again, when the exotic specialist vet is there to have a look as they're the most experienced, and we're giving him the eyedrops you use for conjunctivitis in the meantime, twice daily for a week

He's been such a good boy when he has his drops I was dreading it as they're both so difficult to handle, but I'm so proud of how good he is being! He's not even struggling in the slightest

JemimaH said:

Alfie went to the vets today with Mum whilst I was out. The vet Alf saw was a newly qualified vet, so wasn't totally experienced, but she had a look in his mouth and there was nothing, felt his jawline etc and came to the conclusion nothing was wrong with his teeth, especially seen as he's been eating with no problems. She realised she wasn't the most experienced person to be dealing with this, but did think it might be his tear ducts which I'd also thought. She's booked us an appointment for next week again, when the exotic specialist vet is there to have a look as they're the most experienced, and we're giving him the eyedrops you use for conjunctivitis in the meantime, twice daily for a week

He's been such a good boy when he has his drops I was dreading it as they're both so difficult to handle, but I'm so proud of how good he is being! He's not even struggling in the slightest

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It might not be the outer teeth, but the roots of them growing too long. Like Jane said, only an x ray can confirm this, but the exotic specialist might say there's no need for an x ray as they can guess what the issue is by eliminating other possible causes. There's no 'cure' and most of the time the eyes are running they're not infected. I have antibiotic eye ointment on hand for when they do get infected. They can also cause pain when eating but all you can do is keep the teeth short with diet and dentals and give pain relief. Hope the exotic vet can help.

Jenova said:

It might not be the outer teeth, but the roots of them growing too long. Like Jane said, only an x ray can confirm this, but the exotic specialist might say there's no need for an x ray as they can guess what the issue is by eliminating other possible causes. There's no 'cure' and most of the time the eyes are running they're not infected. I have antibiotic eye ointment on hand for when they do get infected. They can also cause pain when eating but all you can do is keep the teeth short with diet and dentals and give pain relief. Hope the exotic vet can help.

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Do you know what a blocked tearduct involves? Like treatment, etc? It might be that Alfie just has a sensitive eye or whatever, but if it IS a blocked tear duct, I know absolutely nothing about them! :? I can't remember if Grim has problematic eyes or whether it's something else?!

Ash's weepy eyes have come back again too unfortunately. Her tear ducts were blocked so they just flushed them out (I don't know what the procedure involved but they did it while we were there). Unfortunately it hasn't made any difference, so I think it's her tooth roots giving her yet more problems.

3 weekly flushes and two weeks of eye drops cleared up Wallys weepy eye nicely.