Does my bunny have conjunctivitis? {Pink Eye}

My rabbit Lola has had a serious sneezing problem since we first got her. We brought her to the vet straight away and they gave us eye drops because they noticed some discharge. I've to admit that the sneezing has went down maybe just 2-3 times now every hour but shes also starting having terrible sneezing fits every couple of days with maybe 20 sneezes in a row. Other times she sneezes 4-5 times in a row and makes a quacking noise, which I found out is usually due to needing some water. I'm not sure if I'm seeing things but my girlfriend pointed out that around her eyes where girls would put eye liner on seems a bit red also. Her appetite hasn't changed at all.

I'm really concerned for her health as we've recently bought another baby bunny for her and I'm the process of bonding them in separate cages. I don't feel very comfortable letting the new bunny near Lola in case something could be spread to our new bunny.

We have a vet appointment booked for Tuesday so hopefully the vet can shine some light on this. What I really want to know is how fatal things like this are? Is most common reasons easy to fix?

My rabbit Betty also gets a pink eye and sneezing fits. She gets eye infections caused by elongated tooth roots from her back teeth.

They do an xray to diagnose but the treatment is pretty much the same with or without it. We use use drops now just to treat the infection (ones from the vets) we had to try a couple of different types to find the ones which shift it the best. Betty's eye infections clear up pretty quickly but reoccur usually every few weeks. We also had her eye flushed a couple of times when the infection was pretty bad but she has very small tear ducts so this is really a last resort because it can cause scarring. The drops are pretty cheap too so its not an issue at all.

They can look into specialist treatment to remove the back teeth but for Betty this wasnt an option. Its quite managable for us at the moment and she seems quite happy. I wouldnt think in terms of fatal just yet

Betty doesnt lose her appetite either and she acts her usual bolshy self even with infections. Our vet said that having a friend was one of the best things for Betty because he helps her to groom her eye and keep the infections at bay. She also recovers quickly with his help so i wouldnt worry too much about having a friend in the long term. In the short term, it might be that your bunny needs a few days to fight the infection before proceeding with the bonding as it can be quite stressful but your vet would be better advised than me.

Good luck and I hope your bunny is ok.

Awh that is so helpful and reassuring, sometimes I just look at her and feel so sorry for her. We have an ointment for her, it feels a bit jelly. Do you ever struggle with putting it on her actual eye? I find it hard to put the ointment on her eye and just end up rubbing it over her closed eyes. Does that make a difference?

I also had a bunny a few years ago who had sneezing fits but her eyes were ok. She eventually was diagnosed with snuffles which was another condition we managed the out breaks of. She would get dribbling under her chin too when she was really bad.
Usually she was ok though and we managed it with baytril and pain killers, but this was a few years ago and treatment may have moved on a bit since then. As far as I am aware, like issues with tear ducts like Betty has, snuffles is a chronic condition which you manage the symptoms of rather than cure. Perdy lived to 7 years old before her respiratory problems weakened her heart but I have heard of other rabbits who have lived long and happy lives with the condition.

RJSewell1993 said:

Awh that is so helpful and reassuring, sometimes I just look at her and feel so sorry for her. We have an ointment for her, it feels a bit jelly. Do you ever struggle with putting it on her actual eye? I find it hard to put the ointment on her eye and just end up rubbing it over her closed eyes. Does that make a difference?

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We struggled most with the gel like drops and Betty wriggles so much and nips (is it the one that begins with a T?). I used to put in on her eye lid and gently rub her cheek so she would blink it in. The drops we have are a steroid one called maxitrol which is like people drops. They go on her eye lid or at closest to her eye and she blinks it in easily. I think as long as a bit goes in, its doing something!
She is so used to it now bless her! She looks up after for her treat (usually a little bit of carrot or a bit of mint seems to cheer her up from having drops in her eye).

The wee buns don't deserve such bad illnesses! No its one calls 'Chloramphenicol Eye Ointment 1.0% w/w' what ever that means :lol: see its an actual gel, not water based so if her eyes not open then it's just going straight onto her fur! Fingers crossed its going in anyway :shock: