Blocked tear ducts (U/D on page 2, post #11)

So last night we noticed that Lunar had a weepy eye. I cleaned it up with cotton wool and cooled boiled water but just saw it this morning and it looks absolutely awful. It's very weepy and the skin is very pink (she has very pink eyes normally but you can see the difference) and very inflamed. Inside of her eyelid looks a bit red too. It looks very similar to Mishka's eye when she got a blocked tear duct last month. So thinking it's probably a blocked duct again. Hoping it's not dental! As far as I know her teeth have always been excellent so hoping that's not it, though of course there's no way to know about the roots.
Waiting for the vet to open at the moment to book her in today.
I'm really worried that I might be doing something wrong? Isn't it a bit unusual for two unrelated rabbits to get blocked tear ducts within a month of each other? Is it possible I'm doing something wrong, something environmental perhaps? The others are all fine and they all get the same hay, litter etc.

Poor Lunar, her eye looks absolutely awful
We were about to book her in for her spay too. Looks like it'll have to wait again!

Oh goodness... I've just had a thought...
The day before yesterday she was exploring Mishka's carrier.. I've only just realised it's not been thoroughly cleaned since Mishka had her blocked tear duct.. The vetbed on the bottom hasn't been washed yet as our washing machine stopped working a few weeks ago. Could she have caught something from it?! I never even thought! I let her explore it as I wanted her to get used to Mishka's scent as I'm hoping to bond them after Lunar's spay.

Hope Lunar's eye problem is soon fixed today. You don't smoke around the rabbits do you, or use dusty shavings, so no smoke and little dust, clean litter trays and they should be ok. Good luck at the Vets.

No, none of us smoke. No sawdust or anything too dusty. Their cages are lined with vetbed fleece with litter only in the litter trays (which she finally starting using a couple of weeks ago! She's been the most difficult to litter train of the lot but considering she's not spayed yet I'm really pleased with how well she's done) I'm especially careful with Lunar as she was treated for a respiratory infection before we got her and then again just after we got her and she seems to be allergic to dusty things so the vet advised us to keep her as dust-free as possible. I'm even careful with her hay to make sure she doesn't get anything near the end of the bag. She sneezes a lot (always has done) which the vet put down in the end to allergies.

Edit: Goodness her eye looks awful now! The water's absolutely pouring out! I've never seen a rabbit look this bad She's keeping it mostly closed. I can't believe this happened so quickly! It looks like something that's been there for weeks
Trying to get through to the vet now. Will post an update later when we get back

U/D: Saw the vet this afternoon. It's a blocked tear duct as we thought. She wanted to try eyedrops first to avoid flushing it if it's not necessary to. So she's on Tiacil for now and is going back next Wednesday. The vet said it's not something that would be contagious but I'm still trying to figure out why within the space of about a month both she and Mishka have had blocked ducts. I'm not doing anything different. Maybe it really is just a coincidence? :?
Poor girl, she looks so sorrowful The tears are absolutely pouring out and her eyelids look very inflamed.
I feel awful that there's not much I can do for her except keep it as clean as possible and give her the eyedrops twice a day.

She's had a lot of extra fuss and raisins today though which I think she's appreciated

I hope Lunars eye gets better quickly with the Tiacil xx

Are they sisters? are they indoors? Hope the drops help cure it.

This is a bit random, but I was given some helpful advice re eyes: boil the kettle, and make a cup of tea (without sugar/milk/honey) - just brew a tea bag. Take the tea bag out and leave to cool, then gently wipe eyes with it (bin tea bag once you're done). The tannin helps - I've done this on occasion and it's been so helpful. The buns sit still when I do it, so I think it feels nice on sore eyes xx

Tonibun: No, they're not related. They're both different breeds (Lunar is a Lionhead/Lionhead cross and Mishka is a lop). They're not bonded yet as we've been waiting to get them both spayed but delayed Mishka when her eye got bad and have now had to delay Lunar (I'm not comfortable putting them under when they're compromised in any way if it can be avoided). They are in the same room but sectioned off from each other. Though they've met through bars and seem to get along so let's hope...

Beau Belle: I think I've heard of that being used for people with eye problems. Never heard of it being used on a bunny but I suppose the principle should be the same. Is it safe? You mean just a regular cup of tea like pg tips or something? I know bunnies can have a bit of unsweetened peppermint or chamomile tea to drink but regular tea is dangerous for them to drink. Is it safe to apply to the eye?

So far she's not got any worse and I'm tempted to say it's looking slightly better? Virtually the whole side of her face was soaked by the time we got her to the vet but it hasn't seemed as wet today. Still very inflamed but possible gone down a little? It's hard to tell and it's still a bit early. But really hoping the drops will clear it up on their own. I can imagine it can't be a pleasant procedure to have the ducts flushed :/
I know poor Mishka must have hated it. When she went back for a checkup after the procedure she hid her head under the blanket in her carrier. As soon as she saw the vet she came over and hugged into me and hid in my arms! The vet had to laugh, she actually seemed to be coming to me for protection :lol:

Lunar was a bit quiet yesterday morning but has brightened up a bit now. It must be bothering her, she keeps cleaning it.
Let's hope it clears up by Wednesday!

Update: Looking at her eye tonight the inflammation has definitely gone down and the colour looks a bit better! It's still pretty bad but it is definitely looking better. She's opening the eye more today too. Looking hopeful so far! We'll see how she is by Wednesday :thumb:

Well just a quick update in case anyone wanted to know, Lunar had been doing well all week but started to get a little worse on Monday. She went for her checkup yesterday and the vet decided she needed her tearduct flushed. So she's had that done and is on the Tiacil for a little longer. She's going back again next Wednesday but all going well she'll hopefully be okay now
I just hope there are no more! Mishka's eye still looks good so hopefully hers won't block again. Glad it seems to have just been a coincidence though, I thought I was doing something wrong with both of them getting it in such a short space of time!

Final edit (I hope!)
Lunar's eye cleared up completely in the end and she was taken off of the Tiacil at the final vet's visit. So far she seems to have been doing really well with no problems. I do still feel that her sneezing is linked to it but she hasn't been sneezing too badly lately so as long as that keeps up everything's good
Giving her a couple of weeks to make sure she really is okay then she's going in for her spay :? *hugs her tightly and doesn't want to her to go through it *

~ILoveMyBunny~ said:

Well just a quick update in case anyone wanted to know, Lunar had been doing well all week but started to get a little worse on Monday. She went for her checkup yesterday and the vet decided she needed her tearduct flushed. So she's had that done and is on the Tiacil for a little longer. She's going back again next Wednesday but all going well she'll hopefully be okay now
I just hope there are no more! Mishka's eye still looks good so hopefully hers won't block again. Glad it seems to have just been a coincidence though, I thought I was doing something wrong with both of them getting it in such a short space of time!

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I hope the tear duct flush and continued abx treatment will clear the problem up for Lunar xx