? ulcer on cornea sorry long post

Hi Guys,

Would really appreciate some advice.

A few months ago I noticed a small white mark on gremlins eye.to cut a long story short I took him to the vet, tried 3 different antibiotics, a steriod and he went in for a general to check his teeth and a good look at his eye. the mark gets smaller but never goes away. but diagnosed an ulcer on the cornea.

My vet then referred me to an opthamologist who agrees with first diagnosis. he then under local scratched the eye to encourage it to heal and gave more antibiotics but still the mark is still there. the vet then said maybe a virus is preventing it from healing and also there is marking on his other eye this week. he said the herpes virus as is common in other pets but he had never seen it in a bun before.

he wanted to give zoviorax but wasnt sure if if it was suitable for buns? he is asking his colleagues and researching as am I! and we are going back on wed to decide the action plan.

All along bun has been his normal happy self, eating drinking pooing adn playing as normal.

Questions

1 Has any had similar experiences?
2. Anyone heard of zoviorax used in buns before?
3. other option is to have surgery but high chance of it not working or losing an eye

Any experiences/ advice appreciated.

sorry no direct experience there, i hope they come up with something they can do. val

Not sure if this will be of any help http://www.gvsvet.com/herpes.htm

Zovirax has been widely tested on rabbits and other small animals as part of the testing process this drug has been subjected to, to ensure it is safe for human use.

2 suggestions:

1) some members here have that book called Textbook of Rabbit Medicine by Frances Harcourt-Brown, ask if there is any treatment to the above for those who have the book

2) Get some harmless natural tear drops (for human eyes) from drugstore, there is no prescription needed. Ulcer is painful to the rabbit's eyes, natural tear drops is not a solution but it eases the pain until you have a solution.

If you can't find natural ones that you have no choice but to buy the artificial ones, ilke Visine. the natural, because they are natural you can use it once every few hours. Artificial ones, I would guess 2 - 3 times a day only.

The natural tear drop brand I use is called Celluvisc.by Allergan

Has the Opthalmologist ruled out EC induced Uveitis?
EC can effect the lens of the eye. If this is the cause then it can be controlled with Steroid/antibiotic eye drops.Bun would also need to be treated with Panacur to eliminate the EC
To totally cure this the lens would need to be removed (only available via a specialist, costing about £1500 PER EYE :shock: )
The other option is to remove the eye.

Re the Zovirax (ACICLOVIR)- according to the book 'Notes on Rabbit Internal Medicine' there are no reports of successful treatment for naturally occuring cases using either this or another anti-viral called FAMCICLOVIR.
There are reports of success with these drugs in EXPERIMENTAL infection.

Janex

Thanks for your response on this. At least I know the Zoviroax isnt harmful to buns. Will keep searching to.

We havent ruled out if it could be EC induced, will speak to the vet about it tommorrow.

thanks,will keep you posted

Hiya

I had a similar sounding thing with my bunny, but she had it on both eyes.

Long story cut short, antibotics had little affect, sometimes ulcers got smaller sometimes no change. Had tearduct washes/antibiotics till the cows came home.

Got second oppinion as it was taking so long to heal. New vet took cultures from ulcers and found the earlier antibotics were useless as infection resistant to everything she had been given.

Get them to take cultures! It is SO important!

Good luck
x

Jessie, what happen in the end?

Jack's-Jane said:

To totally cure this the lens would need to be removed (only available via a specialist, costing about £1500 PER EYE :shock: )
The other option is to remove the eye.

Click to expand...

But doesn't the lens is needed for the rabbit? If the lens is removed, would she get dry eyes all the time?

Well I went back to the vet, we have started on Zovirorax eye drops and I mentioned all the others things from this forum tothe vet. He was going to research into some of the things and is calling me tomorrow to discuss his thoughts and findings!

I so hope we can find what it is soon.

Happy Hopping said:

Jessie, what happen in the end?

Click to expand...

Not good news, Happy Hopping - the infection she had was Staphylococcus Aureus (similar to MRSA, I think?) which, after the wasted months of pumping her full of useless antiboitics, had got hold and we couldn't save her. It affected all her organs and stuff (sorry - too much detail)

We don't know if the ulcers were a symptom or not, or where the infection started. I will remain always a little suspicious as she came back from the vets for a routine tear duct wash with stitches in her bottom...
I know - sounds weird....

She was such a dignified, but stubborn old gal. Even when she couldn't stand or walk much she would still try and drag herself to the litter tray. She really hated making a mess and was extremely proud.

She was also downright grumpy at times, but we loved her to bits. Broke my heart to let her go.


I am sure the ulcer thing was a symptom of another issue, and not the same as yours at all. And I didn't want to depress you! Just wanted to explain why I truly believe it is SO important to get cultures done. If we knew earlier which bug she had we might have saved her.


So, if you haven't done it yet, PLEASE get cultures/bloods taken and tested fully. It's the only way you'll know what's going on inside. And don't forget YOU are paying the vet so you have the right to request stuff!

The best of luck
x

JessieP said:

Staphylococcus Aureus (similar to MRSA, I think?)
x

Click to expand...

Staph' Aureus is a gram positive bacteria that causes serious suppurative infections and systemic disease.It can result in toxic shock and death

MRSA is MULTI RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS- ie SA that has become resistant to all antibiotics.

Janex