Eye Problems Again

Hi there,

I got home last night to find Benny buns eye closed with pus (he had been on Fucithalmic for 1 day). I gave it a good clean and he was able to open it again, but he is all swollen underneath his eye, kind of inside his lower eyelid. I'm really hoping this isn't an abscess. Could it just be that his tear duct is really inflamed with the infection? The vets have never been able to flush his ducts and we have had problems with his eyes ever since we got him. We're back to the vets tonight, but I'm going to ask for a head x-ray to see what is causing all these problems. :?

Apparently eye problems are really hard to get on top of, but I'm hoping we'll be able to manage it with Benny. I can't face going through him losing an eye, I went through it with Alice and it was a terrible time.

Anyones bun had this kind of eye infection?

Thanks in advance,

Gemma xx

Hi! Not sure if you've seen my numerous posts about my Frenchie, Humphrey's eyes. All I can say is eye problems are a real pain - Jane was brilliant with advice for me, but I'm afraid we haven't managed to sort Humphrey's problem yet. What treatment have you had for Benny so far? What's his story with his eyes..... send me the whole story and perhaps we can compare notes? Claire x

Sounds very similar to the eye problem that one of my guinea pigs had. We would clear it up but as soon as we stopped using the fulcithalmic stuff, it just came back.

In the end, my vet tried steroid eye drops and they pretty much got rid of it. After that, I just used to flush his eyes with bog standard Optex once a week to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Actually, Optrex is brilliant with small furry eye probs, it doesn't cure them but seems to soothe them.

Really, Friskyclover? I didn't know that about Optrex. Wondering if I should get some for Humph. Is it better than just plain, boiled water? Claire x

Hi Alibenmummy! Was wondering if you've tried antibiotics for Benny's eye? What did the Vet think tonight? Hope Benny's feeling better. Claire x

Hi Claire :wave:

Bennys eye history is quite a long story:

We got him from a rescue just over two years ago and he had runny eyes then but the discharge was clear. Every so often it goes either white or thick white stuff, a bit like sleep. When it gets like this I take him to the vets...

We've tried Fucithalmic, Exocin, Tiacil and Maxitrol. All seem to clear it up whilst we're using them, but as soon as I stop a week later the eye gunk is back. The vets have tried flushing his tear ducts several times but they can never get them to flush through. My previous vets put it down to the way he was made, but I believe there must be an explanation other than that!!

We've tried a few days on Metacam to reduce the swelling, Baytril and eye drops but its the same story - they can't flush through and the infection comes back.

The vet was great tonight. The swelling that I could see was a build up of pus actually in his tear duct. When you press on it, really nasty thick stuff comes up into his eye. They gave him an antibiotic injection (not sure which), and hes going back on Sunday and Wednesday for more injections. I'm carrying on with the fucithalmic and bathing his eye with boiled & cooled water (and try to push the pus out). Benny is booked in next Thursday for a head x-ray and tear duct flush under anaesthetic so they can see whats causing it.

I'll find out what the injectable antibiotic is and let you know... I'll also keep you posted on his progress this week.

I'll have a look at your posts for Humph too. Hopefully between us we'll be able to get both bunnies back to having bright and clear eyes!

Gemma xx

FriskyClover said:

Actually, Optrex is brilliant with small furry eye probs, it doesn't cure them but seems to soothe them.

Click to expand...

Thanks FriskyClover...Ill get some once his eye has cleared a bit more. :thumb:

Gemma xx

Hi Gemma! Well, Benny's eye problems sound very similar to Humphrey. In Humphrey's case, the Vets (I've seen three different ones!) don't think it is likely to be his tooth roots, as he's had it from when I got him (at 9 weeks of age). Mostly Humph's eyes water down onto his cheeks (meaning wet cheeks in the morning especially). They do dry up sometimes, but seem to reoccur every other day at least. Like you, we've had Fucithalmic (twice!), Tiacil (three times now!), Maxitrol and Humph has just finished a course of five Oxytet.LA injections (every three days). Wonder if these are what Benny is having? My Vet said this is used to try to clear up a persistent tear duct infection. Sometimes Humph's eyes leak a milky discharge and sometimes there are little blobs of white gunk in the corners, but not too often. I don't know if you've seen the All Experts website, but I've e-mailed Dana Krempels about this problem and she's come back to me saying she thinks it is likely to be a genetic narrowing of his tear duct, rather than an infection, although she says this is possible. Jane has been really helpful to me with Humph's eyes and she's thinking along these lines as well, ie, a structural problem due to his breeding, that can only be controlled with bathing, etc. Dana Krempels told me he could grow out of it, as his skull develops, so I'm hoping this may happen, as he's only five months old. Have you ever had an x-ray before? I'm not sure how old Benny is - have the Vets ever mentioned tooth roots? If this is not the problem, it does sound like more of an infection in his tear duct, which is what Humph had the Oxytet injections for. Unfortunately, in Humph's case, this hasn't worked, but I'm seeing Vet again on Thursday to see what he suggests, if anything. I'm tending to think we may stop treatment and see what happens. If it's congenital, nothing much is going to help, except bathing underneath the eyes. Keep in touch - I'd like to compare notes and please us know if the injections work. Humph is just having Tiacil at the mo. for a few more days, until I see Mr Mason on Thursday. Good Luck! Claire x

Hi Claire,

Benny is 3 (ish) and I presume hes had the eye problems for life pretty much. Benny tends to be able to keep his cheeks dry, I don't think its ever that runny. Its more the milky / white tears or thick white gunk.

The vets have mentioned a few things it could be:
- Narrowing of his tear ducts from scar tissue as a result of all the infections
- Teeth roots pressing on his tear ducts and blocking them off
- Just the way hes made...

I guess well know more after the head x-ray. Benny hasn't had one before, we've only just moved to this vets after moving back to the area. They do seem really bunny savvy though, so I have complete faith in them.

Bennys x-ray is on Thursday, so we'll compare notes then! Wishing Humph good luck too!

Gemma xx

Hi Gemma! Wondering how Benny's eyes are today? Are you still using the Fucithalmic? Claire

Well, theres still a lot of gunk and its still swollen but his eye was open this morning so theres obviously a bit less pus being produced by the infection.

I managed to get some gunge out of his tear duct and have been bathed it twice so far. I'm still using the Fucithalmic but have increased it to three times a day (from twice). We're going for his next injection tomorrow, but they are going into boarding until Wednesday morning afterwards. Luckily they have a vet nurse to call on, but they seemed ok about giving him eye drops and I'll ask them to bathe it before putting the drops in. Hopefully after another few days we should see more of an improvement.

Im hoping that we'll know more on Thursday when he goes in for the day. They are going to give him a full MOT and will proably trim his teeth a bit whilst hes under as hes got a few spurs forming. May as well get it all done at once!

Does anyone know whether I should also take Betty to the vets on Thursday as they are keeping Benny for the day?

Gemma xx

Rudy is currently back and forth to the vets at the moment with blocked tear ducts. Hes now had 3 flushings but they are still producing a milky discharge. My vet has now switched to another antibiotic in the flush to see if that will help. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Rudy's eyes arent swollen like you say Ben's are so its probably a different type of infection.

Hope Ben's eyes clear up soon

I think Bennys eye is swollen because of 2 things: His tear duct is so blocked and the ous is so thick that its actually collecting in his tear duct causing it to look swollen. Also, hes constantly cleaning his eye so it looks very sore where he must be rubbing it. Betty also keeps grooming it which won't help matters.

It does seem to be looking much better since yesterday though, the antibiotic injection is definately working. I will find out which it is tomorrow when we go for the next one.

Gemma xx

Hi Gemma! Just wondering how Benny's eye is doing? Any improvement? Did you find out what injections they were? Claire x

Hi there,

I've just picked Benny up from the vets and he isn't good.

The antibiotic injection is Oxytet...sp?...not sure if anyone has used this? We have to give these every two days and carry on with the Fucithalmic.

See my other post for details.

http://forum.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=92978

Gemma xx

Sorry to hear about Benny, Gemma. Hope he feels better soon. What did the Vet say about you managing Benny's tooth root problem? Humphrey had the Oxytet injections for two weeks. Sending hugs to Benny. Claire x

Hi Claire,

They said there was nothing they could really do other than keep having a GA and getting his teeth trimmed. They can't remove the tooth because its grown so far towards his tear duct apparently. Other than that, we just have to keep an eye on him eating etc. I'm not sure if the root will carry on growing upwards, I'll ask that when we go back next week.

Thanks for your wishes.

Gemma xx