Eye swelled up

Frodo's eye swelled up out of nowhere over the weekend, it is horrendous, it is so big his third eyelid is stretched over a third of the eyeball and his eyelids dont meet in the middle so he cant close his eye my poor little man. The eyeball and third eyelid keep drying up so I keep giving him saline eye drops but it looks so red and sore

Went to vets with him yesterday n the vet said he needed to do an xray and give him a dental, then when I turned up with him for this, this morning the vet said the dental could wait and that he needed to push the eye back in :?

So I left my baby there with what seemed a less than competant vet, only to get a call a couple of hours later from another vet who examined his eye and scanned it to find a mass behind his eyeball. My reaction was, to remove whatever they needed to to save him. I was then told that she wanted me to give him some eyedrops and antibiotics for 5 days to treat him for an abcess (even though she said it could be a tumour?), before she would think about removing his eye. Im panicking now as his eye looks sore red and gunky, what will happen to his eyeball if he cant lubricate it properly? Has anyone else had experiences of abcesses behind the eyeball? I was told it didnt look good. Oh and to top it off he is not eating either

I have no experience with eye problems like this but just wondered if he is on pain medication because that has got to hurt!

Well that was something else I wanted to ask, he was given an injection of 0.5% metacam yesterday and today, can I get this in an oral form to give him at home? and how long will an injection of this pain relief last for?

Hi, oh your poor bunny It sounds like he has a retrobulbar abcess (an abcess behind the eye basically) which is causing his eye to bulge. Commonly this is attributable to a periapical abcess from an overgrown incisor or molar tooth root which has become infected. But there are other things it could be also... as vet suggested some sort of lesions/tumour is also possible. I have no personal experience of this but it is something that I would want only a rabbit savy vet to be dealing with, especially as it may require surgery.
I should think some pretty strong antibiotics would be needed to even have a hope of reducing the size of the abcess.

Yes you can get oral pain relief to give at home - it is called meloxicam/metacam most commonly here in the UK but there are other drugs of the same class such as ibuprofen and carprofen etc. I would certainly be asking your vet for some of these to be given atleast every 24 hours whilst they decide what they are going to do with your bunny. I would also be enquiring about a referral to a specialist if necessary.

There was an article about just this in an old issue of the RWAF - I will dig it out and get back to you.
You will need to keep his eye lubricated in the meantime I should think. I am concerned he is not eating also - he will need to be kept warm, hydrated, fed by syringe if he will not eat himself and will also need daily pain relief and possibly some gut motility drugs if he is not passing droppings either. You might need to pop him back tonight to see a vet if he still isn't feeling any better. See if you can encourage him to eat - fresh herbs always work very well, I would also try warming him up - a cuddle or a safe heat pad/water bottle that he can't chew (not too hot). He does need pain relief though if he has not had any in the last 24 hours. If he's just had a scan I would assume he is post GA and a bit groggy still.

Thanks so much for your response prettylupin, I just picked Frodo up from the vets a few hours ago where he got another metacam injection, I will ring tomorrow and get him some more. He has another appointment on thurs to check if the drops/ antibiotics are taking effect. The drops are Timoptol (which isnt an antibiotic as I thought it would be) and he is on baytril 0.5ml once a day which doesnt seem like the great amount of antibiotics you said it would need :?

I have been feeding him on recovery feed via a 1ml syringe as neither me nor the vet nurse could get him to swallow feed from a larger syringe. How much and how often should I be syringe feeding him?

Oh and he had a gut stimulant yesterday where he ate 3 nuggets by himself and that was it. Is there a limit on how often they can have a gut stimulant?

P.S He wasnt given a general anaesthetic, he was given a Rompun injection

Chris10 said:

Thanks so much for your response prettylupin, I just picked Frodo up from the vets a few hours ago where he got another metacam injection, I will ring tomorrow and get him some more. He has another appointment on thurs to check if the drops/ antibiotics are taking effect. The drops are Timoptol (which isnt an antibiotic as I thought it would be) and he is on baytril 0.5ml once a day which doesnt seem like the great amount of antibiotics you said it would need :?

I have been feeding him on recovery feed via a 1ml syringe as neither me nor the vet nurse could get him to swallow feed from a larger syringe. How much and how often should I be syringe feeding him?

Oh and he had a gut stimulant yesterday where he ate 3 nuggets by himself and that was it. Is there a limit on how often they can have a gut stimulant?

P.S He wasnt given a general anaesthetic, he was given a Rompun injection

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Hiya, i'm no great expert on abcesses but I have a feeling that using baytril for a retrobulbar abcess is a bit like putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg. Baytril is the only antibiotic officially licensed for rabbit use which is why a lot of vets play it safe, particularly non-rabbit savy ones. Like I said, no great expert but if it is an abcess IMO it would need something like penicillin (injectable only) a tetracycline (injection) or a cephalosporin for example (again injectable). I also don't expect that you would see much improvement after a few days on baytril, but I could be wrong. The reason being that abcesses in rabbits are notoriously awkward to treat and have very thick walls that most antibiotics find it difficult to penetrate, they also often contain quite a range of bacteria that baytril just isn't up to the job as it were. This is why I suggested that you may need to ask for a referral for a vet more willing to use different antibiotics and more aggressive treatment should it be necessary, esp if surgery is required. Not all abcesses are appropriate to be removed but I understand that often treatment is more successful if they can be, unless they have a good chance of going dormant. The fact that buns eye is being pushed out can't be nice for bun I understand that some buns have the retrobulbar abcess removed by removing the eye, and I know many buns who have managed well with one eye. But what is causing the abcess is the concern also. Did the vet mention that any of the tooth roots on the skull Xray looked elongated? There is a lot for your vet to investigate. Anyway, like I say - definitely no expert!

However, keeping bun going in the mean time is your priority and you're doing very well by the sounds of things. If bun is not eating at all I would be aiming to get between 10-20ml syringe food in every 2-4 hours but in practice it is whatever you can get down bun before they refuse to swallow - which often means they are full. Oral fluids would be a good idea if you feel you can do this safely, make sure you do this slowly so bun doesn't aspirate. I would be trying to get in around 10ml fluids every few hours too alongside the food. Generally if a bun gets sub-cut fluids it is around 30ml 3x a day (i think?) so you need to be thinking about fluids too - or you can make the recovery food a bit runnier also. If you can get bun eating some greens/leaves then soak them in water first so bun eats them wet which will help keep fluids up.

If bun is not eating or doing droppings then gut stimulants are generally given 2-3 x a day every day until things are back to normal and often for a few days after this. Metclopramide (maxolon) is given 3 x a day, and ranitidine (zantac) 2x a day - both come in oral form for home use and can be given together. A tube of fibreplex is also a very good idea (instructions on dosage on packet) or a similar probiotic - especially if bun is on antibiotics. Warmth is essential as buns keep warm by metabolism so if things are slow or stopped bun can lose heat quickly as they are such small animals.
All the above makes me worry about the knowledge level of your current vets... there may be some other members on here who can recommend a more savy vet for you if you post in rabbit chat!
I do hope your bunny is ok -what a brave boy and well done you too. Good luck

Thank you so much that reply was fab, I have loads to ask the vet about now especially the oral gut stimulant, so glad I posted here- RU is a brilliant support tool for times like this

Just don't say you read it on RU! Always helpful to say something like I was reading around this topic and some people say that they have found the following helpful etc... if your vet is good they will be open to answering your questions and not feel like you are putting their back up. If they are dismissive then I would go elsewhere - you need a vet you can trust and who can support you through this. They don't have to be an exotic expert, just open to new ideas and be willing to explain things to you as a client and willing to research treatments themselves as well. Good luck, I hope your special little boy will be ok Please update us when you can.

Thanks, will let you know how the vets trip on thurs goes, but I will be armed with the info you gave me, I want the best for my little man!

I know driving to Edinburgh sounds mad but the National Bun Guru is there.........sure someone on here can give you details. The very best of luck and lots of cuddles to you and Frodo xxxxx

our bunny had a run ,when we came in his eye was huge and like you describe within minutes he died,he hadnt knocked himself ,we didnt even have time to ring the vet it was so quick ,sounds like you got your bun there in time really hope he is ok ,cann not decribe how devastated we are,hope he is okx

Oh no you poor thing, that sounds awful! Sorry to hear about your bun.

I have had a nightmare day ringing the vets to get Frodo some more pain killers! I rang them a total of 5 times today, they apparently 'didnt understand what it was I wanted- despite specifically using the words metacam and painkiller!
Got some metacam eventually, but his teeth are still chattering and he is still not eating He is prescribed 0.75ml of cat metacam daily, is this a sufficient amount? Hope the vet I see tomorrow is better than the other one I saw.

Chris10 said:

Oh no you poor thing, that sounds awful! Sorry to hear about your bun.

I have had a nightmare day ringing the vets to get Frodo some more pain killers! I rang them a total of 5 times today, they apparently 'didnt understand what it was I wanted- despite specifically using the words metacam and painkiller!
Got some metacam eventually, but his teeth are still chattering and he is still not eating He is prescribed 0.75ml of cat metacam daily, is this a sufficient amount? Hope the vet I see tomorrow is better than the other one I saw.

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I don't know the dosages for cat metacam - only the dog stuff. What strength does it say on the bottle as in mg/ml strength solution? Or maybe it's a decanted bottle and says nothing.

Are you still managing to get syringe food into him ok? Has he pooped at all today or done any wees? Teeth chattering is not a good sign and indicates severe pain usually. To be honest, if the metacam is not helping him and he continues to chatter his teeth and/or if he hasn't done any droppings and had a wee he might need to see an emergency vet tonight for some basic care to get him through the night. I'm thinking some sub-cut fluids and some opiate pain relief (vetergesic), and maybe some metclopramide as well to keep his tummy moving.
I do hope he will be ok tonight.

Thanks for everyone's help, especially prettylupin. Frodo went to the bridge on Thursday, I have been heart broken since, hence why I didnt update straight away. I went to see the different vet who explained like you that the metacam was nowhere near strong enough for the amount of pain he was in. We discussed the options and I decided that he had suffered enough and I didnt want to put him through any more pain. It was by far the hardest decision I have ever made and the amount of guilt I feel is unbearable right now, so this is very difficult to write.

Frodo was the most gentle bunny I have ever come across and put up with so much without any complaint. I miss him like mad, but nowhere near as much as his little widow Gypsy does.

I am so so sorry to hear your sad news I am certain you made the right decision, he was very seriously ill and sadly the future with a retrobulbar abcess was not too bright. I am so sorry for your loss Thinking of you x

Thanks, hearing that really helped, I am consumed with guilt thinking about it. I am however taking the step of changing back to my old vet Judith Brown (who knows a hell of a lot more about buns), as Im sure I would have been given painkillers and all the other things you mentioned straight away if I had been with her. I will have to travel a lot further to see her as a vet but this whole thing has made me realise that having a specialist vet is vital for my babies, no matter how far away it is. I guess you never realise the extent of your vets knowlege until times like this

i'm so sorry. no more pain for the little guy now. i hope that gypsy and you are ok.