Ulcer in eye- vet wants to remove it. Please help... i need advice

Hi everyone,

It has been a very long time since i have posted on here.

Anyway i am really hoping some of you can help- Smudge my 5 year old Nethie has been having eye problems in his right eye for about 12 weeks, taken him to 3 different vets; the vet i have continued seeing is very good and has excellent experience with rabbits (John Chitty)

Smudge was taken to the vets after his eye became cloudy (no puss or discharge) just a cloud over it- my first thoughts were Myxi (all his vaccinations are up to date).

1st vet was unsure- they checked for ulcer (by putting dye in his eye), it was not an ulcer and they could not see any visible damage to the eye- so they told me it was very unlikely a foreign body had got in there and it was not scratched so it was a bit of a mystery. Vet put gave me some eye drops, metacam and meds for E.C as they suspected it was E.C....

I do not think it is E.C he doesn't have any other symptoms and the eye has gotten worse even on the meds.

I have done the 8 week week course for E.C meds and continued with eye drops and metacam- after seeing another vet he was put on different eye drops and did this twice daily, with metacam twice daily (8 drops). Anyway the eye started to improve and then it got worse, then it improved and now he has an ulcer- the eye goes very bloodshot for a few days and calms back down but is still swollen and the cloudiness has covered his whole eye.

Anyway i went to the vets yesterday as his eye has a really big white dot on it, the vet has told me it's an ulcer and the only thing left to do is remove the eye. The vet reckons it will cost about £500! HE IS NOT INSURED (stupid me!) i am happy to pay the money as i love Smudge so much but i just think it is bit steep and i think it is extreme to remove his eye.

He has lost vision in the right eye now, i was told all along that the eye may need to be removed if it does not improve and it has gotten worse so i guess it should be done?!?

I am wondering if anyone else has had to pay for eye removal and how much did it cost? Should i try and treat the ulcer with anything else?

He is eating, drinking and really is quite normal - he is a bit down in the dumps but is doing very well.

Any past experiences or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks x

I had a Rabbit who had to have an eye removed due to EC induced uveitis and subsequent glaucoma that failed to respond to medication. He came through the op' very well (he was about 8 years of age) and he was a lot happier afterwards. The eye had caused him discomfort and he had no vision in it. So removal was far better for him. The procedure cost no-where near £500 though :shock:

ooochie, sounds painful.

John Chitty is the go-to vet for rabbit referrals for the area so i would expect his prices to be higher. Many rabbits are done in standard vets which may be cheaper but not have as much experience or specialised equipment. Go with whom ever you feel comfortable with.

Best of luck to bunny xx

If you're fairly close to the M25, I would suggest seeing if you can get a referral to Martin Lawton in Harold Wood, just a few miles from J28 of the M25. He's both an exotics and an ophthalmology specialist, so he has access on site to an awful lot more specialist equipment to study the detail of eyes during a consultation and may be able to make a firm diagnosis/suggest an alternative medical course of action - or he will be able to tell you whether he agrees that removal is the appropriate/only course of action. That's not to say that other exotics vets aren't any good of course, it's just that Martin has the specialised eye equipment which probably enables a more effective diagnosis and treatment planning. It will of course add up the cost, I think a first consultation is about £110, especially if the answer is 'yes, eye removal', but personally I would not be terribly happy with going straight to removal without having got a firm understanding of what is going on and whether it can be resolved.

I'd been having problems with Heather's eyes for a good few months, gradually getting worse and forming inflamed ulcers which wouldn't heal before I got a referral to Lawton. It took him about 45 minutes of careful studying and tests and I got a full diagnosis and treatment programme, and the ulcers cleared up incredibly quickly once that happened. With Heather it was dry eye, her tear ducts had stopped producing tears, so it didn't matter how much antibiotic etc was given to her, it wasn't going to heal because the surface of the eye wasn't in the right condition to allow it. Although the referral was expensive, I think it was worth every penny and it probably saved me more than that in the long run!

Good luck with whatever you decide xx

Wererabbit said:

ooochie, sounds painful.

John Chitty is the go-to vet for rabbit referrals for the area so i would expect his prices to be higher. Many rabbits are done in standard vets which may be cheaper but not have as much experience or specialised equipment. Go with whom ever you feel comfortable with.

Best of luck to bunny xx

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I always take my rabbits to JC. He's the only vet I would trust with them.

Santa said:

If you're fairly close to the M25, I would suggest seeing if you can get a referral to Martin Lawton in Harold Wood, just a few miles from J28 of the M25. He's both an exotics and an ophthalmology specialist, so he has access on site to an awful lot more specialist equipment to study the detail of eyes during a consultation and may be able to make a firm diagnosis/suggest an alternative medical course of action - or he will be able to tell you whether he agrees that removal is the appropriate/only course of action. That's not to say that other exotics vets aren't any good of course, it's just that Martin has the specialised eye equipment which probably enables a more effective diagnosis and treatment planning. It will of course add up the cost, I think a first consultation is about £110, especially if the answer is 'yes, eye removal', but personally I would not be terribly happy with going straight to removal without having got a firm understanding of what is going on and whether it can be resolved.

I'd been having problems with Heather's eyes for a good few months, gradually getting worse and forming inflamed ulcers which wouldn't heal before I got a referral to Lawton. It took him about 45 minutes of careful studying and tests and I got a full diagnosis and treatment programme, and the ulcers cleared up incredibly quickly once that happened. With Heather it was dry eye, her tear ducts had stopped producing tears, so it didn't matter how much antibiotic etc was given to her, it wasn't going to heal because the surface of the eye wasn't in the right condition to allow it. Although the referral was expensive, I think it was worth every penny and it probably saved me more than that in the long run!

Good luck with whatever you decide xx

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Thank you Santa. This is really good to know :thumb:

Santa said:

If you're fairly close to the M25, I would suggest seeing if you can get a referral to Martin Lawton in Harold Wood, just a few miles from J28 of the M25. He's both an exotics and an ophthalmology specialist, so he has access on site to an awful lot more specialist equipment to study the detail of eyes during a consultation and may be able to make a firm diagnosis/suggest an alternative medical course of action - or he will be able to tell you whether he agrees that removal is the appropriate/only course of action. That's not to say that other exotics vets aren't any good of course, it's just that Martin has the specialised eye equipment which probably enables a more effective diagnosis and treatment planning. It will of course add up the cost, I think a first consultation is about £110, especially if the answer is 'yes, eye removal', but personally I would not be terribly happy with going straight to removal without having got a firm understanding of what is going on and whether it can be resolved.

I'd been having problems with Heather's eyes for a good few months, gradually getting worse and forming inflamed ulcers which wouldn't heal before I got a referral to Lawton. It took him about 45 minutes of careful studying and tests and I got a full diagnosis and treatment programme, and the ulcers cleared up incredibly quickly once that happened. With Heather it was dry eye, her tear ducts had stopped producing tears, so it didn't matter how much antibiotic etc was given to her, it wasn't going to heal because the surface of the eye wasn't in the right condition to allow it. Although the referral was expensive, I think it was worth every penny and it probably saved me more than that in the long run!

Good luck with whatever you decide xx

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Thank you Santa and everyone else for their comments, i appreciate it very much.

Have you tried Chloramphenical 0.5%?

When Violet who is completely blind came back from boarding recently, they hadn't looked after her very well at all. Both eyes were badly ulcerated and the right one was bulging so much, I thought that might need to be removed, but actually my vet prescribed these drops, 1 drop twice daily and they both healed really well.

My vet is a specialist and works with his wife another bunny specialist, and they are just amazing and always seem to get it right first time. He didn't mention anything about removing her eyes, and it does seem extreme.

A friend who runs a rescue has been struggling with treating one of her buns ulcerated eyes. I can't remember what she was using, only that it was 0.3% strength, and when I told her which drops Violet had been given and she tried them, her buns eye has cleared up really well now.

Violet's consultation and drops was £41, and he spent nearly half an hour examining them really thoroughly, and using the dye on them.

RogerRabbit999 said:

Have you tried Chloramphenical 0.5%?

When Violet who is completely blind came back from boarding recently, they hadn't looked after her very well at all. Both eyes were badly ulcerated and the right one was bulging so much, I thought that might need to be removed, but actually my vet prescribed these drops, 1 drop twice daily and they both healed really well.

My vet is a specialist and works with his wife another bunny specialist, and they are just amazing and always seem to get it right first time. He didn't mention anything about removing her eyes, and it does seem extreme.

A friend who runs a rescue has been struggling with treating one of her buns ulcerated eyes. I can't remember what she was using, only that it was 0.3% strength, and when I told her which drops Violet had been given and she tried them, her buns eye has cleared up really well now.

Violet's consultation and drops was £41, and he spent nearly half an hour examining them really thoroughly, and using the dye on them.

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Thanks all so much- the eye had got considerably worse over the weekend and we've had no choice but to go with removal- the vet is very good and i trust his professional opinion and it was the right thing to do as Smudge was starting to go downhill.

I am picking him up this evening and I’m told he is doing well- apart from the fact he had laboured breathing in surgery which the vet believes to be pneumonia which has scared me!!! I had not noticed visible symptoms i did think his breathing was heavier but i honestly put that down to pain of the eye and being scared- but as he was still eating and drinking and mobile it did not concern me. I will find out the details tonight but i think he is going on antibiotics.

It was not an easy decision to make to go with the removal but the ulcer was so big and so deep and in a way it was probably a good thing because otherwise the pneumonia would have not been treated so early…

Thank you so much, i truly wish i had posted on here 4 weeks ago and maybe your suggestions could of actually saved his eye- but it is too late now.

I appreciate you all taking the time to comment and give me such great advice- I will post some update pics when I have him back and also of how his eye changed over the last few months as it might be useful for someone else.
xox

It sounds like you've made the right decision, I hope he recovers quickly, I'm sure he'll adjust very fast to his new vision

I had an ulcer on my eye when I was 16 and because it was growing into my iris it was agonising any time the light changed intensity. I went to a&e the day after the pain started and they said if I'd left it 24hours then I'd have had irreversible vision loss, 48hours later and they would have had to remove my eye :shock: so it's definitely understandable that this was the best option for Smudge, rabbits adapt so fast though I'm sure he'll be fine

Rebecca88 said:

Thanks all so much- the eye had got considerably worse over the weekend and we've had no choice but to go with removal- the vet is very good and i trust his professional opinion and it was the right thing to do as Smudge was starting to go downhill.

I am picking him up this evening and I’m told he is doing well- apart from the fact he had laboured breathing in surgery which the vet believes to be pneumonia which has scared me!!! I had not noticed visible symptoms i did think his breathing was heavier but i honestly put that down to pain of the eye and being scared- but as he was still eating and drinking and mobile it did not concern me. I will find out the details tonight but i think he is going on antibiotics.

It was not an easy decision to make to go with the removal but the ulcer was so big and so deep and in a way it was probably a good thing because otherwise the pneumonia would have not been treated so early…

Thank you so much, i truly wish i had posted on here 4 weeks ago and maybe your suggestions could of actually saved his eye- but it is too late now.

I appreciate you all taking the time to comment and give me such great advice- I will post some update pics when I have him back and also of how his eye changed over the last few months as it might be useful for someone else.
xox

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I hope all goes well - sending loads of good wishes x

Sending lots of healing vibes for your little bun xxxxx

Santa said:

If you're fairly close to the M25, I would suggest seeing if you can get a referral to Martin Lawton in Harold Wood, just a few miles from J28 of the M25. He's both an exotics and an ophthalmology specialist, so he has access on site to an awful lot more specialist equipment to study the detail of eyes during a consultation and may be able to make a firm diagnosis/suggest an alternative medical course of action - or he will be able to tell you whether he agrees that removal is the appropriate/only course of action. That's not to say that other exotics vets aren't any good of course, it's just that Martin has the specialised eye equipment which probably enables a more effective diagnosis and treatment planning. It will of course add up the cost, I think a first consultation is about £110, especially if the answer is 'yes, eye removal', but personally I would not be terribly happy with going straight to removal without having got a firm understanding of what is going on and whether it can be resolved.

I'd been having problems with Heather's eyes for a good few months, gradually getting worse and forming inflamed ulcers which wouldn't heal before I got a referral to Lawton. It took him about 45 minutes of careful studying and tests and I got a full diagnosis and treatment programme, and the ulcers cleared up incredibly quickly once that happened. With Heather it was dry eye, her tear ducts had stopped producing tears, so it didn't matter how much antibiotic etc was given to her, it wasn't going to heal because the surface of the eye wasn't in the right condition to allow it. Although the referral was expensive, I think it was worth every penny and it probably saved me more than that in the long run!

Good luck with whatever you decide xx

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This is such a long shot being that this was posted years and years ago, but in my desperate search for answers I'm trying anywhere i could find.

My bun Martha sounds very much like this bunny, her tear ducts have stopped working, caused her eyes to dry up and caused her to gain two pretty horrible ulcers on both her eyes, one definitely worse than the other. I have until tuesday (4 days from today) to get her to respond to treatment or find an alternative vet before my current vet recommends putting her to sleep. This is something i obviously do not want to do!!! The more I'm reading the more I'm figuring out this may not be the death sentence my vet has placed on her. What was the outcome of your buns treatment with this vet?

meg x