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Harvey's eye ulcers

Ruthyjones89

Ruthyjones89

Mama Doe
Hi everyone,

Many of you will know that my poor baby has been suffering with bad eye ulcers since April.

He has been on 4 different anti-bacterial drops & had his eyes scraped. His ulcers did seem to be getting smaller but in the last 2 weeks have grown again! :(

Harvey has been booked in for an operation on Wednesday, where they are going to make tiny inserts into his eyes to encourage new growth over the ulcers.

Can I please have people's thoughts?! I am so so worried and really don't know what else we can do. Since April we have spent over £600 on his eyes with Wednesday costing me another £300.. Although we are struggling financially, he will always come first and I'm just so gutted for him.

Please please does anyone have any ideas or advice?

Thanks Ruth xx
 
Bless him, poor love :( Do they know why they aren't healing? Has he been tested for dry eye? He's very young for that but I don't know if perhaps everything he's been through has caused something to go wrong with his normal eye mechanisms. One of my old bunnies had dry eye and the referral ophthalmologist vet explained to me that all the antibiotics, eye scrapings and operations in the world wouldn't solve the ulcers, because the environment on the eye wasn't right - he said it was like keeping a plant in a dark cupboard - it doesn't matter how much water, love, oxygen, plant food you give it, it will never grow because there isn't any light which is one of its fundamental needs. I know it's a bit of a long shot but it might be worth exploring before resorting to another operation. Mine was given hyabak drops (they're human preservative free eye drops for dry eye) alongside the antibiotics, and the ulcers which had been troubling her for months cleared up in about 3 weeks. I actually use them for dry eye and they're incredibly soothing and work really well; they don't look like they should as they're very runny, but they seem to sort of cling to the eye and keep the surface nice and moist.

Good luck with your little love, I do hope that he can be helped, bless him x
 
Santa said:
Bless him, poor love :( Do they know why they aren't healing? Has he been tested for dry eye? He's very young for that but I don't know if perhaps everything he's been through has caused something to go wrong with his normal eye mechanisms. One of my old bunnies had dry eye and the referral ophthalmologist vet explained to me that all the antibiotics, eye scrapings and operations in the world wouldn't solve the ulcers, because the environment on the eye wasn't right - he said it was like keeping a plant in a dark cupboard - it doesn't matter how much water, love, oxygen, plant food you give it, it will never grow because there isn't any light which is one of its fundamental needs. I know it's a bit of a long shot but it might be worth exploring before resorting to another operation. Mine was given hyabak drops (they're human preservative free eye drops for dry eye) alongside the antibiotics, and the ulcers which had been troubling her for months cleared up in about 3 weeks. I actually use them for dry eye and they're incredibly soothing and work really well; they don't look like they should as they're very runny, but they seem to sort of cling to the eye and keep the surface nice and moist.

Good luck with your little love, I do hope that he can be helped, bless him x
Click to expand...

Hi Santa,

Thank you is much. Yes he has been tested for dry eye.. And they are absolutely fine so hence any help & advice really appreciated! Thank you, ill phone tomorrow & mention this to see what they say.

They also suggested femical or something which is quite an old method where it will sit on the eye lens? Ever heard of this?!

Xxx
 
Hi all,

Well after a good hour of discussing this morning, Harvey did go for his operation. He is back home & doing okay but still very groggy.. So would really appreciate any spare vibes xx

And we have also done Jane's suggestion of using blood fluid and we are adding these twice daily into his eyes as well as the visco tears. I really am praying everything will be okay & finally start to help him xx
 
I have no advice to offer because I know nothing about eye ulcers but I really hope Harvey makes a good recovery :) Sending him lots of nose rubs xx
 
Thanks so much everyone, well he's eaten a handful of herbs and that's it & literally 2 tiny tiny poos!! :(

He's hardly wanting to move and hasn't opened his eyes yet! Feel so bad... I'm going give him till 9 and if no change, I'll be ringing the vets!

Thanks for all your vibes though! Xx
 
Harvey is so fortunate to have you giving him care, even when his care is beyond your normal finances.

Eight weeks ago I adopted a bunny named Madelyn. She was surrendered at eight weeks of age due to eye ulcers. She was treated for months at a rescue and put into foster care. For that I am grateful. In spite of her spending months in treatment, she is now a very friendly and healthy bunny. When I read about Harvey my heart broke.

Madelyn and I are sending Harvey many vibes that he will have good results with is operation.
 
Thanks so much bunny momma, he is my baby and I'll do absolutely anything for him to try and get him better. More than anything, I just want him pain free and off medication as he's been on it for almost 6 months now! :(

Well last night was awful, he was clearly struggling and in pain, so off back to the vet we went for some tramadol. To be fair, he has perked up today & started eating more. Just hope he keeps it up now, but at least we have another weeks worth if need be!

I know we still have a long way to go but seriously have everything crossed this will help his ulcers, as if not.. I really dont know what else we can do.

Thanks again for your support xxx
 
Ruthyjones89 said:
Thanks so much bunny momma, he is my baby and I'll do absolutely anything for him to try and get him better. More than anything, I just want him pain free and off medication as he's been on it for almost 6 months now! :(

Well last night was awful, he was clearly struggling and in pain, so off back to the vet we went for some tramadol. To be fair, he has perked up today & started eating more. Just hope he keeps it up now, but at least we have another weeks worth if need be!

I know we still have a long way to go but seriously have everything crossed this will help his ulcers, as if not.. I really dont know what else we can do.

Thanks again for your support xxx
Click to expand...

It is good to know Harvey is improving. I am sorry you had to run back to the vets for more pain medication. At least it seems to be what he needed to get back on track with his eating.

We are topping off the good vibes to you and Harvey. I'll keep everything crossed until I hear more!
 
Hi all,

Well as its been a while and for those interested.. Just wanted to give you a brief update on Harvey!

So after everything, Harvey is finally having some good luck & starting to look positive! :)

He ended up going for an eye keratotomy operation along with another mix of eye drops and In the last 2 weeks we have seen a real improvement which is brilliant! The actual ulcers are much smaller thankfully. We are going to continue giving the drops along with anti-inflammatorys so we have our fingers crossed that within the next couple of weeks they should be gone!

Plus, his rcvs complaint is well and truely up & running. I have received a response back from the vets in question which was awful and full of lies. So I have completely ripped this apart, had an amazing letter from our referral vets backing us up so we have our fingers and toes crossed and should here an update within the next month.

In the meantime, here's some piccies of my brave little man;

Today:


Eyes back in April:


Eyes looking a lot better:


Actually has his eyes open now:



And just now :lol:

 
Last edited:
Bless his little fluffy paws !! :love: I am so pleased that his eye ulcers are finally showing signs of improvement. If anyBunny deserves some good luck it's your Harv !

He has certainly mastered the art of 'chilling out', that is a very impressive DBF in the first and the last photo :lol:

I really hope that the Vet responsible for harming Harvey is forced to face the consequences as far as their career goes and that they are NEVER able to cause so much suffering again.

It's made worse that the Vet has consistently lied subsequent to the incident. IMO that should mean that not only is their fitness to practice Veterinary Medicine compromised as far as their professional competence goes, but also the fact that they are willing to lie rather than admit their errors. Someone like that should not be a Vet, it's as simple as that.

Lots of nose rubs to Harv and Honey :love:
 
I'm really glad Harvey's eye is improving. He seems like such a sweet boy.

That last photo :lol: How can that possibly be comfortable Honey?
 
Dear Harvey,

I am so glad you are feeling better. Madelyn and I have been sending you vibes and it is nice to know they are working!
Sending your more good vibes for continued improvement.
 
I'm so pleased Harvey's eye ulcers are finally showing an improvement and lovely to see how well the little tinker's doing :love:

I agree with Jane regarding the vet who caused his fractures. Surely the only decent thing to do would be to admit responsibility and request additional training to try and ensure it never happens again? Not lie about it and make you go through all this aggravation. It does make me wonder how many other people this has happened to? How many have taken the vet's word as gospel and have been tormented with guilt because they believed they'd hurt their own bunnies?

I really hope your tenacity pays off and you get a good outcome from your complaint.
 
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