Claireyeddy
New Kit
Hello everyone I was a member of this forum a few years ago when my little buns were spayed, and everyone was so helpful and supportive so I thought I'd come to you all for some new advice!
Miffy and Floss are both still doing well and are now 3.5 years old. Just before Christmas on 19th December, Floss got a small piece of soft hay stuck in her right eye, causing her to close it. She let me gently remove it (she's a really good girl) and it luckily just slipped out. I wouldn't have pulled it if it was resisting at all. Anyway, I took her straight to the vet for a check over incase she had any abrasions or ulcers and it was confirmed that luckily, there was no damage. We were given some eye drops (which she let me administer with no issues) and within a day or two her eye was fully open and the redness had subsided. Throughout, her behaviour hadn't changed and she was still guzzling hay and water, and playing as normal.
On the 2nd Jan I noticed in the same eye some more watery discharge, though not much, but enough for me to take note. I used some of the eye drops I had left and it cleared up. The next time I noticed anything major was the 15th!!! She again had a small bit of water in the corner of her eye. I considered taking her back to the vet, though it was completely clear an hour later and I thought perhaps I was overthinking things. However on the 18th, I noticed more watery discharge and decided it would be best to book her in.
We went to our vet this morning, who is fairly rabbit savvy. Typically there was hardly anything to see today but she checked her ears for infection, managed to check her teeth (Floss let her access her mouth using a telescopic torch thing) dyed her eye again and basically concluded there was nothing obviously untoward. I asked about E. Cuniculi (I've done my research) and she said that with no other symptoms and with the discharge so intermittent (and clear water when it does occur) she isn't presenting as having this or any other infections. X-rays weren't an option to check her roots at this point, as the vet said her tear ducts do not seem blocked (the orange dye came out of her nasal cavity within a few minutes so this does seem sensible) and so doing anything more intravenous would be a bit excessive at this stage. She suggested it might be an allergy to changes in hay quality and said I should try it soaking before offering it to them. I have been told to just monitor her, and go back if the discharge changes or if her behaviour changes.
Of course I'm overjoyed that nothing 'obvious' was found, but it does make me anxious that clearly, something is causing this discharge and may have been missed. Does the vet's assessment sound reasonable to you guys, at least for now? Or would you also be panicking? Also, is there a chance that it could still be occasionally irritated from the foreign body incident before Christmas? Neither bun has ever had eye issues before, so it seems coincidental that this would only be happening after the hay incident.
I'm sure I'm panicking/overthinking but definitely open to ideas/opinions as to whether I should still be concerned at this point or just see what happens?
Sorry for the essay Claire
Miffy and Floss are both still doing well and are now 3.5 years old. Just before Christmas on 19th December, Floss got a small piece of soft hay stuck in her right eye, causing her to close it. She let me gently remove it (she's a really good girl) and it luckily just slipped out. I wouldn't have pulled it if it was resisting at all. Anyway, I took her straight to the vet for a check over incase she had any abrasions or ulcers and it was confirmed that luckily, there was no damage. We were given some eye drops (which she let me administer with no issues) and within a day or two her eye was fully open and the redness had subsided. Throughout, her behaviour hadn't changed and she was still guzzling hay and water, and playing as normal.
On the 2nd Jan I noticed in the same eye some more watery discharge, though not much, but enough for me to take note. I used some of the eye drops I had left and it cleared up. The next time I noticed anything major was the 15th!!! She again had a small bit of water in the corner of her eye. I considered taking her back to the vet, though it was completely clear an hour later and I thought perhaps I was overthinking things. However on the 18th, I noticed more watery discharge and decided it would be best to book her in.
We went to our vet this morning, who is fairly rabbit savvy. Typically there was hardly anything to see today but she checked her ears for infection, managed to check her teeth (Floss let her access her mouth using a telescopic torch thing) dyed her eye again and basically concluded there was nothing obviously untoward. I asked about E. Cuniculi (I've done my research) and she said that with no other symptoms and with the discharge so intermittent (and clear water when it does occur) she isn't presenting as having this or any other infections. X-rays weren't an option to check her roots at this point, as the vet said her tear ducts do not seem blocked (the orange dye came out of her nasal cavity within a few minutes so this does seem sensible) and so doing anything more intravenous would be a bit excessive at this stage. She suggested it might be an allergy to changes in hay quality and said I should try it soaking before offering it to them. I have been told to just monitor her, and go back if the discharge changes or if her behaviour changes.
Of course I'm overjoyed that nothing 'obvious' was found, but it does make me anxious that clearly, something is causing this discharge and may have been missed. Does the vet's assessment sound reasonable to you guys, at least for now? Or would you also be panicking? Also, is there a chance that it could still be occasionally irritated from the foreign body incident before Christmas? Neither bun has ever had eye issues before, so it seems coincidental that this would only be happening after the hay incident.
I'm sure I'm panicking/overthinking but definitely open to ideas/opinions as to whether I should still be concerned at this point or just see what happens?
Sorry for the essay Claire
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