Tearing eye etc. ?

Question
My rabbit has a one tearing eye and i trimmed the fur awhile back and i thought it was improving but now its tearing about the same again unless i was just cleaning it and drying it more often but anyways i wanted to know anything i can do to improve it like something to apply to the skin around the eye and maybe some drops to put in the eye and so on?
So happy your back from your vacation on allexperts lol.

Answer
Dear Marc,

Sorry for the delay.  I guess I should have kept myself on "vacation" (which is actually code for 'I'm too busy at work to be able to answer questions!).  8P

Tearing eyes are caused by a blocked tear duct.  And that can be due to any number of reasons, from a bacterial infection to a tooth root impinging on the duct (due to intrusion into the bone with age) and narrowing or pinching it off.  You can read more here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html

A rabbit-savvy vet can have a look and see whether a tear duct flush is necessary. But in some cases, administration of antibiotic ophthalmic drops (possibly with a tiny bit of steroid to reduce inflammation) can relieve the problem, at least temporarily.  Unfortunately, this is usually a lifelong problem.

Warm, wet compresses against the eye can help open the duct and loosen the crust so it can be gently washed off.  And sometimes the best medicine is a (spayed/neutered) companion your bunny picks out who can groom the eye and prevent chronic irritation.  (Your bunny must be "fixed" first, of course.)

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope this helps.

Dana