My Holland dwarf has runny eyes

Question
QUESTION: I have a 2 year old Holland Dwarf house rabbit called Frodo.  Yesterday I noticed she had runny eyes, when I moved her lower eye lid down slightly to clean the eye there was a milky substance and her eyelids are more red than usual.

Today I took her to the vet and he did a dye test on the eye to check for surface damage which was all clear and the dye came out of her nose so he said that her tear ducts were not blocked.  He gave me a cream for conjunctivitis but no antibiotics. If this is conjunctivitis roughly how long should I expect it to take to clear up? Should he have given oral antibiotics as well?

Also Frodo's ears have been inflamed inside and so I have been giving her Aurizon drops in her ears each day, the vet seemed to think that it was more likely to be the ear drops that have caused her eyes to weep. She hates getting the drops and shakes her head and scratches when I have put them in,so there may be a possibility that some of the medication has made its way in to her eye through grooming but would this cause the white discharge??I am not convinced of this as I haven't noticed the medication anywhere on her fur apart from around the ear area but then again I am not the expert.
Can you think of any thing else I need to consider? I think I will take her back to the vet on monday if it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Thanks for your help

ANSWER: Dear Rachael,

The milky substance you see is rabbit tears, which are relatively viscous and white, compared to human tears.  I would not be completely sure that the tear ducts are clear.  Please see:

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

Even a narrowing of the ducts can cause the tears to back up and spill out onto the face.  

We've had good success in many cases with triple antibiotic/corticosteroid ophthalmic ointment, but in some cases a tear duct flush might help clear debris from the canals.  Our biggest runny eye boy, Vash, had horrible runny eyes and his whole face was raw from the tears.  He was put on zeniquin (marbofloxacin) for an unrelated problem, and his runny eyes miraculously cleared up!  Sometimes, it's just bacterial debris, and systemic antibiotics do a better job of addressing them than simple ointments or flushes.  But each case is different.

I'd suggest you find a vet who is very experienced and well-educated about rabbit medicine (particularly dental problems) and get a second opinion. You can find a vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope that helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Dana
Thanks for the reply to my question last week.  Since then there have been some changes, Frodo was tender around the middle when the vet was checking her.  This caused concern for the vet as she thought there may have been something wrong with her kidneys so she took a blood sample and sent it to the lab.  Meanwhile as frodo seemed to be taking longer to eat and would ony eat her food once it had been soaked she went under anaesthetic to check out her teeth.  The vet said that they were fine and weren't causing the trouble.  The blood results revealed that the kidneys were within the normal range but her liver showed to have some damage.  The vet went through a list of possible causes diet being one of them (I give Frodo green vegetables on a daily basis, sometimes carrots and fruit). The vet told me I should give her a diet the same as she would in the wild 90% grass/ hay and 10% pellets.  I didn't think this would be a problem but Frodo is definitely eating less and I have to force feed her.  She doesn't seem as to have lost her appetite completely as she runs around my feet as soon as she smells my porridge or diner (I used to give her a spoonful of porridge in the morning which I really regret now) but I just can not get her to eat enough pellets or grass on her own accord. Can you suggest any thing? I have metoclporamide to give 3 times a day which i also feel terrible doing as I know she hates it.
The vet also said that the ck enzyme was very high 2,700 compared to the normal range in the 100's, She said that this could be a sign of muscle damage and so may have been a reason for her being tender when she was being checked out. I know that she did fall when she was trying to jump on to something about 3 weeks ago. Her skeleton is fine.

The vet gave her an antibiotic injection yesterday (Friday), 2day and she needs to get another one tomorrow and one on monday.  On Friday she also got a parasite spot on treatment and a vitamin injection.  I feel like she has had so much to deal with and I do not want to stress her out any more as I know that isn't good for the liver either.

Do you have any experience with this and if so has the bunny been able to make a good recovery? Can you give me any additional treatment advice? My vet seems to be positive but says that if she hasn't improved any by monday we will have to think of a different treatment.  

p.s. her eyes are still runny but the vet said that it may be because she was a bit run down.

Thank you very much for your time, I just want my wee bunny to be feeling better.  

Answer
Dear Rachael,

Elevated liver enzymes can signal many different things, from chronic infection to toxic insult, or even trauma.  It's possible your bunny was bruised from her injury, which would be consistent with those results and her tenderness.

The liver is very good at healing, and the vet will be able to coach you regarding supportive care.  This can include things like B-vitamin supplements and milk thistle extract.  But time and love and good care are the best medicine.

Runny eyes are usually not a sign of being "run down" in a rabbit. I'd be more suspicious about tear duct occlusion from bacterial/cellular debris or tooth root intrusion.  But first things first:  get her feeling better, and then--if necessary--do further diagnostics.

Hope this helps.

Dana