Eyes in my rabbit

Question
My rabbit is about 8 and recently i noticed that her eyes were gunkey. I have been keeping an eye on them an cleaning them with some luke warm water. They don't seem to be sore or irritable in anyway as she has no problem with me looking at them and touching around the outside. Then recently today i could see a few white spots in the pupil of her left eye. A friend of mine has a rabbit the same age and recently he went blind in one eye, which i belive is quiet normal. She said that she had white spots as well.
I don't think that her condition is serious but do you have any advice or something i could do to help her?

Steph

Answer
Dear Steph,

It's not normal for a rabbit of only eight years to have runny eyes, cloudy/spotty eyes, or go blind.  These are medical conditions that need veterinary treatment, and they often will get better with the appropriate treatment.  Please find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Runny eyes are often caused by blocked tear ducts, which can be flushed, or possibly cleared with simple triple antibiotic *ophthalmic* ointment from the vet.  But lesions on the eye can indicate corneal ulcers which are not only painful, but can cause loss of sight.  This does not have to happen, and a good vet can prescribe treatment to keep the eyes healthy, depending on the cause of the problem.

My advice:  Get her to an experienced rabbit vet ASAP for diagnosis and appropriate treatment.  Don't assume this is a natural part of aging, because it's not.

Hope this helps!

Dana