Eye Secretions in Rabbits

Question
We have a 7 year old Havana Dwarf Female Rabbit. She has eye secretions that get stuck on her fur and face. I have taken her to several vets and they can't seem to help with this problem. We have used warm compresses on her face and the vet has flushed her tear ducts 3 times but to no avail. There is so much of these dried secretions on her face that we don't know how to get them off. She has lost her facial fur and is very uncomfortable. (It looks like a crusty shell around her face).We have used petroleum jelly and triple antibiotic when her face bleeds. Other than this problem, she is healthy...she runs, and eats her food and hay and goes to the bathroom in a regular fashion.  What can we do to help her?

Answer
Dear Kathie,

Your bunny may have tooth root intrusions into her skull that are partially blocking her tear ducts.  This causes the tears to back up and drip down her face, rather than emptying into the back of her mouth, as they would normally do.

In a seven year old bunny, this is often due to some degree of osteoporosis.  As the bunny ages, the bones become less dense, and in the skull where there is not much bone to begin with, this can result in the teeth being slowly pushed into the bone of the skull as the bunny chews.  In this way, the tear ducts can be pinched off, and the condition is pretty much permanent.  Please see:

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

Even removing the teeth may not effect a cure, as there is usually scarring that will keep the ducts narrow even if the tooth root is gone.  

We have a bunny with this condition, too.  And the only way we can keep Vash comfortable is with daily face baths with plain water (dry well afterwards!), and application of triple-antibiotic ointment to keep the skin soft.  Tear ducts are only a temporary solution.  But we have found that triple-antibiotic/steroid *ophthalmic* drops can sometimes reduce swelling of the mucous membranes lining the tear ducts enough to allow tears to drain normally.  I would ask the vet about trying this, to see if it at least can moderate the symptoms.

Some rabbit-savvy vets recommend allowing such a bunny to choose a (spayed/neutered) mate from the fosters at your local rabbit rescuer:

www.rabbit.org/chapters

In many cases (not all), the rabbits will groom each other and many a runny-eyed bunny will enjoy a healthy regrowth of fur and skin once it's being tended by a loving mate.  Just something to consider.

I wish I could tell you that this problem had an easy cure, but unfortuntaely it doesn't.  But I hope some of these ideas will help.

Dana