Runny eyes - abcess with pus

Question
My bunny is 9 years old. For the last several years he has had runny eyes that go through bad times and good. Usually a warm towel and a bit of saline help with the crusties. I took him to the vet today because the hair around his eyes - along the water trail is gone (dissapeared faster than usual this time) and the membrane (doc called it third eyelid I think) is becoming more exposed. Looks like my bunnies eyes are popping out sometimes - real freaky. Anyway they found an abcess in one eye and drained quite a bit of cottage cheese pus from it. The other eye has a  pinpoint ulcer. Recently my bunny also had some teeth shaved and a few removed - we (the vet and I) thought this might help reduce the eye tearing.

Left the vet with Baytril and Gentamicin. The bunny is eating and drinking and now resting peacefully in his cage.

We have never had a culture done - so don't know if I am dealing with Pastuerella - the bunny does not sneeze or have a runny nose.

I quess my questions are - what things should I be watching for to tell me if my bunny is in pain - he's an old guy and I don't want him to suffer in his last years -  they are pretty stoic so pain is hard to judge.

His brother shares a cage (with a divider) and litter boxes - he does not have the runny eyes or any other snuffles signs - but should I give hime a course of antibiotics just to be safe?

Any thought would be helpful. I have read through your other responses - always great information there. Thanks for your assistance.

Answer
Dear Dina,

First, if the one rabbit shows no sign of illness, do NOT give him antibiotics.  That would just encourage the evolution of resistant bacteria and make antibiotics less effective if he should ever really need them.

The bunny with the runny eyes sounds as if he has chronic dental problems that may require more serious treatment than Baytril and Gentocin (the latter is rather hard on the kidneys!  Unless these are ophthalmic drops, I'd ask the vet about using amikacin instead, along with subQ fluids to reduce the insult to the kidneys).

Not all such conditions are caused by Pasteurella, as you can read here:

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

and problems like this caused by dental disorders are quite often *not* Pasteurella related.  Please see:

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

If the Baytril/Gentocin doesn't help, then ask about trying bicillin, which is often effective against the bacterial populations typical of rabbit abscesses that are dental in origin.

If you're not sure your vet is experienced with rabbits, you can find another vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for a second opinion.

I hope this helps get your little old guy back on the road to recovery!  He may have many happy years left.

Dana