eye irritation

Question
My 5 y.o female rabbit has some slight pinkness around her eye, although nothing in the eye or wet eyes and the thing of concern is that the fur around her eye is thinning slightly about 2mm out from the eye.  Was wondering if it was a tear duct problem, although her eyes are not dripping.  Used an antibiotic drop for rabbits for a week and saw no change.  Have two females and they groom each other alot, including licking each others eyes (although they close them when they do this) Any suggestions?
THX!

Answer
Dear Anita,

Given your description, I'd say it might be that the bunnies are overgrooming each other.  But loss of fur and pinkness around the eyes can also be a very early sign of mange, caused by parasitic mites.

Please read:

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

for more information on these and other causes of fur loss in rabbits, and then find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can prescribe appropriate medication if this is mites.

If it's grooming, then there's not all that much you can do except provide more toys and distraction.  If the bunnies are bonded, they should NOT be separated for any reason, as the stress caused by doing so can predispose them to far more serious health problems than overgrooming.

Hope this helps.

Dana