runny eyes, and jaw abscess

Question
I am very worried about my bunny. She has had runny eyes for a few months now, which the vet has said is caused by teeth growing up into her tear ducts- so nothing can be done. Then she developed a chest infection which, after repeated antibiotic injections improved (although she still gets a bit wheezy at night sometimes) and now she has developed a jaw abscess under her chin. The vet drew a little of the toothpaste- like pus out with a syringe but said the only thing he can do is operate, but as she has been ill, he wants to wait as long as possible, i.e. until the abscess prevents her from eating. She has been eating all through this but will not touch hay, which worries me a lot. Also it is very difficult to keep her chin dry as she is constantly dribbling a watery yellow discharge
and she is continually making chewing motions with her mouth. the vet has checked her mouth thoroughly and says there is no problem with her teeth (she had them trimmed a while ago) but she is not happy or well and I'm at a loss how to proceed with her. I clean round her eyes and her chin as much as possible, but it doesn't seem to make much impression as the discharge is constant. after trying several solutions,I have ended up using contact lens cleaning solution, as this is the only thing that seems to make any impression on the sticky substance round her eyes, and I know it is safe because I put it in my own eyes. The cleaning is a daily chore which she hates, especially under her chin as the skin is starting to ulcerate and i'm worried will become infected. the vet doesn't seem to think there is much he can do, as - he says- even if he operates chances are the abscess will grow back again. I'm still not sure as to how the abscess is related to the constant yellow dischrge from her mouth. Please help - not sure where to go from here. All the vet seems to offer are more antibiotics which don't seem to do anything. Many thanks.

Answer
I would suggest finding another vet. An abscess should be taken care of right away. It needs to be totally drained, and she needs antibiotics to stop further infection. If the antibiotics are not working after the draining, the vet needs to do a culture to see what strain of bacteria is causing the infection and what type of antibiotic it is weak against.

You are doing a great job with helping her along by keeping her eyes cleaned. A good vet can also get you medicated eye drops to use.

The chewing motions are probably signifying that she is in pain. Rabbits will grind their teeth if they are in pain.

The front teeth are not the only ones that can cause problems. It is not uncommon in rabbits to get spurs in the molars. They can cause a considerable amount of pain, they can cause the eyes to water, and if they are bad enough, they can abcess. They need to be either filed down or taken out completely, depending on how bad they are. She will most likely need to be sedated (at least) to file them, and of course if they need to be taken out it will require surgery.