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bunny watering eyes,

22 10:53:54

Question
I have had my bunny for nearly a year now, he was a rescue bunny who had previously been kicked about like football! Hes just over 2 years of age and a big dwarf lop.  Hes quite a nervous rabbit understandably and doesn't like strangers but since i have had him, our relationship has grown so much and hes not the bunny he used to be.  He has had over grown teeth, which have been sorted. However, over the last 2months he has suffered continuously with with watery eyes, it was once clear then went to the color of milk. After several trips to the vet, an allergy was ruled out and yesterday he went in for the day to have his tear ducts flushed and further teeth checks.  He returned home in high spirits and his left eye looks so much better, however the right eye which the vet said was the worst, is still weeping. Hes said there was a lot of mucus that came out, enough to warrant not doing an Xray of roots of his teeth.  If it doesn't clear up that will be the next step but he said the teeth look fine. What else could this be?? I had to clean with a bit of wet cotton wall his right eye today and for the first time i had hi teeth grind, a sure sign of pain, Will the area be sore from the eye wash and that was why he was grinding or do you think its something else?  He has for the last few days not been eating pellets, hay and grass yes but not his pellets, his stools aren't runny but there not normal. Hes clearly not right but  i am not sure if this is the after effects of the operation he had or is is still not cured?

Sorry for the long winded post but i need help!

Answer
Dear Lisa,

Since your bunny has a history of dental problems, the runny eyes are very likely a side effect of his bad teeth.  In short-faced rabbits particularly (lops!), the molar roots can intrude farther into the skull than normal, and can narrow or even occlude the ducts.  There's nothing to do for this but tear duct flushes and warm compresses.  You can read more here:

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

But in some cases, antibiotics can help to keep the ducts open if there is bacterial "goo" in the ducts (or even in a molar root abscess) causing additional inflammation and plugging.  Please ask the vet about taking a sample of nasal discharge and sending it off for culture and sensitivity testing:

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

Our big giant Vash, who also has chronic runny eyes, gets relief only when he's on Zeniquin (marbofloxacin), which seems to put a dent in whatever bacteria are causing his tear ducts to close up.  He has narrowed ducts, too, but the bacteria sort of "finish the job" of plugging the works, and his eyes run if he's not on the systemic antibiotics.

It might be a good idea to ask about trying antibiotic eye drops *first*, before resorting to systemic drugs.  But if all else fails, a long course of antibiotics could clear him up.

It's also very important to keep up with his incisor *and* molar filings, as inflammation caused by molar spurs can exacerbate already narrowed ducts with soft tissue swelling.

I hope some of this helps.

Dana