Bunny has something wrong with his eye

Question
My bunny is a little over 2 years old, and just recently(the past two weeks), and only every couple of days, one of his eyes starts to water, it's always the same eye. There's no weird discharge or cloudy fluid, it just waters. I just take a warm wet kleenex and wash his eye with it, and it normally seems to work, it stops watering and doesn't start up again for another couple of days. Today, however, it just started watering again and after wiping his eye he's still cosing it somewhat and it's still watering.

I hate having to take my bunnies to the vet as I had a horrible experience with a previous bunny when the vet tech was holding him down, held his back down too hard and broke his back and we were forced to put him to sleep. Naturally, I will never return to that specific vet clinic, but I still get flashbacks to that visit whenever I take a bunny to a vet. So, I'd prefer not having to take him in, but of course I will do so if I have to.

just a little background info, in case you think this might be the cause. I don't use any wood shavings bedding, I've used the same bedding since I brought my bunny home, so I know it's not from wood shaving dust. He hasn't come in contact with anything out of the usual recently. I keep his nails clipped, and we have a nail filer that we use so his nails are never sharp.

Thanks in advance!

Answer
Dear Judie,

I can understand your vetophobia after having such a horrible experience.  But you should be able to find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can have a look. If the problem is the eye itself, a vetgerinary ophthalmologist might be needed to see what's causing the irritation.  Rabbits can get glaucoma and other disorders that are treatable, but painful if left untreated.

If the problem is a blocked tear duct, you can see the connection between runny eyes and dental problems here:

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

and

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

If there is an infection, ask the vet about doing a culture and sensitivity test on the eye discharge:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana