crusty eye rabbitt

Question
We took Charlie to the vet at the animal welfare society where we got him (before reading your response).  He told us to clean out the goop in the eye and apply a local antibiotic (in a tube) 3x a day.  Charlie is still eating and acting fine although he sometimes makes a wimping noise.

Should we wait to see how he responds or rush him to one of the suggested vets?

Thanks for the prompt and wonderful reply.


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Followup To
Question -
Charlie is a 3 year rabbit who just developed one crusty eye.  He is eating and drinking and asks fine in every other way.  We are assuming some type of local infection but not sure how to treat.

Please advise if this is serious and how to proceed.

thanks
Answer -
Yes, it's likely that if he's getting crusty, goopy matter that the eye is probably infected. It does need to be addressed as it is unlikely to go away on its own and the infection can easily spread to the ears or nasal passages, causing a more deeply rooted problem.

However, it's not a good idea to just treat it with a random antibiotic for the eye. The best way to treat would be to have a culture and sensitivity test to determine which bacterium is causing the infection and what it is sensitive to. A good rabbit vet would take a sample of the matter from the eye and have the test run. This takes a couple of days for the culture to grow, so the vet may or may not put the rabbit on a likely antibiotic eyedrop or eye ointment before the culture comes back. A vet visit is also a good idea so he or she can check your rabbits ears with a professional otoscope to see whether the infection is starting to spread there so it can be caught early. Ear infections can cause very serious complications.

I hope you already have a good veterinarian for your rabbit. If you have not taken your bunny to the vet before, please try to find one who is experienced with rabbits. Many vets who are very good with dogs and cats are not knowledgeable about rabbits, especially the latest information. The page http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/vet.html has suggestions on how to find
one. There is a list of some vets at http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html and another organization's list at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/PB_vets.html

You can also contact a nearby House Rabbit Society chapter or other rabbit group for suggestions on good local vets. HRS has a page listing contacts for their own chapters. If there is not one near you, you can look for a nearby independent group using the HRS contacts page http://www.rabbit.org/links/index.html

Good luck!

Gina

Answer
Since you've started an antibiotic, go ahead and treat as directed and skip the vet for now. Starting an antibiotic can skew the culture results so they won't be accurate now. So if the antibiotic ointment works, you can breathe a sigh of relief. If his doesn't clear up in about 10 days, or the infection spreads, you'll need to make that vet appointment. Good luck!

Gina