Eye Weeping

Question
My rabbit has had a very weepy eye.  I took her to my local vet and was given an antibiotic to put in her eye.  The medicine is almost gone and her eye is no better.  Her fur around her eye gets matted and stiff from her eye.  Also, between her eye and ear, her hair is very thin.  Otherwise, her health seems fine.  Any ideas?  Appreciate your help.

Answer
Dear Mary Jo,

Your bunny has a completely or partially blocked tear duct, causing her tears to backwash out of her eye and run onto her fur and skin.  Because the tears are somewhat caustic, this can cause the skin around the eyes to become irritated, and the fur to fall out.

Ophthalmic eye drops containing antibiotics and/or corticosteroids (to reduce inflammation) may help temporarily, but unless the underlying cause of the blocked tear duct can be corrected, the eye will continue to weep.  The most common cause of chronic runny eyes, surprisingly enough, is molar problems.  These may include either spurs (which can cause local inflammation enough to block the tear duct, with a little help from opportunistic bacteria) or molar root problems such as abscess, or even intrusion of the root deeper into the skull than normal, due to osteoporosis.  This latter problem occurs usually in older bunnies who have undergone some degree of bone loss in the (already light-boned) skull, and as the bunny chews, the molar is gradually pushed farther into the skull bones until the roots actually can pinch off the tear duct.

You can read more about dental problems in rabbits here;

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

If this has happened, the problem might not be correctable, even if the offending molar is removed (and personally, I think this might be too much trauma for what it might or might not accomplish in terms of clearing up the weeping!).

If you think your vet isn't experienced enough with rabbits to do a tear duct flush, then please check the list linked here to find one near you:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Ask about a tear duct flush, and followup with antibiotic eye drops to keep the ducts clear, once they're flushed.

If the problem really persists, then there is one option that's going to sound a little weird:  Allow her to pick a (neutered) male companion from among the needy rescues at your local rabbit rescuer's foster home.  A bonded pair of bunnies usually spends a lot of time grooming each other, especially around the face.  And we've seen bunnies with chronic weepy eyes start to look quite normal--even if the tear duct problem isn't fixable--from the loving attentions of a mate.  :)

If your bunny isn't yet spayed, that will have to be done before any "blind dates" can happen:

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

but it will be worth it for the joy of seeing two bunnies cuddling together and keeping each other's faces clean and fluffy.  :)


Hope that helps!  Please write back if you have any other questions.

Dana