Eye problem

Yesterday I noticed that Snowball has one of his eyes half-open. today I cleaned his eye with cotton round and warm water, I would say it looks better.
It looks like upper corner of his eye (on the lid) is inflamed. Is it where tear duct is?
He acts pretty much like normal - eats, runs around. He may be suffering a little bit.
The problem is that we still don't have a vet that is experienced in rabbits' problems. I just called the clinic that I was sure would take care of rabbits and they said - not really.
Another vet that I have near by: last time doc couldn't even tell that my doe had a litter the other night and was checking with the book about rabbits' problems.
Or, is problem like this pretty common for all animals and I should take him to any vet?
Could it be mechanical irritation from something in his eye? Sorry for bad pictures. My camera is dying. Fur is wet around his eye as I took the pictures after washing the eye.

Took him to the vet. New, expensive one, BUT! I liked him and he seems to be knowledgeable about buns.
He said it was a trauma (scratch) and prescribed AB drops.

Glad you found a good rabbit vet and got some meds for the eye. Hopefully that will clear it right up.

I hope the eye clears up, it probably is a scratch but if it's ongoing, I would be concerned about possible teeth problems. Best of luck.

Ok it was a corneal ulcer, caused by trauma (probably even pocked his eye with a twig or something. I don't think somebody scratched him but who knows). As I understood, AB drops is prescribed to prevent an infection, not to treat (there were no indication of infection).
The eye improved right after visiting the vet, I am giving him eye drops (gentamicin) for 5th day now (4 times a day). Both of us are stressed and tired from drops. He is not in the cage, I have to catch him 4 times a day which really stresses him. He is the rabbit you can normally pet but after I took him to doc he became much more cautious when I approach. Applying drops is not easy, a lot goes not in the eye but around the eye. Almost nothing left in the bottle. Drops are prescribed for 7 days. I am tired, so is Snowball. Is it OK to stop drops when it is empty? I think he got enough.

Another question. Doc said to come back for follow up visit in 1 week. Do they normally charge full price for follow ups?
I really don't want to spend any more money on this, especially when he is healing so well.

Azerane said:

I hope the eye clears up, it probably is a scratch but if it's ongoing, I would be concerned about possible teeth problems. Best of luck.

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would you please explain how scratch is related to teeth?

Oftentimes upper molar teeth will become infected and/or the tooth roots will become infected. Because of the proximity of the long roots to the rabbits eye (this is especially true in dwarf and lop breeds) the initial symptoms of a dental issue may be a runny /red eye.
I am glad that is not the case with your bun :sunshine:

I would definitely do the follow-up visit . I am not sure if there is a charge, however, so give the clinic a call and while you are on the phone I would also tell the vet the eye drop situation and ask him/her if you can stop them before the 7th day.
Remember that if this is taken care of correctly the first time around it is less likely to come back as a problem later.

Thumperina said:

would you please explain how scratch is related to teeth?

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Apologies, I didn't mean that a scratch was related to teeth. I meant that a scratch should clear up with a little bit of time, and that if it didn't, it may be not be a scratch but something teeth related.

I'm glad that his eye is improving though

I've scratched my own cornea and it's definitely no fun!
I'm guessing they stained the eye to diagnose. Typically with a follow up they'll want to make sure the scratch is gone and hasn't turned into an ulcer or something similar. How much you'll be charged for a follow up depends on the vet; if you call them I'm sure they'll be able to tell you.

Be prepared for several weeks, if not longer, of treatment... corneal ulcers tend to heal a LOT slower in rabbits than they do in us, cats or dogs... usually an uncomplicated ulcer heals in 24-28 hours in most cats or dogs, but most of my rabbit patients take up to a month or more to heal... a lot more frustrating and lots more visits to the vets.. good luck! Pain meds (orally) are a really good idea.