3 Week Baby w/ Eye Infection

[shaylaurin]

Hi there!
I have a litter for dwarf hotot/lion head babies. 3 Weeks old & all healthy, happy, sweet & thriving! ...Except our sweet 'Dino.' Dino's eyes opened around the same thing everyone else's 12-14 days; one very healthy/normal looking, the other not so much.

Dino's eye has been a little limp looking, and does have a white discharge. I have searched all over for help and have tried the following:
(unfortunately, I have had a bad experience with the Vets here in Spokane WA and have yet to find ANYBODY who have experience and knowledge on domesticated, baby rabbits.)
-I use warm water & a q-tip to get out some of the discharge & to help keep the hair out of his eye. (Such a small area I am not comfortable snipping the hair off)
-I have been applying Vetericyn ophthalmic to the eye 1-2x a day.

I started doing this treatment Friday and have seen zero improvement. Please help! I am concerned he may have lost sight on this eye. He does weigh in the top of the litter and has started to munch on hay, pellets like the others, in addition to Mothers milk. Very curious & social...just has a sad eye.

Thanks, Shay

 

[Nancy McClelland]

See if there is a vet college near you, or start calling around till you find someone that is competent.

 

[Kyva]

I second Nancy. I may be new to being a bunny mom, but that really sounds like something that requires a vet. I actually had to call around quite a bit to find a rabbit savvy vet in my area. We have our first appointment with them later this week.

It's worth making those calls and the drive if it keeps your babies safe.

 

[JBun]

I've had problems using the vetericyn and prefer to use terrramycin ophthalmic ointment for simple eye problems. This can usually be found at feed or tractor supply stores, or horse tack shops. However, your bunnies eye sounds pretty bad and it would be good to take it into the vet. Here are some vet listings. If you can't find one near you on one of the lists, call around. You are looking for a vet that specializes in exotic animals and has lots of experience with rabbits.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f28/finding-vet-13366/
http://www.rabbitmeadows.org/shelter/vets.asp
http://exoticpets.about.com/od/ExoticsVets/a/Washington-Exotics-Vet.htm

This one says that they have an exotics vet. You'll want to call and see how experienced they are with rabbits though. You could also call the humane society and ask if they can refer you to a good rabbit vet. And in case the vet ends up prescribing oral antibiotics for this, a good rabbit vet knows that oral penicillin(and several other antibiotics) aren't safe for rabbits.
http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Antibiotics/Safe_antibiotics.htm
http://www.vcahospitals.com/north-division/services/animals-seen/rabbits

 

[DUSTBUNNY-CLYDE]

I bought terramycin ointment on ebay super cheap and they'll rush delivery!!

 

[tonyshuman]

It sounds like it could be a serious congenital defect that may make it necessary to remove the eye. It will probably cause him trouble constantly otherwise. I have heard of eye defects, especially in the smaller breeds, before. It maybe associated with one of the more unpleasant genetic traits that come up in small breeds sometimes. Good suggestions so far, but I'd have him seen by a vet soon in case the eye must be removed. In a not worse-case scenario, it could be his third eyelid is prolapsed or sticking out due to infection, making the eye look smaller. Treating the eye with the antibiotic ointment might clear it up if it is just infection, but eye problems can go very badly very quickly. Here's our list of WA rabbit-savvy vets. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f21/wa-rabbit-savvy-vets-10111/

 

[bigjake]

I also agree it may be a defect as well, I had the same issue with one of my flemish, she could not get better and at 6 weeks was just getting worse, she was the only rabbit out of 4 litters that had this issue, I ended up culling the the rabbit so as not to keep passing the defect along. This is important especially if your using them as future breeders.