Eye discharge

[Tero]

Greetings from Finland! This is my bunny Siiri, she's 2 years old continental giant.
Siiri has been on medication this whole summer because of that discharge from both eyes. There's no other symptoms. First she had chloramphenicol-ointment and then chloramphenicol-drops and antibiotic orally (trimethoprim/sulfadiazine, 2 weeks). The amount of discharge decreased but few weeks after medication it increased again a bit. Now she's had same antibiotic (trimethoprim/sulfa) for 3 weeks, ending next tuesday. If this won't help, our vet said earlier that Siiris tear ducts should be flushed then. Vet says that white discharge, even in small amounts, is not normal. Most of the time the discharge is very dry and very white small "blobs" in the corner of the eye and it appears few times a day.

What can this be? Siiri is shedding a lot now (needs brushing and plucking at least twice a day), can this be reason? I'm scared if this is pasteurella or something else serious. I just hope we don't have to go to the vet anymore because that long trip is very stressful for Siiri. I just emailed our vet about this again because antibiotics, even this longer 3 week treatment, isn't helping much. She said that it can be pasteurellosis but it can be also allergies. She also thinks that I shouldn't worry too much and if those "eye boogers" stays small and doesn't bother Siiri, I can continue cleaning Siiris eyes and put moisturizing drops to her eyes. If symptoms gets worse, then we should go to the vet.

Could it really be just allergy? Wouldn't there be watery eyes? Siiris discharge seems to be coming from the corner, so I think it comes from tear duct and I think normally allergic irritation would cause watering, itchiness etc. but Siiri doesn't have those.

I looked older photos of Siiri and noticed that she's had similar discharge earlier. I never noticed that, maybe I thought it's normal. But because our vet told me that it's not normal, I've been watching Siiris eyes hysterically and I'm so worried.

(Ps. Siiri has always had very visible 3rd eyelids on both eyes, just like our other giants has had, so I'm not asking about that, just worried about the discharge).

 

[Satrevino]

Hello,
I have a 1 year old holland lop for named Naera. She has had some eye issues, but not anything serious. Whenever I go to my other house, I bring her with me and her eyes start tearing when we get there, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. When I get to my normal house again they stop. I think it is allergies to something there. She also has eye boogers a couple times a week, but our vet has said it’s normal and not to worry. She’s had them all her life (since I picked her up at 8 weeks). I am not a vet or an expert, but the pictures you showed on Siiri’s eye discharge looks just like the normal ones I see a few times a week on Naera’s eyes, so I wouldn’t worry unless Siiri’s eye had a whole bunch of them or a really teary eye.

My phone has really bad camera quality so some of the pictures came out bad, but here of some pictures of her eyes on a normal day.

 

[Tero]

Thank you Satrevino! I've been so worried but now I feel a bit more relieved. I know some small eye boogers are normal, but because vet told me that white/whitish boogers are not normal, I got scared. Siiri has those every day few times a day and perhaps that really is not normal, but antibiotics are not helping much. Although, the amount has always been very small and there's never been any watering or something like that, just those white blobs in corner of her eyes.
I forgot to write earlier, but Siiri had red spot on the corner of her right eye (on the skin, not on the eye). Then I started watching her eyes and noticed that discharge and took her to the vet first time. There was a bit more of it than normally, but I'm not sure anymore because I noticed from older photos that Siiri has almost always had those boogers. I don't know why I didn't notice those earlier. Perhaps I thought it's normal until our vet made me paranoid.
Here's couple of photos. One with the red spot (photo taken in the end of May this year, that spot disappeared in a week with ab-ointment) and one photo where you can see that whitish "worm" in the corner of her eye (that was taken last year, so there really has been discharge for a long time).

To avoid irritation in Siiri's eye, I vacuum and clean our house every day. Maybe it's not enough because Siiri's moulting is unbelievable and we also have two African grey parrots, so there's feather dust in the air too.
Siiri's second round with trimethoprim/sulfa ends tomorrow. I hope there won't be more discharge after that, but if it increases, I have to her to the vet again.

By the way, I forgot to mention that Siiri was spayed over a year ago and she's had some level of moulting/shedding ever since because of hormonal changes. Siiri has very thick and fluffy fur, so there's a lot to shed. I wouldn't wonder if that might be the reason. But I'm not a vet, so I'm just quessing.

 

[zuppa]

Beautiful!

Ever tried rinsing her eyes with strong black or green tea (no sugar, use loose tea without any additions) once or twice a day. Tea is a perfect disinfectant and works for people as well.

Just a little warm or room temperature

 

[Catlyn]

Both my current buns and my previous one also had those small white boogies, our vets also said that it's completely fine, just gently clean it off and she's all good!

 

[JBun]

A little bit of white crustiness at the corner of the eye is normal, just like people get. If there is a lot and it's starting out as a sticky white discharge, that is a sign of infection. They can also sometimes get little blobs of fur in their eye that might be appear to be a whitish color, that can come out at the corner of the eye and might appear to be discharge, but has a very different appearance than infection has. If there is infection it will be white, thick, and sticky. If it's dried it will make the fur around the corner of the eye hard and crusty.

At least in the pictures you posted, that looks to be normal crusties to me and not an infection. Though I will mention something about the third eyelid. It does seem like it may be protruding more than you would normally see on a rabbit. Just be aware that this can be a sign of a heart issue, and with large breed rabbits like giants, heart issues can be a common genetic trait. The third eyelid protruding abnormally can sometimes happen when a rabbit is stressed, like when you are trying to handle them to take a photo. So if it doesn't normally look like that then probably nothing to worry about. But if your rabbits third eyelid normally protrudes most of the time, I would ask your vet about it if it's not something your vet has already checked out.

 

[Tero]

JBun: The vet told me that Siiri's discharge is not normal, just like you said that the color tells there might be an infection. Our vet is not experienced with rabbit (and I haven't found better vet anywhere near), but I emailed photo of Siiri's eye to one rabbit-expert vet and she also told that whitish discharge is not normal but luckily the amount of discharge is very small but if it increases, then I shoud have Siiri examined again.
Trimethoprim/sulfadiazine (orally) or chloramphenicol-drops aren't working. First I thought trimethoprim helped, but I think it just dried that discharge and it looked smaller because it's so dry. After first round with it, I asked if I could try something else like enrofloxasine or something, but the vet wanted to continue with trimethoprim. I also asked vet to take sample and do that bacteria culture thing, but for some reason she didn't do it.

You are right. Third eyelid shouldn't be so visible. When Siiri is very relaxed, it doesn't show much, but Siiri is very shy, nervous and easily scared and that's why those eyelids are showing, even when I try to take a photo. I've had 3 continental giants and they all had very visible third eyelids, so I think it might be something genetic because I've seen many giant rabbits in Finland with third eyelids showing.
I didn't know it be a sign of a heart issue. Thank you for telling me that! Siiri was 8 weeks old when I got her and her eyes haven't changed during this time, so if she has problems with heart, she's always had it. I mean, those eyelids are not a new thing and aren't related with this discharge issue. But I will ask about this issue, if I have to take Siiri to the vet again.

 

[zuppa]

JBun: The vet told me that Siiri's discharge is not normal, just like you said that the color tells there might be an infection. Our vet is not experienced with rabbit (and I haven't found better vet anywhere near), but I emailed photo of Siiri's eye to one rabbit-expert vet and she also told that whitish discharge is not normal but luckily the amount of discharge is very small but if it increases, then I shoud have Siiri examined again.
Trimethoprim/sulfadiazine (orally) or chloramphenicol-drops aren't working. First I thought trimethoprim helped, but I think it just dried that discharge and it looked smaller because it's so dry. After first round with it, I asked if I could try something else like enrofloxasine or something, but the vet wanted to continue with trimethoprim. I also asked vet to take sample and do that bacteria culture thing, but for some reason she didn't do it.

You are right. Third eyelid shouldn't be so visible. When Siiri is very relaxed, it doesn't show much, but Siiri is very shy, nervous and easily scared and that's why those eyelids are showing, even when I try to take a photo. I've had 3 continental giants and they all had very visible third eyelids, so I think it might be something genetic because I've seen many giant rabbits in Finland with third eyelids showing.
I didn't know it be a sign of a heart issue. Thank you for telling me that! Siiri was 8 weeks old when I got her and her eyes haven't changed during this time, so if she has problems with heart, she's always had it. I mean, those eyelids are not a new thing and aren't related with this discharge issue. But I will ask about this issue, if I have to take Siiri to the vet again.

Maybe try another vet to get second opinion?

 

[Auggie+Snowball+Belle]

Greetings from Finland! This is my bunny Siiri, she's 2 years old continental giant.
Siiri has been on medication this whole summer because of that discharge from both eyes. There's no other symptoms. First she had chloramphenicol-ointment and then chloramphenicol-drops and antibiotic orally (trimethoprim/sulfadiazine, 2 weeks). The amount of discharge decreased but few weeks after medication it increased again a bit. Now she's had same antibiotic (trimethoprim/sulfa) for 3 weeks, ending next tuesday. If this won't help, our vet said earlier that Siiris tear ducts should be flushed then. Vet says that white discharge, even in small amounts, is not normal. Most of the time the discharge is very dry and very white small "blobs" in the corner of the eye and it appears few times a day.

What can this be? Siiri is shedding a lot now (needs brushing and plucking at least twice a day), can this be reason? I'm scared if this is pasteurella or something else serious. I just hope we don't have to go to the vet anymore because that long trip is very stressful for Siiri. I just emailed our vet about this again because antibiotics, even this longer 3 week treatment, isn't helping much. She said that it can be pasteurellosis but it can be also allergies. She also thinks that I shouldn't worry too much and if those "eye boogers" stays small and doesn't bother Siiri, I can continue cleaning Siiris eyes and put moisturizing drops to her eyes. If symptoms gets worse, then we should go to the vet.

Could it really be just allergy? Wouldn't there be watery eyes? Siiris discharge seems to be coming from the corner, so I think it comes from tear duct and I think normally allergic irritation would cause watering, itchiness etc. but Siiri doesn't have those.

I looked older photos of Siiri and noticed that she's had similar discharge earlier. I never noticed that, maybe I thought it's normal. But because our vet told me that it's not normal, I've been watching Siiris eyes hysterically and I'm so worried.

(Ps. Siiri has always had very visible 3rd eyelids on both eyes, just like our other giants has had, so I'm not asking about that, just worried about the discharge).

If it’s coming from the tear duct like it is, consider getting her tear duct flushed. Also get her teeth checked as this could be the issue. It could be allergies as it’s coming from both eyes but I’m not positive. Also they can do this dye thing to see if it’s a problem with the cornea or something like that. I’m not sure they do this for rabbits but see if you could get her allergy tested. If all else fails and comes back fine, consider letting it be and if any other symptoms show up, taking her back to they vet. My rabbit, Snowball, has had chronic eye discharge in her one eye. The vet prescribed 2 rounds of antibiotics (pretty sure the same as yours) and it did the same thing as yours (got slightly better then came back). She got her tear duct flushed, teeth checked, cornea checked and has been closely monitored. Our vet said some rabbits are just like that . We are just watching her and if it gets worse or anything we’ll take her to the vet again.

 

[Tero]

If it’s coming from the tear duct like it is, consider getting her tear duct flushed. Also get her teeth checked as this could be the issue. It could be allergies as it’s coming from both eyes but I’m not positive. Also they can do this dye thing to see if it’s a problem with the cornea or something like that. I’m not sure they do this for rabbits but see if you could get her allergy tested. If all else fails and comes back fine, consider letting it be and if any other symptoms show up, taking her back to they vet. My rabbit, Snowball, has had chronic eye discharge in her one eye. The vet prescribed 2 rounds of antibiotics (pretty sure the same as yours) and it did the same thing as yours (got slightly better then came back). She got her tear duct flushed, teeth checked, cornea checked and has been closely monitored. Our vet said some rabbits are just like that . We are just watching her and if it gets worse or anything we’ll take her to the vet again.

Thank you! Yes, if Siiri's discharge increases, I will have those tear ducts flushed and teeth checked. I've heard some people have rabbits just like your Snowball. Symptoms but reason can't be found. Perhaps Siiri's problem is a same kind of mystery. This has been very stressful for me, because I'd like to know the reason. It's weird because the amount of Siiri's eye discharge has always been small and it hasn't gone worse (so far), but like our vet said, it's not normal either. Vet told me not to worry about this too much and if that discharge won't increase and if it doesn't bother Siiri, there's no need for a new examination or medication. Like in your case, I'll be watching Siiri's eyes closely and keep her eyes clean, and if there's more discharge or other symptoms appears, I will take her to the vet again.