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kmtangelkrystal

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my two males got into it again and my grey rabbits eye is scratched and getting infected. we put him in a cage yesterday to prevent him from getting dirt in it but i have a problem,i can't go to the vet. i don't have the money to take them, and i can't wait until the middle of next week for pay to do something about this. i tried my mom and asked her if she could spot me but she is behind on bills, and the only other person i can rely on thinks that taking rabbits to the vet is a joke... so i was hoping i could get some suggestions on what to do to help stop it from getting infected worse.

i feel awful for this guys, i took off school today to make sure i could get an appointment if i could get someone to help money wise because he needs help fast, now that my plan is shot to hell i just need to know something i can do to help keep it clean. please.. i beg you
 
What do you mean, his eye is scratched- his actual eye, or around his eye? because I think that would really change the advice given.

Jen
 
his actual eye
i could post pictures but he won't hold still enough for them.

his eye has patches of fur gone around it, some of the fur is matted in the corner of his eye, the little part of his eye ball you can see is glazed over. there is white ooze and yellow puss now coming out of the eye socket. and its pretty much matted closed.
ill go out and try to get pictures right quick so it can help you guys.
 
11rx109.jpg


 
Oh my- that doesn't sound good at all.

I'm really not sure there is much you can personally do without seeing a vet.

Pictures would be really helpful.

Hopefully someone with more experience will come along soon.

Jen
 
Oh dear...that looks really infected. I worry that perhaps he may go blind in that eye if this isn't sorted.

How long has it looked like that?

Is there no way you can take him to the vet, and owe them the money? With my vets, they just send a bill at the end of the month, if they have your credit card details. I know that because I walked out accidentally one time and forgot to pay, so they just sent me the bill at the end of the month- quite routine for them.

Jen
 
well we have no money to pay them with.. i'm in such a fix here its not even funny... thats why i wanted to know if i could mabey put some antibiotic cream and a bandage over his eye so make sure no dirt got in it and made it worse.. the vets in town have been known to do some messed up stuff with small animals too.. trenton missouri is very small, we have two vets and both get bad credibility from this type of thing.. don't get me wrong i would take them if i could.... i feel so bad.. and my bf is pissed because of the money issue..

i have .5 rabbits (all well except this one) two dogs and a cat, and we do good to keep them healthy, and the boys seemed as though they stopped fighting until last night
 
Where are you located? (Can you put your location in your profile?)

Can you get to a feed store to get some injectable penicillin? I'm not sure if you can use a triple antibiotic eye ointment, I'm assuming you can, not sure it will do any good but let me check.

Are they fixed? Non-neutered Boys will fight to the death.

ETA: Just saw you had your location in the above post, thanks.


sas :(
 
Personally, I'd keep him in a cage on his own and put a bandage of some kind, something like gauze... Something soft enough that it won't put any pressure on the eye. See if the swelling goes down by tonight. If he appears to get worse, I'm afraid a vet would be my answer, too. =
If you can't get the vet office to bill you for something, then try working something out with them. I know my vet is especially nice.. They'll pretty much work out everything with you if you need it. You may not be as lucky, but you might be able to get some advice on how to cut the expenses... Try asking them if you can pay a slight copay then pay the rest later, when you can, or have them just bill you the rest... Or finding out if he'll need ongoing meds that you can maybe get (or might even already have) cheaper elsewhere. I think the best idea at the moment's to call the vet and ask them if there's anything that can be done. Tell them the situation. They might be more willing to help after listening to a sob story. >.>;
 
not a sob story,,,at least i'm not like my bio mom and think it;s a waste of money
 
I wouldn't worry about a bandage. Its possible and even likely that the pus is coming from under the eyelid or the 'third' eyelid and not the eyeball itself.

Can you wipe it gently with some contact lens saline solution?

You should be able to get antibiotic eye ointment (or drops) from a pharmacy, that will at least get you started.


sas :clover:
 
well i looked him over carefully, where his fur is matted there is a cut in the corner of his eye.. i don't know about the puss.. it it supposed to look like eye boogers?

we have eye drops and cream, and some of the contact solution so should i go on ahead and clean it up the best i can and apply the drops?
 
kmtangelkrystal wrote:
not a sob story,,,at least i'm not like my bio mom and think it;s a waste of money
Eh.. I didn't mean 'sob story' in a demeaning way. I meant... the vet might be more willing to help from hearing your problem- being more compassionate over the upsetting story. "Sob story" isn't just a term used as sarcasm. I'm sorry if it came out that way.

My mother thinks cage pets are not vet pets, either. So.. I understand what you mean there. = My parents are hard-set: Dogs and cats go to the vet. Nothing else.

Hamsters, rats, rabbits, they're all the same to my folks. = I imagine it sounds the same to them as the thought of bringing a goldfish to the vet. ><

 
Can you get to someplace that sells Terramycin? It's sold in feed stores, and runs about $15. It's a medicine you put on the eye to help infections.

I use that for my rabbits with weepy-eye...I'm not sure if would help with your rabbits' eye, but there is a possibility it might.

Emily
 
Teramycin eye drops might help, true. Look for them at the farm store. It would be good to have a topical antibiotic (applied directly to the eye) and a systemic (inside the body) one at the same time to really get this under control.

I would also seriously look into injectible penicillin g procaine/penicillin g benzathine. It can be purchased without a prescription at many farm supply stores in the refrigerated medicine case. Make sure it is a combination of penicillin g procaine and penicillin g benzathine. You will also need syringes with needles, 1-2mL size should be good. Another thing you need is sterile saline for injection, or Lactated Ringer's solution. If you can't find that, from a vet, farm store, or human pharmacy, PM me. There are videos on how to do a sub-cutaneous injection (under the skin) and you'll have to give them every other day. Make sure not to get any of the medicine on the bunny's fur and that the needle hole seals itself back up quickly. Ingesting the medicine, even licking it off the fur, can be fatal. It's ok to give via injection because it only does its damage on the GI tract and when you give it via injection you avoid most if not all of that.

Also, eye infections are incredibly painful. You can purchase infant motrin (ibuprofen) drops at the pharmacy and give that. If you have any other stronger pain meds lying around from previous rabbits/previous illnesses, they would be better. Just remember never to give a bunny tylenol (aka acetaminophen/peracetamol)

We had a bunny come in to the shelter with a similar issue. He had a small scratch on his eye from the day he was bought. The owner didn't think it was anything to worry about, and it got worse and infected. She took him to the emergency vet when his eye ruptured. The eye had to be removed, and the owner could not afford the surgery, so she signed him over to the Humane Society, who paid for the operation.

Here's our library link on eye issues:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14567&forum_id=10

This link is to a good site with many eye diseases mentioned--read specifically about corneal ulcers and white eye discharge:
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Eye_diseases_main.htm

This article mentions how to administer bicillin (penicillin g procaine/benzathine)
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~jwmoore/bicillin/bicillin.htm

Also, use sterile saline for contacts--not contact solution. Rinse the eye with this daily, preferably before applying the teramycin or triple antibiotic ointment.

I know you cannot afford a vet right now, but this guy is really suffering. What we've mentioned is pretty much the only home treatment you can do and it needs to be started right away. Vet assessment and guidance for this treatment would be optimal, but we understand that it isn't always possible.
 

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