Rabbit eye discharge

[BearBear2020]

Hi everyone, I have a 3 years old Holland lop named Bear. Since I adopted him in January, I've always notice that he would have dried white gunk on the edge of his eyes. I normally have to clean it every couple of days. But these last few days I've notice that the fur around his right eye was wet and matted. I tried to clean it last night but today it was wet again. I also could see white discharge coming from his eyes. His conjunctiva doesn't look inflamed, red or swollen. He is eating and acting normal. Other than his eye, he doesn't have any other symptoms.


Little more history:
I got him in January along with his bonded mate. His bonded friend died in April. Since then he has 3 episodes of GI stasis. I have no other pets and he has lived indoors the whole time. I feed him oxbow hay, oxbow pellets and vegetables.

If this continues, I will bring him to the vet. But, I am nervous that they will have to do a bunch of testing before they can diagnose him. Also, worried that treatment would cost a lot. I've already spent quite a bit of money on him recently because of his GI stasis so I'm not sure if I can afford all the testing and potential treatments. Hoping to hear other people opinion on what this might be. I am really hoping its something easy to fix like conjunctivitis. I also moved him into a new room couple weeks ago. Since then I've noticed he has sneezed a few times. Hes not sneezing that often but its just weird because before moving him into his new room, I've never ever seen him sneeze before. Is it possible he has allergies?

Thank you

 

[BearBear2020]

Here are photos of his eyes. You can't really see the discharge but you can see how his fur by his eye look damp and matted

 

[Mariam+Theo]

It doesn't look like conjunctivitis, so it may be a molar issue. I would get his molars checked out by a vet. Sometimes rabbits molars will not wear down properly and grow into the roof of the mouth, causing eye problems.

 

[BearBear2020]

It doesn't look like conjunctivitis, so it may be a molar issue. I would get his molars checked out by a vet. Sometimes rabbits molars will not wear down properly and grow into the roof of the mouth, causing eye problems.

Can you tell if rabbit has molar issues by looking at them or do you always need to x-ray? Since my rabbit had GI issues 3 weeks ago, the vet checked his teeth then and said they were fine.

Thanks

 

[Mariam+Theo]

Did they check his back teeth when they checked his teeth? Overgrown molars might have been why he got stasis in the first place.

Is the new room that he is in dirty, or is it clean (dust-wise).

 

[BearBear2020]

Did they check his back teeth when they checked his teeth? Overgrown molars might have been why he got stasis in the first place.

Is the new room that he is in dirty, or is it clean (dust-wise).

I'm assuming the vet checked the back teeth as well. She just said his teeth looked good. If he has overgrown molars, wouldn't he stop eating or eat less?

The new room is pretty clean. After my roommate moved out, we vacuumed the carpet and put plywood on top of it. So the one thing that is different is that I put out a bunch of hay for him. So he has hay available to him in 6 different locations. Not sure if its dusty because of the hay. But definitely weird that he sneezed a few times in the new room. I could try to clean the room more of stuff and see if that helps.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

If it was overgrown molars he would stop eating as much because of pain. If they did check his molars and said that they look fine, I would think it might be the hay.

 

[BearBear2020]

Thanks for the response. I removed some of the hay and cleaned up the room. I'll keep cleaning his eye every day. Hopefully it improves. I have a vet appointment scheduled for July 6th just in case things don't get better.

 

[JBun]

If it is white sticky discharge, that's a sure sign of an infection. It could only be eye irritation from dusty hay or debris in the eye, if the discharge was just clear. I would maybe try flushing the eye with plain sterile ophthalmic saline to get any possible debris out, but if that didn’t clear it up and/or there was definitely white sticky discharge, then I would for sure get it checked by the vet.

It could be just in the tear duct, or it could stem from a nasal or dental infection. Even though the vet checked the teeth, there could be infection below the surface. So it's possible xrays may be necessary.

 

[BearBear2020]

So I forgot to mention that earlier in the afternoon i saw multiple small whitish spots in Bear's eye. But when I checked again they were gone. I just noticed a few white spots again in his eyes (in different location), and they seem to change locations when he moves his eyes. It looks like its inside his eye but I'm not for sure. My bf thinks its just dust but I'm not sure.

The spot that I circled in the picture was one of the abnormal shaped ones, most of them where small and round.

 

[JBun]

If it moves around on the eye then it's going to be debris on the eye, most commonly it's a bit of bunny fur. If the spot were in the eye it wouldn't move.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Discharge/eye_discharge.htm

 

[BearBear2020]

If it moves around on the eye then it's going to be debris on the eye, most commonly it's a bit of bunny fur. If the spot were in the eye it wouldn't move.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Discharge/eye_discharge.htm

Thanks for the response. I am going to try to rinse his eyes with some saline to see if that helps. Any suggestions on what to use to clean his eye fur? We have been using cotton balls and saline but we are not sure if there is a better option. It just seem like even after we clean it, the area still feels like there is eye discharge on it. Not sure if we just aren't applying enough pressure while cleaning.

Also, is it okay to directly pour saline over his eye to try to get debris out?

 

[JBun]

If it is plain sterile ophthalmic saline, yes.

You can use saline on the fur too. Though if the fur keeps getting sticky and crusty, it is likely this is an infection, as regular tears are thin and clearish in color, not thick and sticky. And the thick crusty stuff can be much harder to clean off.