Slippers has a runny eye

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bunniekrissy

bunniekrissy

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Slippers has a runny eye. I gave her more than 14 days of Baytril and it has not gone away, so I am taking her to the vet tomorrow. I believe the dosage on the bottle was rather low, so perhaps she needs a higher dosage, or maybe she has a blocked tear duct. In any case, I hope this clears up quickly. I have been wanting to start introducing the bunnies to my parents new puppy, but I have not been letting them see each other for fear of the puppy catching something.

I just got married September 5th so my parents had to give her the meds while I was away on my honeymoon. Not great timing, but when is there ever a good time for a sick pet?
 
Uh-oh. Did the Baytril improve it at all? If not, you probably need a different antibiotic. Hopefully they can flush the tear duct. You may also want to ask for an x-ray of the tooth roots to make sure that's not the cause of the eye problems.
 
Oh no!... I will be keeping Slippers-girl in my prayers!!! I hope it's something that can be treated easily enough... and nothing to do with teeth problems.
 
Ok, if the baytril helped, you can ask for injectible baytril instead of oral--it's stronger. Even better, you can ask for a culture and sensitivity test for the eye goop--that tells you what bacteria are there and what the best antibiotic is to treat them. Most infections that are susceptible to Baytril seem to also be susceptible to Pen G, but that is also injectible. You may not be comfortable doing injections. The only strong antibiotics that are not injectible are zithromax and chloramphenicol.
 
Update: The vet thinks Slippers has an eyelid/membrane infection (like conjunctivitis). She prescribed Ciprofloxacin eye drops to be given 3 times per day for 10 days. She looked at her teeth and did not see anything abnormal, and it does not appear to be related to a respiratory infection. Hope this works!
 
That sounds good! You should see improvement in just a few days--if not, a different antibiotic may be needed. Unfortunately, you can't tell how the tooth roots are without taking an x-ray, so it's best to rule out other possible problems (like an infection) before having the x-ray taken if cost is prohibitive or x-rays aren't readily available.
 
Thanks, tonyshuman. Hopefully it's an easily treatable infection, but we will certainly have an x-ray done to check the tooth roots if necessary.
 
Just wondering....how much experience does your vet have in treating rabbits? I have never used eye drops as a primary treatment.....and if the Baytril has already failed....certainly the drops will not work since Cipro has only very minor differences in coverage than Baytril. In simple terms (of a more complex issue) Baytril is the animal version of Cipro. Did the vet not stain the eye looking for an abrasion and/or ulcer?

And just a note on Baytril since most vets do not administer it correctly (keeping in mind that most dose based on dog protocols as it's labeled for dogs). In rabbits, Baytril will have a much better chance of succeeding if it's given by injection (preferably buffered sub-q), at a higher than traditional dosing and once a day. But Baytril is not used by most high end exotics docs any longer as they know it has lost it's edge. Baytril is not a front line drug here.

When I have a rabbit with only one eye weeping....my first thoughts are an abrasion/ulcer or a dental issue. It is impossible to properly diagnose a possible dental issue (as well as the presentations of the molar roots) without radiology.

Randy
 
The vet is experienced with rabbits, we've been bringing ours to this office for 10 years and they're on the HRS vet list, we see one of the two vets there that a rabbit rescue friend of mine recommends. The vet saw some sort of irritation/tiny pustules on the inside and edge of the eyelid.
 
Sad to say, after 4 days of the Cipro eye drops 3x daily, Slipper's eye does not look definitively better. I am supposed to give it for 10 days, but it should have helped by now, right? The discharge is milky white and there are also the tiny pustules on the inside of her upper eyelid. They are small whitish dots. Has anyone seen these before? The vet already pointed them out but I am curious what other might know. I am calling the vet tomorrow to make a new appointment.

Things I should ask about: x-rays of the tooth roots, flushing the tear duct, systemic antibiotics in addition to the drops, maybe injectable form. Anything else?
Thanks...

 
Ciprofloxicin is in the same family as enrofloxicin and I have no idea why a vet would try it after baytril failed. makes no sense as they are so similar.
You have all the issues correct.

possible tear duct flushing for an infected or blocked tear duct , dental xrays , another antibiotic

just my stories

Ihad a bun who developed an eye infection. it may have been scratched by another of my rabbits but at the time we thought it was tooth related.
Iwent to 3 different vets for eye meds ( bun was on bicillin also after dental work) and tried 3 different antibiotic drops.

My buns eye was deterioriating very badly and nothing worked andI eventually took him to a more specialized doctor in Madison.
it was at a point whereI was thinking of having him euthanized as he had to have his eye cleaned daily with sterile saline and it was painful; his eyeball was getting more infected by the day

the doctor gave me chlorampenical 1% antibiotic eye salve. it took 2 doses for me to see that this was the miracle drug . his eye cleared up and I still think back and can't believe that we finally found the correct medicine.

I also had a rabbit that got infections in his tear duct ; the pus would harden and the tears would overflow. He had to have regular tear duct flushes , get eye drops that were antibiotic and take an oral med also.

my friend had a lop who would get very red inflamed eyes when his molars needed to be trimmed.

eye problems can stem from many things.
 
Thanks for the information.

She said sometimes the localized eye drops penetrate the area better, and besides, she had not seen the bun regarding this problem before I gave her the baytril... I of course told the vet I'd given her baytril, but it was leftover from a past issue (respiratory infection) and I think it was a lower dose than I've seen prescribed before.
 
I do think another antibiotic is necessary. It reminds me a bit of something Tony had. He had what looked like a zit on his eye--red protrusion with a white tip, like a whitehead. It went away after a few days, but there's still a skin colored bump there. The vet said it might be a meibomian cyst. Here's the Medirabbit article: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Neoplasia/chalazion.pdf

They can be caused by bacterial infection, which is what sounds likely since there are several of them.

I think Slippers needs something like a Cloramphenicol eye drop, and/or systemic antibiotic, such as Bicillin (injected) and/or zithromax (oral).
 
Thanks, Tonyshuman. What's on slipper's eyelid does look like the picture in that article, just a fraction of the size and more of them. I will ask about other antibiotics.
 
I'd print out the article and take it to your vet in case it's been a while since they've heard of this condition. I hope they don't have to do a surgical removal of them and that a different antibiotic will be enough.
 
Well ... I talked to the vet. She thinks it is premature to give up on the cipro. She did suggest that if it still has not cleared up after she's been on the drops for 7 days we try injectable penicillin and some other type of eye drops.

She is also prescribing more oral baytril for the time being since I asked about combining the drops with something systemic, though she said oral baytril does not usually penetrate well for these types of problems.

I guess she must want to take a conservative approach...
 
Hmmm. Ok I guess. At least she knows about injectible penicillin and is willing to try it. The oral baytril will probably be worthless, IMO. Perhaps it's the difficulty of doing injections at home that make her hesitate to use injectible penicillin.
 
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