Buns has an eye issue

[jordangraceandidgy]

Okay so recap of last few weeks… Went to the animal hospital for a visit because she had a small red lump on her lower eyelid.. Kinda looks like a stye. Dr says it looks like a stye and gives me bauch&lomb neomycin eye drops. Didnt work, ended up getting bigger after a few weeks, only slightly… I took her a week ago to an avian/exotic clinic to see a vet who has saved her from GI Stasis and too much calcium in urine etc, very pricy but knows what shes talking about. She gives her metacam and an eye gel with neomycin. Went all the way through metacam, and halfway through gel and it hasnt improved AT ALL. I call her just now and she says eye issues are tough and she wants to have me bring her in for a full WEEK to do deeper cultures and whatever else fluids etc to treat the eye… Now im getting worried because even after just this one visit she went into full malt im assuming from stress and she really hates oral medicine. I dont know what to do and im wondering if anyone else has a buns with tough eye problems to help me out deciding what the next move should be. I dont want to leave her at the vet for a week nor do i want to spend all of my salary treating this eye through trial and error. Also wondering who may be in fort pierce/psl area that knows of these clinics because im considering taking her back to the first vet due to cheaper price and he has a “less is more” approach about things which i like, the second vet is thorough but also aggressive about treatments and at this point i feel like me and buns both are getting ripped off…

 

EDIT: LBJ here, I edited out the identifying information for the vets in question. If anyone is in your area and would like to help, they can send you a private message and you can give them the names of the vets that way. We don’t want BB to be potentially liable for something said on a public forum. Not that we think you or anyone else here would write “slanderous” things, we just want to be safe. I hope you understand.

[vanessa]

How badly is it bothering your bun? I believe there is a balance between poking and prodding for serious issues, and leaving minor ones alone. It’s true that apparently minor issues could be symptoms of a larger problem, and it’s hard to draw the line between them. If my bunny seemed unconcerned about an eye issue, I would leave it alone. Lancelot gets weepy eyes most of the time. I wipe his eyes with sterile solution, and when his eyelids get puffy and irritated, I use terramycin for a week. I have used it twice in 4 months. My “less is more vet” says he would prefer not to treat it if it is not getting worse. I sometimes take my bunnies to a more “aggressive and thorough vet”, who I’m sure whould also want to keep the bunny for a week and run this and that test. If the bunny is eating normally and doesn’t appear in pain (no inflammation or puffiness), I would honestly leave it alone. That is a personal decision, because I feel that poking and prodding for a minor condition, would be more stressful for my bunnies, than the benefits of treating that condition. Again – a personal decision. Guin also has a little sty on one of her eyelids. I’m watching it, I’ll use terramycin if it looks inflamed, but I don’t want to stress her out over a sty.

[LBJ10]

That’s a great response Vanessa. Thank you!

Can we see the eye in question? Perhaps someone will have an idea as the what it is if they see it.

[jordangraceandidgy]

She isnt bothered by it at all, eating fine, rubs her face still, i dont mess wih it because i dont know if shes hiding the pain though. To me it looks inflammed, its red and swollen but it looks to me like it on the outter part of her lower eyelid and not really on the inside. We took a culture and it came back negative for bacterial growth.

[jordangraceandidgy]

It wont let me upload it, says its too big

[jordangraceandidgy]

Also both vets said that they think its a sty

[LBJ10]

There are other things that resemble a sty, that’s why I asked. If the picture is too big, then you can open it in another program like paint and resize it. Pictures have to be less than 500kb.

Have you tried a warm compress? If it’s a sty, then the swelling should go down after a few days.

[Bam]

You can also use a free program called VarieDrop for big pix, it lets you make settings for a certain size and then you just drag and drop pix there. It’s very practical.
Or you can upload to an external source like photobucket and paste the link here.
I’m glad there was no bacteria!

[vanessa]

I open my picture in windows paint, then resize the pixels to 4000 to 500, which gets the size from 3mb to 80kb.

I’ll add – when I use the sterile solution, the bottle says – not for heat treatment. But I warm up the cotton ball in the microwave for 10 seconds, then apply the sterile drops to the cotton ball, and use that to gently press under/in front of the eye, and wipe the goo. That is my warm compress.
No bacteria? I like the compress idea. Antibiotics might not help if there is no bacteria. If inflammation is due to irritation (bunny wiping the eye because the stye feels itchy/foreign), then a compress might help more than antibiotics. Even if the inflammation is from a blocked pore – the warm compress will help unblock it. Antibiotics won’t. Give it a try – warm cotton ball with a sterile solution like a human eye contact lens fluid. Twice a day. When I first tried it on Lancelot he squinted. But the compress felt good, so now he sits contently as I treat his eye.

[jordangraceandidgy]

I actually was going to start the warm compress idea tonight. So a warm cotton ball? Also how long should i leave the compress on for? And how often each day?

[jordangraceandidgy]

This is the eye in question. It looks a little greasy due to the medicine were using. Its on the lower lid. Thankyou all, i really appreciate the concern and suggestions (:

[jordangraceandidgy]

You know what, i have no idea if the picture is showing up. All its showing me is a silly code. In going to post it on my profile picture

[vanessa]

Can’t see the pic, only the link. Click on the + sign to add the pic.
For humans, a compress for an eye stye is 10-15 minutes 2-3 times a day.I try to come close to that with my bunnies. I use the cotton ball while stroking the bunny, for as long as he/she will sit still, which is usually less than 10 minutes. 10 seconds in the microwave, and test the temp on your own eye. Each microwave oven has a different watt rating. So test to see how many seconds feels comfortable for your own eye, then get a clean cotton ball, and get it ready for your bunny.

[jordangraceandidgy]

Okay i clicked the plus sign…

[jordangraceandidgy]

[vanessa]

Good picture.
It came through on your profile, and in your post.
I had one of those on my own eyelid. It felt slightly sore and itchy and I wanted to rub it. Optometrist said it was a blocked pore on my eyelid, which is what we call a stye. He gave me a neomycin type ointment for infection, but explained that if there was no infection, the warm compress would be of most benefit, because the irritation and blockage would cause inflamation regardless of infection. Those things don’t clear up immediately with ointment alone. It looks to me like a pore blockage/stye. I would go ahead with the compress, and try to relax yourself, and relax your bunny. It doesn’t look that bad. You will probably find that your bunny finds relief in the compress.

[jordangraceandidgy]

Thankyou so much. I was really hoping to hear that it doesnt look as bad as i think haha.. Im a worry wart! I will try the compress in combination with the medicine and post an update sometime soon(:

[jordangraceandidgy]

Do you wet the cotton ball with water to retain heat before putting it in the microwave?

[jordangraceandidgy]

I also saw something on making black tea and using that or chamomile? I also saw something about using regular warm water… Is there something in tap water that wouldnt be safe to use?

[vanessa]

All mama’s are worry worts!
The liquid does help retain the heat. Somehow – the sterile solution heats up tremendousely. I haven’t tried it with tap water, because tap water isn’t sterile. After about 10 seconds, the cotton will cool down, and I microwave it for 2 or 3 seconds to get it warm again, and repeat. Sounds tedious, but it is small enough that I feel I have control over what I’m doing, instead of approaching bunny with a large scary looking compress the size of my hand. I pet hsi head and rub his eye. He seems to like it. I try to simulate how it would feel if his pal was grooming his face, because I want him to feel good. Not scared.

[vanessa]

I haven’t tried chamomile, although I have also read good things about it. When it comes to open wounds and eyes, I personally try to avoid tap water because it isn’t guaranteed to be sterile, and I don’t want to add infections. That’s not to say all tap water is bad. General first aid procedures favor sterile solutions over tap water. Since bunny closes his eyes when I put the wet warm cotton on, it might not be such a bad idea to use chamomile tea. But I’d still use distilled water instead of tap.

[vanessa]

If you are interested, look up your local water quality requirements. Tap water (even bottled drinking water) is allowed to have a certain amount of bacteria. That alone – makes it non-sterile.

[jordangraceandidgy]

I see what youre saying. It was confusing just because i put the dry corton ball in the microwave and as soon as i took it out it lost heat and as soon as i put the steril water on it the thing cooled off all the way and im like… Uhhhh haha, luckily mine is so content with whatever i do with her (aside from giving oral medicine) that she wouldnt mind if i approached her with a cloth.
So to keep the heat should i out it back in the microwave with the sterile water on the cotton ball or continue with dry cotton?

[vanessa]

Keep it wet – it retains heat longer. An easier method, since your bunny is ok with cloths, might just be to dip a cloth in a container of hot distilled water, wring it out (wash your hands first), and that will also keep the heat. When it cools down, dip it again. That avoids repeat trips to the microwave. Wet things retain heat longer than dry things. You might notice this when you microwave your food next…
I still like the cotton coz I can feel exactly what I’m doing.

[vanessa]

Speaking of which – Lancelot is so good with it. I just tried to get a cotton ball on Guin’s stye – not going for it. I’ll try again tomorrow.

[LBJ10]

I looked at the pictures. It really does just look like a swollen spot. I can see why the vets think it’s a sty. Thank you for posting the picture, it might prove helpful for someone in the future searching about a similar issue.

I think Vanessa’s method is good. I would do it for as long as your bunny will tolerate it. Some bunnies seem to like it, others not so much. If you can do it a couple times a day, that would probably be better too. Give it a try and let us know how it goes. If the swelling doesn’t go down, you might want to explore it more. Also wanted to mention that I have never had luck with eye ointments for anything. They seem to make more of a mess than actually get in or on the eye. I’ve always had better luck with eye drops. Not sure if that’s available for what you’re giving your bunny. If it is though, the drops might get in there better because the spread out over the eye and go behind the eyelid (I know the bump is on the outside edge, but the liquid will also settle along the edge of the eyelid as well).

[jordangraceandidgy]

I tried the distilled water with the rag this morning and it worked very well. Buns didnt seem to mind at all, sat nicely for the whole 10 minutes and after a while it kinda seemed like she was leaning into it so im hoping thats because it felt good! Thankyou for the good advice im really hoping this thing goes away soon (:

[LBJ10]

Glad to hear she likes it at least. Keep us updated.

[jordangraceandidgy]

Quick update! After only a few days of using the warm compress we are already seeing improvements (:

[LBJ10]

That’s great!

[vanessa]

Fantastic! So happy to hear 🙂

[jordangraceandidgy]

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say thankyou again for the advice! we started with the compress twice each day and changed it to 3 days on and 3 days off to give it a break… I find that the method of giving the break for 3 days has helped even more and it is almost completely gone!

[jordangraceandidgy]

It has been a very long process of trying to get this thing to go away but im happy i was able to save buns the stress and me the money of taking her back to the vet! Still have about 1/4 if the medicine left which i will continue to use until its all gone like it tells me to… Probably still going to use the compress for a little bit once its gone too to make sure that it stays gone

[LBJ10]

So you’ve seen significant improvement? That’s good. It’s been 3 weeks, so I would be worried if it hasn’t improved at all by now.

[vanessa]

Fantastic 🙂
LBJ10, I find that with Lancelot – he needs a compress routinely. It never completely clears up. It doesn’t look like a sty though – just gets weepy eyes. It sounds to me like a blocked tear duct, so I use the warm compress, and twice I’ve used antibiotic ointment, but the stuff is messy. He had a weepy eye when I brought him home, and his humane society vet called it a response to his eye ulcer. My current bunny vet says it could be environmental, and advises minimal treatment. So I dab it dry when it gets weepy, and I use the warm compress a few times a week. Persistent though. Very persistent. WAAAAYYYY better than when I brought him home. He use to have crusty fur on his face all the way down to his chin, and crusty paws, from wiping his eyes. \
I think I’ll also try the 3 on/3 off Jandidgy.

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