Prolapsed Tear duct/ Cherry eye

[Zencry]

Looking for advice and stories of personal experience with prolapsed tear ducts (cherry eye) in rabbits.

 

Hi all, and thank you in advance to anyone willing to spend the time to read this and share their thoughts.

My bun is a 5 year old 7 month female (spayed) lop mix. A few months back I noticed a small lump under the bottom eyelid in the corner of her eye and rushed her to the vet thinking cancer and cursing myself for not having noticed the area earlier. The vet explained to me that this wasn’t cancer, it was a prolapsed tear duct and they happen very quickly. Cagalli was a little teary but overall it seemed to be very cosmetic so i was given some ointment and spent the next few months keeping a close eye on the area.

About twelve days ago the area worsened really quickly and the discharge from hey eye became sticky. I brought her back into the vet who prescribed some non medicated ointment (as the bun is now having issues closing her eyes all the way) to keep the area from drying out and some metacam for any discomfort, and referred me out to an opthamologist. Of course, the day after the appointment with the vet, her other eye started looking exactly as the first eye did months prior when this all started.

side note: through this all it kept being brought up that we wanted to avoid surgery at all costs because of the risk of anesthesia.

I managed to get an appointment with the eye specialist on thursday and they aspirated the area. She mentioned that there were a lot of fat cells in the material she collected and she was reaching out to other opthamologist to get other opinions and would get back to me monday. In the mean time talking to Cagalli’s normal vet it comes out that the opthamologist was throwing the idea of a thynoma around. (panic)

So the vet did get back to me today and it seems we’re throwing out the idea of a thynoma and she would like to move forward with the cherry eye procedure. which brings me to why i need advice and information from you lovely people. From what I understand prolapsed tear ducts aren’t common in rabbits. There is a risk as rabbits and anesthesia aren’t the best combination. The same surgery in dogs isn’t always successful so there is a chance we’ll end up right back where we started and the procedure is really expensive (i was quoted $1600). I was told that it’s not an emergency to get it done but not doing so means cleaning and putting ointment on her eye every four hours for the rest of her life, and having her eyes be uncomfortable.

The cost is a big concern, even though i wish it weren’t. I’m a disabled individual and when i receive financial aid to care for myself, I’ve already gone through most of my emergency fund bringing her to various appointments and buying medications. plus, money aside, the idea of her having surgery scares me.

Does anyone here have and experience or information that might help? I’d love to hear it.

Best wishes all.

[jerseygirl]

Welcome Zencry. I’m sorry you and the bunny are dealing with this!

So the vet did get back to me today and it seems we’re throwing out the idea of a thymoma

Was a chest X-ray done? Or, in the very least, the “wheelbarrow test” where they raise the hind quarters while observing if any change to eye or thirdeyelid?

[Zencry]

No a chest x-ray wasn’t done and her normal vet did admit that they idea of a thymoma was thrown around because they were widening their view on what it could be since they didn’t know what was going on. Her primary vet never thought that is was a thymoma but had mentioned a chest x-ray to eliminate it but the specialist dismissed the idea before she even got back to me. The wheelbarrow test wasn’t done. I’m unfamiliar with what that is supposed to show/indicate but I will mention it to the vet. Is this something i should do at home or will that needlessly stress her out?

And thank you for taking the time to reply to my post Best wishes.

[Moe's Mom]

We have been dealing with cherry eye for a couple of years with our mini fluffy lop, Moe. The first vet visit the Doctor put him under and removed what he could to make it smaller. Eventually it started getting bigger and now both eyes are affected. This time they got big quickly and he has goup in the fur under his eyes that turns to cement very fast. I read that putting Ophthalmic saline solution in that fur can help make cleaning that fur a lot easier. I haven’t tried it yet because I am afraid of getting the wrong solution. The vet really doesn’t want to put him under again because he is 10 years old. He’ll be going back to the vet to see if we have any options besides putting him under.

[jerseygirl]

Posted By Moe’s Mom on 11/19/2016 7:52 PM
We have been dealing with cherry eye for a couple of years with our mini fluffy lop, Moe. The first vet visit the Doctor put him under and removed what he could to make it smaller. Eventually it started getting bigger and now both eyes are affected. This time they got big quickly and he has goup in the fur under his eyes that turns to cement very fast. I read that putting Ophthalmic saline solution in that fur can help make cleaning that fur a lot easier. I haven’t tried it yet because I am afraid of getting the wrong solution. The vet really doesn’t want to put him under again because he is 10 years old. He’ll be going back to the vet to see if we have any options besides putting him under.

It’s not uncommon for rabbits of that age can be put under but I do understand the trepidation! You could have some bloodwork down that will give vet idea of how well he’ll do under anaesthesia. I believe using gas is quick and they recover quicker also.
I recommend you get a chest X-ray done also, like I suggested to previous poster, to rule out any mass in the chest. Though, it seems like the problem with your rabbit has been slower onset and just on one side for a while. Still, I’d mention to your vet if he/she thinks chest X-rays worth while. Possibly scan to check if anything is going on behind the eyes also?
Do his eyes bulge at all? Or do the appear smaller then in years past? Older rabbits can have smaller looking eyes. If the eyeball is physically smaller, that may cause the third eyelid to show more…

How is the for looking under the eye? My only concern with saline solutions is the pH is not always best for rabbit skin and may cause some for loss. This is something I only learnt of in the past year. I always had though saline was gentle and wouldn’t be a concern. Perhaps the ophthalmic version is better suited for rabbit skin?

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