Eye discharge: Normal??

In recent weeks, I've noticed that every two to three days or so, our rabbit has a bit of dried up goop in the corner of one, or both eyes.

It's white colored, and not particularly excessive. The 'goop' doesn't seem to stick to his eyes/glue them closed, he isn't especially weepy and his eyes don't appear irritated/inflamed (no swelling or redness). He acts completely normal, and his nose/ears also seem clean, and free of mites/infection. He is shedding like a sonova gun this year, but from what I've read, this can be the sign of upper respiratory infection.

Should I chance it turning into something, or take him to the vet?

Hi,

I think that if you are at all concerned then a trip to the vet may be best just to be on the safe side. I always say that if as an owner you feel that something isnt quite right - then you know your bun best and its best to get it checked out.

It could be nothing - but if there is something there, the earlier it is caught the better.

That said a lot of buns are in a crazy moult at the moment - Also, do you use wood shavings / Sawdust. This can often make their little eyes sore, and I would reccommend getting rid of it and just using newspaper.

I would suggest getting it checked just for piece of mind-it could be that at odd time bunny's tear duct isn't draining properly or there could be slight infection.

This is coming from a mummy whose bunny has an eye issue with non-draining tear ducts and has a month of eye drops...

"if in bunny doubt, check it out"

Stewie gets sleep in his eyes, but I don't think it's the same thing you're describing. Eye discharges can be related to teeth issues, so in this respct, I'd get him checked over, just to be safe. Keep us posted, I'd be interested to hear if it's anything or nothing

That said a lot of buns are in a crazy moult at the moment - Also, do you use wood shavings / Sawdust. This can often make their little eyes sore, and I would reccommend getting rid of it and just using newspaper.

Nope. He's a houserabbit. He has Softsorbent for his litterdish (changed/washed and dried once daily), and we line his cage with Carefresh (changed out once weekly).

FudgesMummy wrote:I would suggest getting it checked just for piece of mind-it could be that at odd time bunny's tear duct isn't draining properly or there could be slight infection.

This is coming from a mummy whose bunny has an eye issue with non-draining tear ducts and has a month of eye drops...

Lord I hope not. He's fussy enough when his mom or I have to clip his claws/clean dingleberries from his pom.

Jay wrote:Stewie gets sleep in his eyes, but I don't think it's the same thing you're describing.

That's actually what I thought it was, at first, but it keeps happening. If it was, say, once a week I might be less wary.

I will see about getting him in at the clinic. Hopefully, the most they'll tell me is he's a bit too chubby.


EDIT: Scheduled the appointment for Friday. They actually sound excited to see him.

I would definitely get it checked out. It might be just a mild case of a blocked tear duct, but often that can be a symptom of teeth problems. The roots of their molars are very close to the tear duct and sometimes can interfere with the irrigation of the eye.

I had a stray who had a weepy eye all the time I had him. He did have slight dental problems and even though he had his tear ducts flushed twice, it never really cleared.

It might just take a course of eye drops to clear up but getting him checked out for anything else is a good idea.

Girlfriend had me cancel the appointment because it's "no big deal" "he's just fine" and "he'll get stressed out for nothing". She's done rehab for a litter of wild rabbits, so maybe she's right, and I'm just seeing things where there are none.

All the same, I found the 'goop' in his eye yesterday, and the same eye today. I actually took a few minutes to take pictures of it, which I'll post as soon as I can. Let you all have a look...

I would certainly get the vet to check the eye just in case it's a dental problem, better to be safe than sorry.

I would have it checked out now if it was my bun, but if your GF wants to wait, I would keep a close eye (no pun intended) on the situation and make a decision after another days.

My bun did always have a runny eye that was constantly gunky, but by having him checked out I found that his teeth were problematic. Because of this, I was able to monitor his eating and take action when he seemed to have problems.