Where is the Scientific Merit in this?

When my friend brought my buns back the other day her new partner came with her to give us a hand and we got chatting about the rabbits, turns out he was a junior BRC breeder as a kid and used to specialise in Dwarf Lops and Nethies with his Dad (images of teeth and eye issues flashed before me).

He told me his Dad had a big problem with eye infections in his Lops and their vet told them it was incurable (Im guessing root elongation and scarring/obstruction of the tear ducts) and advised culling them, in the traditional sense of the word , which he did to 20 of his 'stock'. Apparently another breeder later informed him what he should have done was pinned each one down and spat in their eyes which would clear up the infection in a few days.

Apparently they did this and it works. Now call me a sceptic but.....

Methinks that sounds like an 'old wives tale'.........

A dollop of spit isn't going to unobstruct a nasolacrimal duct if its due to tooth root elongation. It might clear a clump of pus I suppose but.............

well maybe the bacteria in the saliva could help dislodge an infection but it's certainly a long shot and it's hardly going to stop recurring infections if the ducts are narrowed due to root obstruction...

I know there's a lot of "goodness" in saliva (hence why animals lick themselves to clean wounds etc) but why a rabbit would need human saliva when it has its own/other rabbits' is beyond me

hmmm

Won't be running that one by the vet any time soon.

Hmmm I can't see that being a plausible cure.

How odd, I have these really rancid visions of men spitting in bunnies' eye *erghh*