I just wanted to talk about a situation that I encountered with Chestnut in the hopes that it might help some other bunny owners.
Chestnut was experiencing tearing in one of his eyes. The secretions coming out of his eye were clear but they were bothersome to him. He would scratch his eye and it made his eye area red. Concerned, we took him to the vet, who told us to keep a close on it as Chestnut's eye area could become infected. We were advised to come back for a visit if the situation continued. The vet's recommendation at that point would be to have an x-ray done on Chestnut's tear duct and possible surgery. As Chestnut was a lop, they have a tendency to develop this kind of condition where their tear duct becomes squeezed by their facial bone structure. This whole experience was pretty scary for me. But I have to say that I am really glad that Chestnut's eyes stopped tearing and that we did not have to go the surgery or x-ray route. What we did was: 1. Change his litter more frequently: I normally change his litter every few days but I started to do this daily. I suspected that the ammonia from his urine might be irritating to his eyes. This worked until this summer came. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I was hit by really bad allergies this year. And it turns out, so was my dear bunny, Chestnut. This leads me to my next suggestions: 2. Close all the windows and remove dust: After I did this, my allergies began to improve and Chestnut's teary eye issue went away. I must add that on top of closing my windows, I used an air purifier with a HEPA filter to clean the air. 3. Reduce serving size of hay and put in a container: We all know that rabbits need unlimited hay. Usually what that means is we put a large amount of hay in their cage so they can eat it throughout the day. As I became more aware of my allergies, I started to wonder if the hay might not be impacting Chestnut. So I reduced the amount of hay I would give him and increased the frequency. Instead of giving him hay once in the morning, I would give him two smaller servings. I would also put it in a small bowl. Before that, I used a hay rack. Chestnut would rummage through the hay rack, picking the hay that he liked and leaving the unwanted bits on the floor of his cage. The benefit of the small bowl was that it kept the hay contained in it. Chestnut would go to the bowl when he wanted hay and there would be less hay dust and mess! The combination of these three, I am very happy to say, solved Chestnut's teary eye issue! While I would do anything for my rabbit, I really did not like the idea of him going through an x-ray or surgery. He wouldn't know what was happening or why it was happening. It still breaks my heart thinking about it! I must add that if your bunny does have teary eyes, it is really important to keep their eyes clean. Every morning and before I went to bed, I would take a warm, moist cloth and gently wipe his eyes. At first he did not like this and would try to hide, but after a while he very sweetly would lean his head on the doorway of his cage so I could easily clean his eyes. Another important thing is to keep your rabbits' cage clean too. I hope this article helps people whose rabbits may be going through the same thing. Vets know a lot of things and I recognize that there are indeed situations where surgery would be necessary. However, before you go that route, try these few things first to see if it does not fix the issue first. =)
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