Weepy eyes – cause?
My 4 yo girl has weepy eyes. It first appeared about 2 weeks ago. It started with the right eye and the next day the left eye also got weepy and we took her to the vet. It's clear tear and she doesn't squint or seem to be in discomfort. All other behavior is normal.
The vet checked for visible dental or any other issue that could cause it, but nothing. Also given it appeared in both eyes together, she didn't think it's tear duct blockage related issue. She thought it could be an early sign of conjuntivitis and prescribed ofloxacin antibiotic eye drops.
My bun had it for ten days and it cleared. However, after three days, today, the weepiness returned to her right eye. The next vet appt is in two days.
One thing to note is that we have a bunny we are trying to bond her to and before my girl started to weep, they had a face-to-face session. We took a break while she was on medication, and resumed the face-to-face and the weeping returned soon after.
The other bun strangely seems to like to groom her eyes, a bit excessively. She jumps away at times but let him do it most of the time. He also seems to trim some hair around her eyes. If she had conjuntivitis, it did not transmit to him.
Could this grooming behavior have caused the weepy eyes? When I told my vet she didn't seem to worry too much (she saw him doing it while we were there).
Could the new bun have transmitted some bacteria? Or could his unusual grooming behavior indicate he sensed something is wrong with her eyes and was trying to help?
I'll consult my vet for medical advice but would like to get some collective community knowledge if anyone experienced something similar with their buns. Are there any tests or exam I should bring up to the vet?
Thank you!
by hindol21
3 Comments
It can happen for a variety of reasons and can become chronic. My bun has chronic weepy eyes. If she has had any respiratory symptoms, even if she didn’t get overly sick, it could have blocked both ducts. She could have roots that are too long on her teeth or allergies or dry eyes (sounds counterintuitive but you could try gel eye drops with No medicine or any kind and see if it improves).
I would get imaging at this stage personally to look at the internal tissue for infection. Not just around the eye socket but also respiratory, dental root, or ear infection visible on imaging
UPDATE from vet visit 2 (first was when she initially got the eye drop prescribed):
The vet hand examined around her eyes and the tear duct and didn’t find obvious signs of blockage. I asked if a tear duct flush or an X-Ray would help but we decided to rule out our new bun’s grooming factor first. She’s back on ofloxacin eye drops for 6 days and no face-to-face bonding session for a while to observe if the weepy eye returns.