Creeping goopy hay eye??

[EnglishSpot]

My last bale of hay was EXTREMELY dusty and my NZR buck Enderman came up with a raging case of goopy eye that lasted until that particular bale ran out, no matter how much shaking it out I did. No sneezes, no mucus out the nose, no matted paws.

Hay change, and zwoop, eye issue clears right up! No problem! But.... the buck in the cage to his right, Trooper, now has two goopy eyes! No sneezing, no matted paws. But it showed up with the new hay change-over. Could this be a case of creeping something??? No other rabbits are showing signs of this and Enderman's left side cage partner, Wheatley, never showed a goopy anything.

I will post pics after I clean out the cages.

Cage layout, two levels, one above the other.

: Wheatley : Enderman (original goop) : : Trooper (new goop) : : Rainy & kits :
: Heaven & kits : : Clue : : Megan :




As you can see, the discharge has dried to powder today and there is no more liquid discharge. I wiped his eyes with chamomile tea after I took the pictures in case there was other irritations. I also changed the style of his hay feeder in case he was getting poked in the eyes going after it. Trooper has had a history of eye boogers in the past, but this was nothing like that. I moved his shade to the side of his cage since that's the side that looks right at Rainey and her kits (I know, closing the barn door after the horse escaped) so there could be no sharing of whatever germies, if this is a germ case.

Thoughts? Reassurance?

 

[alforddm]

I'm sorry I don't have any words of advice. I saw no one had replied and thought I would bump this back to the top since it seemed to have been missed.

 

[imajpm]

Yeah I don't have much to add either My only experiences with an eye like that are limited. One weepy eyed kit. One doe with a piece of hay stuck in her eye, and one buck who looks like yours. He has allergies and his eyes do that every spring/summer when the pollen starts to fly, and when the fans go on. His is not contagious but I removed him from the breeding program and kept him as a pet.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Thanks for the replies of encouragement, I do appreciate that!

Today no goopy eyes, but still "dusty"? I guess it's a wait and see!! <br /><br /> -- Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:14 pm -- <br /><br /> Trooper is back to runny eyesand now fur is coming off at the corners. There is no sneezing or matting on his legs and no boogers. I've taken the hay out of his cage in case he's having a reaction.

Those who have had pasturella, is this what their runny eyes looked like?

 

[Miss M]

I think Pasteurella eyes do whitish goop, not clear moisture.

The fur is coming off because the skin is staying wet.

Removing the hay is a good test. Hopefully, that's all the issue is.

 

[EnglishSpot]

I removed the hay and isolated Trooper across the room four days ago.

He's not sneezing.
There is no pus snot.
There isn't any matting on his front legs.

His eyes are still running.
He's still losing fur on his face.
The run-off that dries in his fur is like the pictures above.
****THIS IS NEW****
He's getting lethargic!!!

He cleans up his daily food ration and he gets ACV water. I wipe his eyes with a warm cloth and apply neomycin antibacterial ointment to them, which seems to help for a little bit but not long.

Any other suggestions what to do???

 

[Nika]

What do you feed instead of hay? You know how "well" rabbits respond to stress, and absence of hay which was always available could lead to stress. Also, hay is one of the important compositions of a healthy diet so maybe there is something going on in his digestive system. Is he pooping normal?

Did you checked his teeth yet? Runny eyes are often a symptom of dental issues.

This doesn˙t sound like pasturella to me.

 

[EnglishSpot]

I haven't checked his teeth. I took away hay since I thought it might have an allergen in it. He's pooping and peeing normally.

 

[imajpm]

Oh no Lethargy is not good at all. It could be teeth but having multiple buns with this, I don't know. Is there any chance that your feed is contaminated? You'll have to watch for stasis. The buck I euthanized for sudden lethargy, and hunched pain posture was in the early stages of stasis, but it was his liver that was shot so the stasis was just secondary.

 

[EnglishSpot]

His teeth that I can see are okay. The lethargy isn't any worse, but if Trooper's prior activity was a 10, then he's a 5 right now. He's interested in food, poops normally, pees in his litter box. I've withheld the hay but have given him some dried willow to nosh on. I cleaned up his eyes again today and applied more neomycin, which seems to be helping the hair loss.

I did switch feeds (still Manna Pro and the same protein percentage, but went from Small World to Manna Pro Gro) right about the time he came down with this... but I mixed the foods for days prior and didn't see anything starting then.

Trooper is the only one of the rabbits like this since I culled Enderman (and what's left of him is in a pot for soup right now). I'm almost through that first bag of Manna Pro. Should I switch him back to Small World and see if that makes a difference????

 

[imajpm]

I don't think it would hurt to try the old feed again. It may be coincidence but I hate coincidences. Here is an ingredient chart. I think both your feeds are on here and there are some ingredient differences. I just have the one rabbit with pollen/dust allergies but maybe some of your rabbits are sensitive. It could be completely unrelated too. Mystery health problems are so frustrating

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Rabbit_Pelle ... ison_Chart

 

[EnglishSpot]

I think I will get a small bag for Trooper and see if it makes a difference. I'll keep y'all posted. :smiley: <br /><br /> -- Thu Mar 10, 2016 6:58 pm -- <br /><br /> So I got a bag of old food for Trooper and his eye mostly cleared up, but was still a little teary. Then last week I gave him some of the Manna Pro Pro again and the next day his eyes were a royal mess again!!

So two days ago I pulled the pellets from him entirely and am feeding him oats, flax, some sunflower seeds, and all the hay he can eat. The creeping gooey hay eye is GONE. No more watery eyes and hair loss. Heck, if this keeps up, he might be ready to show at the end of this month in Canton!!!

What else do I need to feed him to balance his nutrition?


(I'm discontinuing buying the MP Pro--it smells funny and I don't think the rabbits really like it, they don't clean out their food bowls unless they're really hungry--the hay is gone first.)