Eye....don't know what this is! (Resolved, ty!)

[Deer Heart]

This girl is my California cross named Eleanor Rigby. I've had her about 2 months now and saw no signs or symptoms anything was coming. When I went to feed her yesterday morning. Well. I found half her face suddenly swollen quite large (see attachment as I can't get gallery to work).

The eye is swollen almost completely shut and misshapen, there is clear discharge like tears. What most startled me though was the golf ball sized lump on her head, where her "brow" is.

I immediately pulled her from her cage and placed her in a bath tub for "quarantine" as she was in a 3 hole cage at the time, right below a second 3 hole cage (all occupied by my pb NZW :|). I scrubbed and hozed the cages and went to town with vinegar spray and will not be using that cage again for months... but I'm still worried.

I honestly thought she was stung by a bee or wasp as stinging insects are extremely active right now, but the swelling hasn't gone down that I can tell since yesterday. She's active, eating, pooping, and drinking but not as destructive as she usually is.

Some history on Eleanor; She is my most destructive rabbit (AKA more clever than her own good) About 2 weeks ago she figured out how to escape her old cage and after finding her hanging out under my car, moved her to the cages alongside my NZW. She immediately figured out how to reach and shred the automatic water system (even with the setbacks). No other rabbit that has been in that cage managed this, but she did in two places - one of which almost chewed the tube in two. After much cursing and getting bruised to hell last weekend, I repaired the watering system but she has clearly made more attempts on it since then. She has toys (wood chews, fodder, alfalfa cubes, and wild blackberry "branches") which worked well for curbing boredom in all the other rabbits - but she wont even touch these things. She prefers to play with her cage instead (will even push these things out of the cage and into the manure collection so I can't even reuse them :|) ANYWAY. Could this possibly be caused by overzealous cage destruction too?

There are no rabbit vets in my area but if this isn't treatable I plan to cull anyway. Any thoughts for basic treatment or should I end her suffering?


Edit: Forgot to mention the swelling is not just at her brow, that is just where it's the most prominent. Her face is swollen completely on that side of her head, her cheek and even her "lip" to her nose is swollen. Watching her head on is very weird. because her entire right side of her face (our left) is larger than the other side by a very notable margin.

 

[Dood]

Well without feeling it I cannot say if it is swelling from trauma - like banging her head on the ceiling of her cage - or infection.

Can you pluck the hair around the area to find a scar that could be a healed puncture wound that is now sealing in the puss?

 

[Deer Heart]

Well without feeling it I cannot say if it is swelling from trauma - like banging her head on the ceiling of her cage - or infection.

Can you pluck the hair around the area to find a scar that could be a healed puncture wound that is now sealing in the puss?

Hmm, I looked and looked but could not find any mark on the skin, let alone any scabs. I tried to look at the eye itself. It looks like her actual eye is pushed back by the swelling. There is no apparent disharge though other than the clear moist tears. I got better pictures to show the widespread swelling (no that is not exaggerated) and the eye itself.

 

[Susie570]

Poor baby. You say she's eating and drinking ok? First thing I thought of would be a tooth abscess, but I don't think she would be eating well. Any evidence of an ear issue on that side? If you knew if was pus, you might be able to drain it. Otherwise, wait and see I guess? :/

 

[Deer Heart]

Poor baby. You say she's eating and drinking ok? First thing I thought of would be a tooth abscess, but I don't think she would be eating well. Any evidence of an ear issue on that side? If you knew if was pus, you might be able to drain it. Otherwise, wait and see I guess? :/

Thank you! These were not things I considered. Her ear seems fine, it is the only thing not swollen actually and I can't seem to find any discharge or smells but I wont know for sure without an otoscope ... which I might need to check her teeth, too. Anyone know if CVS carries these and what aisles? I'll buy one first thing in the morning when they open to check both out properly (I really can't see in her mouth past her incisors without her squirming at me in annoyance, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility!)

EDIT - If it is either of these things, what would you suggest while I'm over in town? Tooth is a bit concerning to me as I can't imagine I'd be able to fix that.

 

[Susie570]

That I don't know except to say that any sort of infection may respond to antibiotics. You would have to get info from others as to what type would be best (safest). A tooth issue might be controlled by filing them if necessary, but I'm not sure how practical that would be for a back tooth. :shrug: it would be ideal if you could get an X-Ray or something to see what is going on.

 

[Deer Heart]

That I don't know except to say that any sort of infection may respond to antibiotics. You would have to get info from others as to what type would be best (safest). A tooth issue might be controlled by filing them if necessary, but I'm not sure how practical that would be for a back tooth. :shrug: it would be ideal if you could get an X-Ray or something to see what is going on.

Yeah, alas the only brick and mortar vet in my area only treats cats and dogs and the livestock vets only do cattle and equine (and in some cases cats and dogs too). I'm going otoscope hunting tomorrow so I can at least get a better picture of what is happening to Elanor. At least what we lack in vets out here, we more than make up for with feed stores. Wouldn't be the first time I've had to use injectable antibiotics on rabbits, either. I just want to be sure before I stress her system and possibly make it worse

 

[Miss M]

I'm thinking it could still be a sting, though.

I hope you get it figured out soon!

 

[JenerationX]

It could be an insect bite or sting. If it's something you're sensitive to any sting near the eye area swells beyond belief and can take several days to even start to go down. I missed a week of school when I was little for a yellow jacket sting near my eyebrow. The next time I got stung I ended up at the hospital.

Is there something like benadryl for rabbits?

 

[Deer Heart]

It could be an insect bite or sting. If it's something you're sensitive to any sting near the eye area swells beyond belief and can take several days to even start to go down. I missed a week of school when I was little for a yellow jacket sting near my eyebrow. The next time I got stung I ended up at the hospital.

Is there something like benadryl for rabbits?

After a bit of searching, apparently children's benadryl can be used for rabbits (I already use it for my dog). At least her breathing does not seem to be obscured in any way. She is still eating and drinking normally though I may need to use larger dishes, she completely emptied her emergency food and water crocks last night :roll: and ate half her alfalfa cube (she is not a fan of these anyway).

The swelling looks like it may have gone down slightly last night. She is actually able to open her eye on her own this morning, but only slightly.

 

[Miss M]

Okay, good! Keep us posted! :clover:

 

[JenerationX]

Eating and drinking is a good sign. Hopefully it goes down in the next day.

I used to have a boxer who decided before I'd even named him to try and eat a bee. He looked like he'd been on the losing end of a fight with Mike Tyson and even with the Benadryl it took about 48 hours to start looking much better. He hid behind me every time he saw a bee for the rest of his life. :lol: Little did he know I'm allergic too.

 

[Miss M]

:lol:

 

[Deer Heart]

Eating and drinking is a good sign. Hopefully it goes down in the next day.

I used to have a boxer who decided before I'd even named him to try and eat a bee. He looked like he'd been on the losing end of a fight with Mike Tyson and even with the Benadryl it took about 48 hours to start looking much better. He hid behind me every time he saw a bee for the rest of his life. :lol: Little did he know I'm allergic too.

Dogs are great fearless protectors, eh :lol:

Welp, after hunting all over for an otoscope (no one has these out here apparently, I will need to shop for one on Amazon asap for next time) and coming home with benadryl the swelling went down significantly on its own. Apparently she decided to go toe to toe with some sort of stinging insect - this is a relief!

(See attachment for how she looks as of 10 minutes ago)

I don't know how long I should wait before moving her back to her cage. It it possible her apparent "recovery" is a false alarm or is this a sign she really was stung by what is most likely a wasp? (I could not find any signs of a singer being left behind and right now wasps are everywhere looking for nest sites)

 

[Susie570]

I'd give her another day or two, to fully recover before putting her back... but that's just me.

 

[Deer Heart]

Thank you everyone for the help! I seriously appreciate it. I'll wait until her eye looks normal but will be wasp hunting in the meantime! (Any tips for keeping these guys out of an open-air Rabbitry? I doubt it'll ever happen again, but you never know)

Edit: Another update! The swelling has gone down substantially. I think she should be ready to go back on Wednesday at the latest at this rate. At least as long as no one knows of a contagious disease that comes and goes as rapidly as that. :x

 

[Susie570]

She looks much better! :cheer2: :cheer1:

 

[Miss M]

WOW! That's awesome!

I can't think of anything but a sting that would swell up so badly so quickly, and then practically disappear so quickly. I'm thinking wasp.

I don't know that there is any way to keep hornets and wasps out of a rabbitry.

 

[JenerationX]

That looks MUCH better. I don't know rabbit diseases at all, but have seen insect bites in several species that swell like that. I saw a pony get bit by a horsefly on the eyelid and the poor guy was swollen shut for days. Thank God we don't get those in the yard. They're awful.

 

[MaggieJ]

Certainly could be a wasp or hornet sting . . . a spider bite is another possibility. Glad the rabbit is doing so much better now.