Unknown eye issue with recently bought 8 week old buck

[drowe005]

I just recently bought an 8 week old Californian rabbit, although I am assuming hes got more new zealand in him. I noticed after getting him home that one eye usually only stays half open, although sometimes more so closed, and is never fully open as it should be (I've had him for 2 days now). There is the pink color to his eye is as should be, but there may be a slight bit of watery look to it, but not much at all, and there is also no noticeable swelling or discharge coming out it either. My original intentions were to breed him with my Californian does once he reached maturity but wonder if this could be genetic, and not a illness or infection. Any thoughts on what this might be and what to do if it can be corrected? Any opinions on whether I should try to locate a better buck, that is if you think the issue with the eye could be a reason not to breed him? Thanks in advance to any input

I have some better resolution pictures I could send to you if needed, the forum says there are too many pixels to load it to the post.

 

[Legacy]

At only 8 weeks, it's possible it could just be nest box eye. Is there any cloudiness to the eye ball it's self? Any marks or spots/scratches?

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

Keep him quarantined... . that looks infected and could be pasturella. I would send him back actually!

 

[MaggieJ]

I wouldn't take chances. Even if it is only nest box eye, it will likely affect his growth and development. Whatever the cause, I never keep rabbits with problems for breeding.

I'd send him back or if this is not possible or practical, I'd isolate him and send him to freezer camp.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Yup, call the breeder and take it back. You don't want any rabbits with that weak of an immune system. I cull the ones that have chronic "nestbox" eye.

 

[SatinsRule]

I'd use some eye drops on him and see if it clears up. If it clears and doesn't recur, it could well be some sort of allergy or reaction that it takes time to adjust to in his new environment. Taking him to a vet to confirm that there is no viral infection might be a sensible next step, as well.

 

[drowe005]

Thanks for the responses from all. Would having his cage located 50 ft away from the other cages be sufficient for quarantine or should it be located further than that? As for returning the buck, I would be unable to do so as I do not have the contact info of the seller, I made the mistake of purchasing the rabbit at a poultry swap and did not thoroughly inspect the rabbit before buying. I've learned the hard way now and wont ever make the same mistake again. I guess after searching for a californian buck for a few months now without luck, I kinda got excited and jumped on it too fast.


And Legacy, there is a slight cloudiness to the eye, but not very severe. I havent noticed any scratches but it does halfway seem as if some of the hair around is eye is touching the eye ball

 

[OneAcreFarm]

What you can do in the mean time is clean the eye twice or three times daily with something like Veterycin Pink Eye Wash. If you can find Terramycin Eye Ointment, then use that as well.

 

[AnnClaire]

And, in a pinch, a regular tea bag, soaked in warm water and held to the eye will help soothe the itchiness and draw some of the heat/infection out of the area. You can use the same tea bag from time to time, and do it 3-4 times per day. If it is nest box eye, it will help clear this up. If it is pastuerella, it will provide some relief, but is not a remedy.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Is the cloudiness on the surface, or does it look like a cataract? I had a house rabbit that developed what looked like a cataract, but it was a pasteurella abscess in the eyeball itself.

There is a condition common in certain dog breeds called "entropion" where the eyelid (usually the lower, but not always) turns inward and the lashes rub the eyeball, causing pain, irritation, scratches, weeping, etc. Cloudiness and eventual blindness can occur due to damage to the cornea. It is very painful, and is corrected surgically, which costs hundreds of dollars. It is a genetic fault and the animals should not be bred.

If either condition is the case with your buck, I would cull him. If not, you can try treating as suggested above, but unless the buck is outstanding otherwise, I would just cull him rather than risking introducing "weak" genetics into your herd.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thanks for the responses from all. Would having his cage located 50 ft away from the other cages be sufficient for quarantine or should it be located further than that? As for returning the buck, I would be unable to do so as I do not have the contact info of the seller, I made the mistake of purchasing the rabbit at a poultry swap and did not thoroughly inspect the rabbit before buying. I've learned the hard way now and wont ever make the same mistake again. I guess after searching for a californian buck for a few months now without luck, I kinda got excited and jumped on it too fast.

We've all learned lessons the hard way, somewhere along the way. Don't let it get to you. As someone who is also searching for quality rabbits as well, I know it's so very hard to do. It seems people around here just don't care about their rabbits as much.

Anyway, I will just add that I would definitely quarantine the rabbit, and if this were in my rabbitry, I have a "cull hard" way of doing things that I stick to. If you cannot return it, I would cull. I have found the hard way, that things have an ugly way of reappearing at times of stress. Even if you see improvement, and the rabbit looks and acts like it is better, you can see weaknesses come through in other forms down the road, at times of stress. This is the hardest part of keeping rabbits IMHO.

Also, keep in mind that things can pass very easily from rabbit to rabbit. I would stop petting, or touching, your other rabbits until you know what is going on, especially if you've handled, or been around, the sick rabbit.

 

[AnnClaire]

Yes, continuing bad genetics is never a good thing, so if you can determine what is causing this issue, that would help you decide the fate of this little guy.

However, I bought a pair of babies from the local farm supply store. I checked the buns over quite well at the store, then they were put in a cardboard carry box for transportation the 6 blocks to my house. In that time, the doe ended up with a scratch across one eyeball, and by the next morning, it was cloudy, the rim of the eyelids were inflamed and swollen, and she couldn't see out of that eye. There was weeping that would crust around the eyelids, too, but no pus or infection. I treated with warm tea washes, and gave her the option of daylight in the cage, or a snug dark box ... the first 3 days, she stayed in the box, then she started spending more time out in the daylight. By the end of a month, she was able to see light and dark shadows out of the eye, and today, 6 months later, she can fully see out of that eye.

These injuries can happen when we aren't looking, and so many illnesses and injuries cause the same/similar histological (am I using that correctly? :lol response ... the trick is to ISOLATE like it is the worst-case scenario, but treat for the least devastating situation in hopes that is the actual problem. If it is a simple injury to the eye, you should see improvement within 7 days of beginning treatment. If not, you can then eliminate simple injury from the list of possibilities.

 

[drowe005]

Thanks again for all the responses, as of now I think I'm going to take the route of culling. It seems as if someone was interested in coming to get the rabbit in a few days to have as a pet. I'll once again begin my search for another Californian buck, which I feel is gonna be tough as it seems everyone has NZW, and the occasional Californians crossed with NZW, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Legacy]

Good choice.

 

[drowe005]

Everythings looking good now, looks like I was able to find a pedigreed Californian buck that should be ready in a couple weeks. Crazy how it took a couple months to find the buck talked about in this post, and then in a matter of 6 hours tonight found a great buck as replacement.