My rescued bunny's scratched, oozing eye: Will it heal or need a vet?

it sounds like he has an infection so he should be examined by a vet for treatment. Your vet can determine the severity of the injury to his eyes and prescribe medications to help. He may need an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory to treat an infection.

Unfortunately without a picture, I cannot tell you what the scratch is. Also, I am not sure what body part an "eat" is. In general, if the scratch is no longer bleeding, you can monitor it before taking Bun Bun into the veterinarian. You do need to monitor the area closely, however, for redness, swelling, discharge that is white, clear, or green in color, and pain. If any of these occur, a visit to your veterinarian is indicated as these can all be signs of infection. Infections often require treatment with antibiotics, and pain relieving medications. Please do not administer any antibiotics or pain medications that you have at home, as many of these can hurt rabbits due to their specialized gastrointestinal tracts (stomach and intestines). I am unable to tell you specifics on costs for a veterinary visit, but I would recommend that you call the veterinarian's office and you can ask for their office call fee to get an estimate. I hope that helps!

Yes! Holiday definitely needs medical care ASAP! I can’t see the eye in the picture but there appears to be raw, likely infected skin cranial to the eyes, possibly draining discharge from an eye infection (hard to see the eye in this picture). Holiday could benefit from sedation, very careful clipping of the crusted fur on his face, cleaning of the raw skin with chlorhexidine, a topical antibiotic /steroid ointment for the skin +/- injectable Baytril, likely ophthalmic antibiotics for the eye and an e-collar to prevent scratching and further injury. Holiday is very cute…best wishes for a quick recovery!

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is my pleasure to answer your question as well as possible. I will do my best to give you the clearest and most current information I can. If you need to follow up with further questions or need a more in-depth discussion, please do not hesitate to request a consultation and we can help you further. Cute bunny, and congratulations on your new family member. Yes, it is pretty common for bunnies to get eye infections but there are a number of different reasons for them. The most common of those include a blocked tear duct that would normal drain extra tears from the eye into the nose, an abrasion or scratch, or an E. Cuniculi infection. A blocked tear duct can be caused by something as simple as a dusty brand of hay to something as complex as a chronic tooth issue. In a bunny as young as yours the chronic condition is less likely. Unfortunately, the only good way to tell if there is a blockage is for a vet to stain the eye and see if the colored stain drains into the nose as it should. If it is blocked, the vet can flush it out. They could also get a very superficial look at the teeth to see if they appear normal. The vet would be likely to give you some medication to help the irritated skin in front of the eye heal faster as well, for now please keep that area as clean and dry as possible.

Thanks for reaching out about Shila. There is suspect that trauma or infection is affecting the eye. Try gently wiping with a warm wetted washcloth to determine if any thick white discharge is noted. This is an infection. Since rabbit eyes are large and situated laterally on the head, it is not uncommon that the eyes become scratched or worse while sticking their heads into bushes, etc. Any chance of a predator (cat, other) encounter? A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. They should be able to examine the eye and present a treatment plan. Good luck.

Hello, sorry to hear about Artemis. He could indeed have an infection on that eye, or he could have an ulcer since his eye appears to be shut. You can continue to clean the eye and apply the drops, but make sure the drops do not contain any steroids (dexamethasone, etc.). If this does not improve within 5 days, then Artemis may need to ultimately eye evaluated by his veterinarian. Hope this helps and best of luck.

What a cute bunny! From the photo the area on the skin looks as though it has healed- if there is a defect in the skin itself then an exam by the vet is recommended as he may need antibiotics. I cannot see any redness to his eyes in this photo, so I am not sure if you mean that his eye color is red or if he has red eye lids or the white of his eyes look red. If he is rubbing at his eyes/blinking alot, has excess tears or a green or yellow discharge from the eyes these would be cause for a vet exam as well. The red color to the urine can sometimes be a result of diet http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=18+1803&aid=2839. If he is not acting lethargic and is eating/drinking I would monitor the urine for a few days- if he becomes lethargic/is straining to pee/stops eating or drinking or the urine continues to look red then an exam is recommended.