Sore Eyes

We rehomed a little netherland dwarf doe yesterday from a lady who said her children had lost interest in her. We have 5 other rabbits and thought she would make a welcome addition to be paired in time with our buck who has recently been neutered. My husband went to collect her (it was dark) and he said the rabbit was literally thrown at him and the lady rushed off out. After bringing the rabbit home we have noticed that her eyes don’t look right. As she has been an indoor rabbit, she is completely separate from our other rabbits as I don’t want to risk anything being passed onto them. In her previous home I believe she lived alongside 2 other rabbits and a dog. Since we have had her she seems lively and alert and is eating/drinking and pooping normally. I sent the lady a message asking what had happened with her eyes as nothing had been mentioned prior to collecting her and she denied all knowledge. Is it something that looks serious? Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated. Thank you 😊 

Hello!  It looks as there is excessive discharge coming from this eye, which may seem to be a minor thing, but we would suggest taking this little one to the vets for a check, especially in the mouth.  Occasionally, when teeth become overgrown or the tooth-roots aren't growing straight, the extremely large roots of the molars cut across the path of the tear-duct that should drain the eye, which means that excessive discharge is not drained and rather, it leaks down the front of the face. In the event of dental causes, cure may not be possible, but it would be important to check that teeth did not need immediate attention (always remember that the min-stay of a rabbits' diet is grass of hay and that they should be able to eat a relatively large amount of it).  Besides dental issues, other possible causes include particulate foreign bodies contacting the eye; ulcers; entropion; upper respiratory tract infection and so on.  We would therefore strongly recommend that vet-check.