What's that thing in my rabbit's eye?
I'll be updating this page along the way.
Here are some common questions about bunny eye and whether it's normal or not. I'll attempt to cover as much as I can ya (:
What is this pink layer on my rabbit's eye?
It looks light pink, flat smooth layer, that happens at the front of the eyeball only. Sometimes I see it, sometimes it's not there.
That's the Nictitating Membrane, also known as rabbit third Eyelid or rabbit inner Eyelid. Rabbits have 3 eyelids, upper, lower, and this nictitating Membrane which is located nearest to the nose. This eyelid closes horizontally across the eyeball. Whereas the upper and lower eyelid closes vertically like humans' eyelid.
It protects from dust and debris, lubricates the eye. This eyelid is usually more visible from certain angle or position that the rabbit gets in. More often seen when rabbit is being held. Don't panic if your rabbit has it's inner Eyelid more visible than other rabbits, some bunnies just have a little more obvious inner Eyelid than others. Take note if there is swelling, abnormal protrusion, bleeding or excessive tearing
Abnormal & Normal Eyelid Glands (Meibomian Glands)
Excessive teary eyes in rabbits are not normal. It could be signs of many many things such as eye ulcer, eyelid ulcer, tear duct blockage, inflammation, hay poke, dental issues, nasal issues, glaucoma and many many more.. 1 thing I've noticed that many teary eyed rabbit has, is white lumps or white spots under the eyelid. What are these white spots under my rabbit eyelids? It looks like ulcer or pus-filled sacs or pimples.. It can be called Meibomian Cysts: blocked or impacted meibomian glands which causes growth of small nodes on eyelids.
This can also be due to hypersecretion or over-reactivity of the glands. This can lead to irritation / inflammation of the eyelid.
Note for: excessive tearing, dried up fur around the eye, more "eye dirt"/crusty eye, constant rubbing of eye area, redness/ swelling of eye / eyelid.
Below are pictures of a normal Meibomian gland (which is smooth pink and no white nodes), and 2 abnormal Meibomian Glands.
Please go get a rabbit savvy vet if your rabbit has abnormal looking eye k?
Cataract
Cloudy looking circle in the middle of the eye ball. Appears as translucent / cloudy / opaque lens. Cataract causes some form of vision loss and can happen to rabbits of any age. Generally we see this more in older rabbits.
We had a customer who sent her 1 year young rabbit for successful double cataract surgery to regain eyesight. Will share in the bottom gallery for his before / after surgery pics. Eye surgery was done with Dr Gladys Boo - the only eye specialist in Singapore.
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