>My little boy Bravo who is approximately 7 months old has recently developed
>a problem w/ runny eyes.  He has a white face and I have noticed that the
>fur around his eyes is yellowed, however, his eyes seem to be clear and
>bright w/ no discharge.  Has anyone had this problem?  Could he be tearing
>when he first wakes up or something?  I cleaned his eyes last night...
 
One of our ferrets had a problem with runny eyes as well.  There are a
number of things that can cause this, some of which can involve serious eye
problems, so I would recommend seeing a vet, or (even better) a veterinary
opthalmalogist.  In our case, the opthalmologist determined that it was just
a blocked tear duct.  With the ducts get blocked the tears have no where to
go besides out the front.  This comes and goes over the course of the year,
but there never seems to be any discomfort involved.  I still do not know
what is causing the tear duct blockages -- I'd assume allergies of some
sort, but we've changed most everything in the house (and even moved!), and
nothing has changed, so I'm guessing its a basic airborne irritant that
we're just going to have to live with (which is pretty much what the vet.
opthal.  told us a year or two ago).  We've tried massaging around Floyd's
eye, but it hasn't seemed to make much difference.  While I suspect a
blocked tear duct is the most likely problem, it is also possible that
over-tearing could come from a scratched cornea, or could be a symptom of a
more serious disease, so I wouldn't resign yourself to "living with it"
until you've had a professional diagnosis.
 
 --------------------------------------------------------
 Rochelle Newman              [log in to unmask]
 Assistant Professor          (319) 335-2417 (office)
 Department of Psychology     (319) 335-1979 (lab)
 University of Iowa           (319) 335-0191 (fax)
 11 Seashore Hall E
 Iowa City, IA 52242-1407
 http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/Newman.html
 --------------------------------------------------------
[Posted in FML issue 2294]