• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

  • Please Note - Medical Advice

    Please keep in mind that posts on this forum are from members of the public sharing personal opinions. It is not a replacement for qualified medical advice from a veterinarian. Many illnesses share similar symptoms but require different treatments. A medical exam is necessary for an accurate diagnosis, without which appropriate treatment cannot be given.

    You should always consult your vet before following any suggestions for medication or treatment you have read about. The wrong treatment could make your rabbit worse or mean your vet is unable to give the correct treatment because of drug interactions. Even non prescription drugs can do harm if given inappropriately.

    We are very grateful to members who take time to answer other members questions, but please do be clear in your replies that you are sharing personal experience and not giving instructions on what must be done.

    Urgent Medical Advice: If you need, or think you might need, urgent medical advice you should contact a vet. If it is out of working hours phone your vet's normal number and there should be an answer phone message with instructions on what to do.

Taking my bunny on holiday.....

kerina

kerina

Warren Scout
Hi everyone - i'm new on here!

Okay, here goes.

My 7 year old dutch rabbit (called Speedy) has got a poorly eye at the moment and I am taking him to the vets tonight.

However, I am going on holiday on Saturday to Wales (about 5 hours car journey) and was thinking I might take him with me (rather than cancel my holiday - selfish, I know).

I have a large indoor rabbit hutch for him to live in whilst we are there.

My question is, is it cruel to make a rabbit travel for 5 hours in the car? Also, how well do they cope with this in general?

Also, if you think it would be ok to take him with me, any tips as to how to make his journey as comfortable as possible would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry to ask so many questions in one post, but I really need the help of your experiences in this matter.

Thank you in anticipation
 
I think the stressful thing is the initial shock of being in the car so 1 hour or 5 hours makes no difference. I put Classic FM on the radio for them and I now some people swear by Rescue Remedy in the water but I've never had to do that. Obviously hay and water is a must.

I've taken part in bunny runs from one end of the coutnry to the other and the buns have been perfectly fine.:)
 
Thank you jill, I really feel bad about taking him with me, but I had to cancel last year's holiday because of a poorly cat and a poorly rabbit and the thought of cancelling this one as well is just too much!

With a bit of luck, his eye will clear up in time and I won't have to take him, but I am grateful for your advice just in case he does need to come with me.

Thank you again


Kerina
 
Hi,

Yes it is just the one eye - it looks quite bad, but I've had similar problems with my other bunny so I'm hoping just some antibiotics will clear it.

Also, he seems to have a white patch actually on the eye ball which apparently is quite common with dutch rabbits - i'll wait and see what my vet says. Bless him, Speedy is getting on a bit now!

I have been bathing it morning and night with contact lens saline solution.

Bunnies eh? Who'd 'ave 'em?

Me!!!!!!!!!
 
I take my two away with me for weekends, when I visit my family. The longest Journey I have ever done is three hours. I put a towel over the travel box and strap it onto the back seat to stop it moving about too much.

They are quite happy to snooze, munch and groom each other. I check them quite regularly and they are often laying streched out next to each other, eyes half closed. They never get strung out and just carry on like nothing has happened when we get to our destination.
 
Sorry for delay in responding....

....he's had it for about a week now. But he is absolutely fine in himself - eating like a horse (well a rabbit sized horse?!), drinking and he is just as lively as ever.

In fact if it weren't for the obvious fact that his eye is weeping and a bit gunky, you wouldn't know that there was anything wrong with him at all.

Are cataracts really bad - as in not a good quality of life and might need to be pts? :cry:
 
Alvin was ok when we took him to scotland.... he was with his family rather than alone in a house he didnt know.... plus had we gone and left him with my mom id have worried way too much about him
 
The white patch may not be a cataract. One of mine has a blue and white snip on her eye.

I questioned the vet about it last time I was there and she did a load of tests and said it was a colouration. Like humans have blue, brown and green eyes she has a blue patch on her brown eye.
 
Squishybunny said:
The white patch may not be a cataract. One of mine has a blue and white snip on her eye.

I questioned the vet about it last time I was there and she did a load of tests and said it was a colouration. Like humans have blue, brown and green eyes she has a blue patch on her brown eye.
Click to expand...

If its just appeared in an older rabbit then it is well worth considering.

Cataracts can be operated on but the cost is extortionate and the surgery not recommended.

If your vet agrees that it may be a cataract then he may also suggest worming him with a course of Panacur as EC is a leading cause of cataracts.

Castaracts may only be partial and obscure some of the sight but they can also be progressive leading to eventual blindness. I have had a rabbit almost totally blind from EC related cataracts and provided we didnt move anything about (he learnt where objects were and how to avoid them) he got about just fine and led a good quality of life.

Is the white patch on the pupil or the iris?
 
Yes indeed it is worth considering, I never ruled that out. But as I don't really like scaring people for no reason, I wanted to present another possibility that may not involve a worst case scenario. Your experiences of cataracts in rabbits provides invaluable insight. I just wanted to add my experiences to the thread, so Kerina didn't fret too much

My Twinkle bunny has a blue snip in her iris, that I noticed when I first got her. I was so worried that she had damaged her eye I took her to the vets. I didn't realise it was a pigmentation. I have a horse that has marbled eyes, which is a poncy way of saying a mix of blue and brown iris colours, so I should have realised what it was straight away. Nevermind.
 
No need to get upset ;)

Im a natural pessimist Im afraid, I find that way nothing in life can shock me.

I also have a bi-eyed bunny which affects the iris but not the pupil itself, hence my question.
 
No problem, I just like to give every angle.

I came home one day to find one of my buns with wet eyes, it turned out to be a blocked tear duct, but I'd read on the forum that weepy eyes were the first signs of mxyi. I cryed myself to sleep that night.

I know it was me diving in head first and jumping to conclusions, but I wouldn't like anyone to go through that be it the person who started the thread or anyone looking in.
 
Update!!!!!

Morning folks!

Thank you for all your valuable help regarding Speedy's eye.

I took him to the vets last night and they think he has an infection on the surface of the eye (hence the white bit). They shone the light thingy in his eye, and they put dye in his eye to check that it wasn't a damaged retina or a cataract.

They also flushed his tear duct, but this was totally clear.

I have been given some antibiotic eye drops to give him twice a day - started last night and it looks better already this morning (not the white bit, but much less gunky than before).

As I have to give him the drops for at least seven days, I have decided to take him with me on holiday. He travelled to the vets absolutely fine last night (about a 15 minute car journey each way). My vet advised that if he was going to get upset about travelling, then he would have done it on the way to vets, so she see's no reason why I can't take him with me!!

Once again thanks for all your advice on this matter

YAY!!!!!!!! I'm still going on holiday!!!!

Wooo hoooooooo

Sorry, back in the room!!

Love

Kerina
x
 
well chelsea is 9.5 and she travells fine in the car sees it as an adventure i think.she came to me for a holiday (3hours from her normal home) and to make it easier for her made sure she was in her travel cage (size of dog crate) lots of air.. a few stops for water and hay and dried tho she doesnt eat much on the way she does like a drink. hope this helps. if she ok on short journeys is prob ok for the longer ones... oh and could you poss take a run for her? (even if only a callapsable one) so she can stretch and have a hop around while ur away! :)
 
Thanks guys - you've all be great through my trauma! I'll keep you posted on his progress.

Speedy Bunski sends his love!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Helping my aging bunny Recover <3
Replies
11
Views
327
bunnyp
B
T
Strange Growths on Ears and Nose
Replies
1
Views
624
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
Graciee
I'm worried about Atticus
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
Shimmer
S
Back
Top