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I think Grim is going blind.

Jenova

Wise Old Thumper
Both his eyes have been awful recently. I picked up some eye drops from the vet but they've stopped manufacturing the special ones he needs and they had to travel to Acle to get these ones. Anyway he's become increasingly withdrawn over the last month or so and very skittish and unsure of things. Usually he's so boisterous and into everything but he just wanted to sit under the bed and wouldn't even come out for food. But if I brought him food he'd happily eat it.

As I have a Smoo who likes to 'help' him eat I have to feed him separately. For a while I though it's Christmas so they can have a treat and eat together but Smoo started to put on weight and Grim lost a little. Then he started to get worse. I'd bring him down for food and he's just sit where I put him. Still eating fine but just not wanting to move. And his eyes got worse still.

So I made a radical decision which to be honest I wouldn't suggest anyone copies. I put them outside. It's warmed up a lot here and my garden is very sheltered. I put the hutch in the warmest part where two sides are touching the house and the front is about four foot from our kitchen door. I filled it with hay and snuggle safes and covered it in fleece blankets. I left a small opening by the door so they can come in and out as they wish and lock them up at night.

The improvement was instant and immense. He perked up and seems so much happier. He even comes into the kitchen for his food. But I have to direct him with my hands and my voice. He can't seem to 'see' where he's going but trusts me to steer him. His eyes have started to clear up too. I think it might have been the heating in our home that started them off but I'm not sure.

I hope I've made the right decision. It seems to be so far. I don't know if his eyesight will return now he's recovering or if it's gone for good. Is there any way for me to tell at home without taking him to the vets? He's so scared of everything I don't want to stress him out even more. :(
 
Can't offer any advice im afraid but I hope Grimmy gets better soon :) Sending seeing vibes and nosey rubs xx
 
You can try quickly poking your finger towards him, making sure to not touch the eyelashes, and see if he closes the eye.

Also, get a cotton wool ball and drop it close to him, see if he reacts. The cotton wool ball works as it doesn't make a sound when it hits the ground.

These were 2 tests I tried with Louie then got the vet to do a more intense check afterwards.
 
I tried the cotton ball and nothing in the right eye. I knew this eye was bad anyway as he's had abscess and all sorts wrong with it. The left eye was snuggled into Smoo so I'll have to try that one later.

:love:
 
Could he be suffering from dry eyes? I do & I know indoor heating makes them worse & being outside in the cooler air certainly helps. Unfortunately it also sounds like his eyesight isnt as good as it should be. Sometimes if the eye is very dry the eyesight isnt as good. Has the vet try chloramphenicol? iIs an anitbiotic plus a lubricant I believe the vet prescribed drug to be 5% much stronger that you can buy over the counter
 
He's on Aureomycin at the moment which is a cream. The drops irritated his eyes. He's also had the stuff in the blue tube which is a lubricant too. I'll look into chloramphenicol. :wave:
 
He's on Aureomycin at the moment which is a cream. The drops irritated his eyes. He's also had the stuff in the blue tube which is a lubricant too. I'll look into chloramphenicol. :wave:


My bun Gloria went blind when she had an abscess behind her eye. The vet established that the eye was blind by holding her and shining a torch in her eye. If the rabbit can see, her pupil will go smaller. If not, then her eye is not registering the light and is probably blind. You could try that if you wanted to know.
 
My bun Gloria went blind when she had an abscess behind her eye. The vet established that the eye was blind by holding her and shining a torch in her eye. If the rabbit can see, her pupil will go smaller. If not, then her eye is not registering the light and is probably blind. You could try that if you wanted to know.

Yes, this is how Louie was tested too. His pupils did not react at all to the light.
 
My darling Rosie had an infection in a gland which meant she had to have her eye removed. The flesh around her eye was swollen & her eyeball protruded. She was fine after the op. Does your Grim have any similar signs?
 
He has elongated tooth roots which cause his tear ducts to be pinched closed. That means his eyes run all the time but also means that he is more likely to get infections as there is a nice pool of warm fluid in his eyes. When he does get them I give him eye drops and clean his eyes with salt water and they clear up eventually. Sometimes he looses the fur around his eyes but I think that might have something to do with Smoo cleaning him. But without her his eyes would be worse. He has had an abscess on his right eye and an injury to his left but we never figured out what it was. If he is blind I think it would be better for him to remove everything.
 
I've just been watching him bump into everything in the garden. :(
He's not quite bashing his nose but bending his head downwards in time, obviously realising he's near something when his whiskers touch it.

Poor Grims. His eyes look a lot less runny today, but still a bit sore.
 
My Eddie went blind in his old age from cataracts. It seemed that found it easier to navigate the garden if there were scented plants around, and especially liked being near the rosemary bush. He tended to avoid the middle of the lawn.

So it might help him if you have a few scented signposts for him to use, is what I am trying to advise!

Poor Grim!!

:cry:
 
Awww...I know it's hard, but blindness shouldn't worry you too much, Eddie adapted quite well to it really (his biggest problem being the human-disliking creature he was, was that he was more easily caught for snuggles poor thing! :lol:). As long as you don't move his food dish too much, he should be fine.

Sending him some noserubs and supportive hugs for you.

:love::love:
 
I'm so sorry to hear this Jenova. I think you know that Grim is one of my specially loved RU bunnies.

Your description of what happened in the garden sounds as if his eyesight is so poor as to be effectively blind. Just haave to make sure it isn't something simple like pus/oil film from meds on the outside that's causing much of the problem.

Chloramphenicol is very good in this situation. It's a "total bacterial wipe out" AB. (Incredibly broad spectrum & virtually no resisitance) I once discussed it's use as eye drops for snuffles with an exotics vet, & was surprised to be told that it's fine for bunnies, when given this way.

To console you, bunnies are not as dependant on vision as we are. Unlike us they can get around fairly well by carrying a "map" of where things are in their head.
Thumper is far from blind but once ran smack into a white clothes horse stood on a dark carpet cos it had "appeared" since he last updated his internal "map".
 
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