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Widget woes!!! She is being treated for Glaucoma now :(

K

Kittykat23uk

Mama Doe
Hi

I was wondering what are the indications of a rabbit having poor eyesight/blindness? I have my suspicions about Widget. :(:? She gets about okay but tends to get nervous around new objects placed on the floor, e.g. like a pile of laundry and tends to hug the edges of the room. But she seems confident jumping around her kennel/aviary and getting up and down the stairs is no problem for her. I also asked the vet about her one of her eyes which seems to be ever so slightly more protruded than the other. The vet said there could be some underlying problem but just to keep an eye on her for now and if it gets any worse then they will do tests. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks

Jo
 
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I don't know but I'm beginning to wonder if Parsnip (aged 9) is having trouble with his eyes too. Sometimes I put his bowl of veg down and he can't seem to find it for a few seconds. He's booked in for his vaccinations at the end of the month so I'll get him checked out then.
 
My little 5 month old is partially sighted in one eye, and when hes sitting still he scans his head from side to side to try and help himself see things better. But he runs around like a rabbit posessed in my room, including jumping on and off the bed, and climbing out of his cage...
 
tasteofchaos said:
My little 5 month old is partially sighted in one eye, and when hes sitting still he scans his head from side to side to try and help himself see things better. But he runs around like a rabbit posessed in my room, including jumping on and off the bed, and climbing out of his cage...
Click to expand...

That's a classic sign of poor sight, some pink eyed rats do it alot.

Any prey animal may be wary of new objects though, they are programmed to avoid things they don't know to be safe. Going along the edges of rooms is also related to this, open ground is unsafe from predators, hugging the edge of a space makes them less noticeble in the wild so feels safer. The rabbits living accomodation is it's known safe place and the stairs are likely quite confined so this could just be natural behaviour.

Did your vet check the pressure in the protruding eye? The bulging could be a symptom of glaucoma.
 
She gave her a physical examination but a pressure test (presuming it's the same method to what an optician uses of puff of air into the eye?) was suggested as a follow-up if she looks any worse, she mentioned it could be an early sign of glaucoma but said just to keep an eye on it for now. It's not particulalry pronounced at present, that's why and Widget is only about 2 years old. :?

ETA, she doesn't seem to scan at all. She just does that nervous bunny crawl when there are new objects around.
 
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Grimlock just runs into things. I don't think he's completely blind but I'm never quite sure. I moved them inside when his eyes were really bad and in the new environment he kept on running into everything. His eyes cleared up with loads of medication but he's also got used to the layout of the room and now he can find his way around fine. If I get bread out he starts to get really excited. I inject his baytril into the bread so he has to wait a while to get it and he runs around and follows me from one room to another as I'm getting it ready. As I put the plate down he will almost always run into the plate, or he runs into me as I'm moving around. If someone he knows comes up the stairs she runs to them, but then he just runs into them, so I have no idea if he can see them of just hear where they are.

If i put something new in the room or move something he isn't nervous straight away, but he'll often run into it, or almost into it and then he is very cautious and will often walk around it rather than hop.
 
Maybe I'm imagining it. She doesn't run into things and their housing has loads of levels which she bounds around no problem.
 
Better safe than Sorry! We are taking Widget to a specialist vet tonight to see if they can do some tests on her eye. I hope it's nothing but looking a Horsey Holly's bunny it's very similar.. :( Please can we have some vibes?
 
Kittykat23uk said:
Better safe than Sorry! We are taking Widget to a specialist vet tonight to see if they can do some tests on her eye. I hope it's nothing but looking a Horsey Holly's bunny it's very similar.. :( Please can we have some vibes?
Click to expand...

Lots of vibes. Which vet are you going to?
 
Thank you! Poor Widget, she's being treated for Glaucoma and we have to go back in a couple of weeks. Looks like I'll be putting in a new pet plan claim. :( :cry::cry::cry:
 
Poor Widget!
All Creatures are excellent. If you saw Faye then I think she's one the best rabbit vets in the area. She's in the best hands. Sending vibes.
 
Yes we saw Faye. I have decided to transfer them to this vet permanently. I feel a bit down about this really. I adopted them from my vet, they saved Widget's life when she was a baby and gave her a second chance. But at the same time, when I asked about her eye when I had them in for their vacs the vet I saw just had a feel of her and said to keep an eye on it. Now she has had a proper exam she's on eye drops for glaucoma and has to go back in two weeks to check progress. If no progress then there will need to be x-rays under a GA to check for tumors/abscesses. :cry:

I feel so sad for my two, they have had so many health problems in their young lives and now this. :cry:
 
Kittykat23uk said:
Yes we saw Faye. I have decided to transfer them to this vet permanently. I feel a bit down about this really. I adopted them from my vet, they saved Widget's life when she was a baby and gave her a second chance. But at the same time, when I asked about her eye when I had them in for their vacs the vet I saw just had a feel of her and said to keep an eye on it. Now she has had a proper exam she's on eye drops for glaucoma and has to go back in two weeks to check progress. If no progress then there will need to be x-rays under a GA to check for tumors/abscesses. :cry:

I feel so sad for my two, they have had so many health problems in their young lives and now this. :cry:
Click to expand...

They do have health issues, but they have you there to get on top of them and get them the right treatment. I'm sure they have a wonderful life. Kids as well as rabbits have health issues and it doesn't stop them being happy. Vibes there's no tumors or abscesses. :(
 
Thankyou. Faye's pretty hopeful it's "just" glaucoma, as she's not flinching when having her eye examined which she said would indicate an abscess and she's not got any worse since I first asked the other vet (a week last Wednesday). That's why we decided to wait and see with the treatment rather than going for the x-rays which require a GA of course.
 
Yes she did say that could be a cause. But she's had no other signs of EC and the Glaucoma is still in the early stages. We're due back in two weeks, are there other tests I should ask for? Oh I should add that she examined the eye and found no damage, cloudiness or anything like that. It's just the intraocular pressure was elevated.
 
We are heading to the vet tonight for a check up to see how Widget has responded to the eye drops. Please can we have some vibes?

Thank you x
 
Well we are back. Widget's eye seems to be responding to the treatment as the reading was a little lower. She doesn't have any damage to her lenses and her eyesight is not affected. So she is to coninue on the XalaTan for the forseeable with another check up due in 4 to 6 weeks. It does amaze me though how such a tiny bottle can cost so much money. It must contain angel tears or something! I just hope Pet Plan pay up!
 
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