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Zebedee, stray rabbit *Update post 52 - :'( he's gone*

Becky86

Wise Old Thumper
I collected this little guy this afternoon from a member of the public. He had been running around in their street since Thursday morning, she managed to catch him this morning, hence her calling us. I was a little reluctant as when she called she said his eyes were bad, so thinking the worst i assumed Myxi. Anyway, i got there and he's periscoping/looking around quite happily and his eyes are purple/blue and very cloudy. I took him straight to the emergency vets and they wanted to PTS as they said hes a wildie (hes way too friendly/human orientated) and they think he has myxi (although she went on to say shes never seen a rabbit with myxi she just knows it affects their eyes) :roll: It almost looks like there is a build up of fluid, or really bad swelling. If it was one eye, i'd have thought he'd of hurt it, but its both eyes. His other eye isn't as bad.




I've given him metacam and we have come home with eye drops. He has no vision in the eyes, you can literally point right infront of his eyes and he doesn't react at all. Any ideas? He's only a baby. He is totally seperate from all other rabbits here and i'm aware of quarentine etc :)
 
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The shape of his face and ears don't really look like a wildie.
Poor wee blind bunny, could he have been born like that?
Is there any breeders near the area that could have turfed him out rather than kill him when they realised?

Glad he's safe now :) xxx
 
he's got quite a squishy little face I wouldn't have said he's a wildie, if he was and he was blind I don't think he'd have made it this long tbh! Hope you can get to the bottom of it :love:
 
The shape of his face and ears don't really look like a wildie.
Poor wee blind bunny, could he have been born like that?
Is there any breeders near the area that could have turfed him out rather than kill him when they realised?

Glad he's safe now :) xxx

Hes far too round to be a wildie, and he has no characteristics of a wildie, hes beautiful :love: I'm guessing he was born like it, and was potentially turfed out because they didn't know whats wrong with him. Hes certainly landed on his paws, given the area he was from!
 
I agree, his nose looks to short for a wildie really, and his ears to chunky, though it will be easier to tell when he grows.

Sometimes they can get infections/problems with the eyes not opening as they should at 10 days old. It's easily passed between eyes by grooming. Untreated it causes ulcers/scaring that can make them cloudy like that. It might be that the antibiotic drops will help and it will heal some or it could be permanent.

I'm sure from reading RU you know bunnies can cope really well with blindness - if it's permanent he'll adjust with hearing/whiskers and you'll have a job telling the difference.

I'm sure you are already, but make sure you clean hands etc. and don't pass equipment between him and other bunnies in case it's contagious, though it's not typical of myxi symptoms.
 
Poor wee darling.. This will sound really daft but if he is put on panacur, will his sight return or is that him blind for life...

Fee xxx
 
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When (my rabbit) Tamsin had hurt her eye, it went totally white like that. She had cream I put in it twice a day. The vet had thought she would go totally blind in it but after about two months the whiteness cleared up almost completely. A different vet told be it can be a protection thing on the eye when they are damaged or infected. As Tamsin said, cataracts can make the eyes do that as can EC.
 
Poor wee darling.. This will sound really daft but if he is put on panache, will his sight return or is that him blind for life...

Fee xxx

It may not be EC related but if it is then the Panacur would not 'cure' anything, it would just reduce the number of EC spores within the bloodstream. With EC any damage already done is permanent. But Rabbits can cope with being unsighted, they just need special care which I am sure this little chap will receive now :)
 
Thanks for all the advice and well wishes, hes still very bright this morning and hes happily munching hay. He hasn't got any worse (didn't think it was myxi anyway, so glad i didn't let the vet put him to sleep!).

Poor wee darling.. This will sound really daft but if he is put on panache, will his sight return or is that him blind for life...

Fee xxx

Fee, i don't think the cloudiness will go from his eyes, i would imagine all the damage has been done as hes been left for so long by the looks of things :(

Having checked him over (didn't want to handle him too much yesterday for obvious reasons) he does have lots of wounds on his body and missing patches of fur, so i'd imagine he's been part of a litter and has been bullied. Hes a bundle of joy :love: Hopefully we can help him on his way to his forever home :love:
 
Thanks Jane and Becky !!! (sorry hadn't realised spell check had changed panacur to panache)

Poor wee soul,,, I feel so sorry for him xxx
 
Awwww he's so cute, poor little baby bunny. :(:love:

Glad you found him and he's safe.

Fingers crossed some of the eye damage will go, we can always hope.
 
Becky you can touch a rabbits eyeball with out it blinking or reacting so don't think that because that's how he's responding that he is blind although I would think he either is or has very little sight.

He's a lucky little thing to have arrived at yours
 
Very lucky baby! I thought wild but then saw his ears and was like, nope he's a pet bunny. Poor thing :(
 
Thanks Tracy, can't say I've tried to poke many rabbits in the eyes previously ;) if he has any sight at all I would be very suprised. His eyes are horrendous. He sits so well for his meds and eye drops, such ashame.
 
So cute, glad you took him in. my guinea pig had a nasty eye infection and went a horrid cloudy colour all over but didnt weep or anything, the vets gave us some eye drops to put in twice a day and it amazingly cleared in a couple of weeks i was convinced she was going to be blind! You never know it might clear fingers crossed :D
 
Update

Just a little update :(

We've just got home from the vets. The eye drops haven't helped Zebedees eye's and his worse eye seems to have worsened. The vet is concerned as the pressure in both eyes is very high. We already have him on panacur and she has upped his metacam. I'm not convinced he is in pain, hes in our lounge at the moment, so we can observe him alot and he happily races around at top speed and binkies everywhere. The vet thinks it may be glaucoma, and says he will be in extreme pain :( I did ask about enucleation, but she said because he is so young, and because both eyes are so badly affected, it wouldn't be fair on him and she feels PTS is the probably going to be the best option. I can't tell you how gutted i am, i have of course bought him home and will continue with eye drops/metacam/panacur. I've only had him a short time but i feel he deserves a chance.

I'm sure people on here have had bunnies with both eyes removed?

Please remember he isn't my own rabbit :( So he will, at some point, need to be rehomed.
 
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