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Rabbits eyesight how can you tell how well they can see?

KatP

KatP

Alpha Buck
My bun Fidget lost her sister back in May, she used to follow her sister around all the time which I thought was due to their bond. More recently I have noticed that when I put her food bowl down she doesn't react until I tap her bowl, then she comes running. But if I move things around she will nearly run into them until she knows where things are. She is not a very active bun but seems happy to binky in the space she knows is there and to do bunny 500 again in the space she knows is there.

My question really is could this mean she has some sight loss? Watching her I would say that she can see shadows which is why she takes evasive action at the last minute.

Can a vet tell me if she has some sight loss? How would they be able to tell? What does this mean for her future? How will this affect the potential bonding with a new husbun?

Thanks for any advice in advance.
 
It's really tough to tell in rabbits because their other senses (and whiskers) compensate so well. The vet might be able to tell by examining her eyes - depending on the cause of blindness.

Does she normal brown eyes or red/blue/reddish brown - those eye colours are often associated with poorer vision.

If she does have some sight loss it can make bonding more tricky as they can be a bit defensive, but it depends on the bunny.
 
Thanks Tamsin for your reply. She has normal brown eyes but depending on the light one sometimes looks a bit cloudy, this is the one she had an infection in about March but we got it treated really quickly and vet said he was really pleased that we had got her in so quick as it was within 24 hrs of noticing it was slightly watery, at the follow up he said the infection was gone and all looked good.

She hasn't had any problems since with infections.
 
You wouldn't necessarily see any visible changes with blindness, the vet might be able to see something with the scope to look in the back of her eyes. I wouldn't have thought the infection would have been a cause, particularly as you had it treated so quickly, it's most likely just a coincidence :)

For bonding, it might help to let her have the chance to sniff etc. with him on the other side of the mesh so she realises another rabbit is there. Also keep a close eye and try not to let him run straight for her as she's more likely to lash out at fast movement she hasn't had a chance to ID. She might be very pleased to have another rabbit for company though as they are good lookouts :)
 
Thanks for the advice. I will get the vet to have a look next time she is in to see if there is any obvious blindness. And that's really good advice about the bonding, I will keep that in mind when the time comes.
 
One good trick I learnt was to drop a cottonwool ball from height in front of the rabbit but avoiding touching the whiskers as this will let them know there is something there! A cottonwool ball is used as it makes no sound when it lands.

Louie's blindness was confirmed by the vet shining a bright light into his eyes, his pupils didn't react at all to the light.
 
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