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Blind kits, vet advised to put to sleep? Is this fair?

P

Pumpkinchloe

New Kit
Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me, I have 5 kits that are 3 weeks old they were all born with nest box eyes and had conjunctivitis. There eyes are now all clear from conjunctivitis and are now all open after being prescribed antibiotic eye drops for them. I took them back to the vets last Thursday, I was prescribed different eye drops which I have to give 4-5 times a day! We noticed that all of the kits eyes are bluish whitish colour and one of the kits doesn't have any eyes she said they could have been ruptured, she advised me that they were all blind and I should have them put to sleep? This didn't seem fair to me, has anyone else had blind kits?
 
I had a blind from birth rabbit and he coped just fine.

I would personally give them a chance :)
 
I agree with *lily*

I would allow them a chance to develop, and see how they cope with their blindness. If they appear to have a poor quality of life, or have no quality of life then I would strongly consider having them euthanased.

At this age, it's difficult to establish if they'll have a good quality of life so I'd allow them a chance.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
 
I have a functionally blind guinea pig, and she behaves completely normally - she has coped perfectly. The main adaptations are making sure the layout of her home is constant, and taking extra care when I check her so that she doesn't zoom off surfaces at a height. I would definitely advise keeping the kits as they will enjoy their life (also, unlike humans, no-one tells them they are blind, and presumably they have never known sight so will not feel a loss). I would absolutely not pts.
 
Pumpkinchloe said:
Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me, I have 5 kits that are 3 weeks old they were all born with nest box eyes and had conjunctivitis. There eyes are now all clear from conjunctivitis and are now all open after being prescribed antibiotic eye drops for them. I took them back to the vets last Thursday, I was prescribed different eye drops which I have to give 4-5 times a day! We noticed that all of the kits eyes are bluish whitish colour and one of the kits doesn't have any eyes she said they could have been ruptured, she advised me that they were all blind and I should have them put to sleep? This didn't seem fair to me, has anyone else had blind kits?
Click to expand...

Rabbits blind from birth tend to cope very well. They do need some special care such as a consistent environment. So if you intend to sell the kits on/rehome them then you will need to intensively quiz prospective new owners to insure they are up to taking on the life- long commitment.

There is some information on Blindness in Rabbits here :

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/blindness.html
 
I too agree i would give them a change. You didnt mention if you were keeping them yourself or are going to rehome them. Im sure many people would be capable of adopting a special bun it just may take a bit longer to find the perfect owner. Im so glad you asked for opions of others and didnt just listen to your vet. Only you can make the decision but i think by even asking the question, you want to give them a chance. xxxxx
 
Pumpkinchloe said:
Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me, I have 5 kits that are 3 weeks old they were all born with nest box eyes and had conjunctivitis. There eyes are now all clear from conjunctivitis and are now all open after being prescribed antibiotic eye drops for them. I took them back to the vets last Thursday, I was prescribed different eye drops which I have to give 4-5 times a day! We noticed that all of the kits eyes are bluish whitish colour and one of the kits doesn't have any eyes she said they could have been ruptured, she advised me that they were all blind and I should have them put to sleep? This didn't seem fair to me, has anyone else had blind kits?
Click to expand...


Welcome to the Forum :wave:

I have had many blind rabbits - though not from being kits - and find they cope incredibly well :D

As Sue said, they don't put the label on them that we do, and also, they will learn to cope without their eyesight.

Are you intending to keep all the kits? I think rehoming them will have to be done with extreme care, and to the right home, which may take a lot of trouble of your part.

You obviously care a lot about them to take them to the vet and get the treatment, so I would go with your heart's decision.

Good luck xx
 
This is the problem, I don't have the room to keep them, they are French lops so will get pretty big, I'm worried that I will struggle to rehome ypthem? This wasn't a planned litter I rehomed mum which we were fold was a boy but soon found out it was a girl. The vet made me feel guilty :(
 
You've given them a fair chance already with the meds and attention they have needed .
I think they will be able to cope well and would give them a chance of life.

What part of the country are you in ?
 
I'm in south wales. I was told that its best to pair a blind rabbiut with a rabbit that can see as it would help to guide the one that can't see. I really Dont wangt to have them put to sleep especially the 4 that look like they have cataracts. I'm unsure on the one that hasn't got any eyes as I'm not sure if its in pain or not. Thank you all so much for your help xxx
 
I wonder if it would be worth getting the Mum tested for E. Cuniculi? This can be transferred from mother to kits through the placenta or via the urine once they're born. Kits infected in the womb may be born with cataracts.
 
i have several blind and partially blind rabbits and woulddefinitely not put blind kits to sleep -frankly I find it outrageous a vet would suggest it. There are rescues that may be able to help you with rehoming them. I too would wonder about EC but given some have no eyes this does sound genetic.
 
PS I also would not put the one with no eyes to sleep unless there were very clear signs it is in pain (deprssion, not eating , pawing at eye sockets). There is no reason why not having eyes should cause pain - unless and infection has lept in?

Have you any images of them? I would also support teaming with a sighted bun this works very very well.
 
parsnipbun said:
PS I also would not put the one with no eyes to sleep unless there were very clear signs it is in pain (deprssion, not eating , pawing at eye sockets). There is no reason why not having eyes should cause pain - unless and infection has lept in?

Have you any images of them? I would also support teaming with a sighted bun this works very very well.
Click to expand...

All my blind rabbits have had a sighted partner and it's worked brilliantly :D
 
I don't have any experience, but I wanted to wish you well. Such a shame that the vet would be prepared to write them off like that, especially when it sounds like they can do quite well. I wouldn't be put off rehoming a blind rabbit (or another 'special need') so I hope they will find lovely homes, if things work out x
 
It's not the same, but there's a few of us here, I think, with rabbits who've had eyes removed where they've been fine. Aboleth's monocular but the missing eye (removed by a vet due to untreatable abscess) has never caused her any problems at all. I rehomed her because she only had one eye: I thought she might get overlooked because she might not be 'cute enough', and I love her colour, and it was more for Lopsy's benefit (and therefore hers) than mine :)
 
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I think that's very sad that a suggestion to pts was made by the vet so soon. They're only 3 weeks so there's no way of knowing yet how they'll cope... personally though I feel they'll cope very well, I have bunnies that have gotten cataracts and gone blind in older age. They get around very well and it's not a concern. I feel like bunnies born blind from birth would cope even better since they never will have to learn to cope with their disability - they don't know any different. Bunnies have a very good sense of smell and hearing so they rely on those senses.

The bunny with no eyes is the same as the others imo, assuming there's been no sign of any issues. I have pets that are missing an eyeball (one was born that way and the other had a rupture as a baby) and they're not in pain or anything.
 
Indeed Keletkezes I have had buns with an eye removed due to abcess, and also due to Glaucoma, and one who lost an eye during a cataract removal - (the other eye was cured), as well as having bunnies with floating lenses/cataracts, and general blindness due to either old age or EC,

In fact we currently have a group of indoor buns with sight issues mainly due to EC (which is why they are in as they mostly have some relict head tilt as well) as well as Harebell (wildie) with only one eye who is very happy outdoors with her partner, and the 10 year old sisters Willow and Robinia (will be 11 soon!!) with very little sight at all in an outside group of 5.
 
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