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Blind rabbit info please
- Thread starter Graciee
- Start date
jewaller
Alpha Buck
lagamorph,eyes
dear gracie,absolutely,but so can we,--a bun with poor vision may react to sound,vibrations,and such,quicker-reaction time,- eye disorders/disease-is somewhat common,unfortuneately- www.medirabbit.com esther van pragg is my favorite scientist for rabbits...--sincerely james waller from across the great pond-the other kent,wa.usa
Thanks for the info
I've got a feeling one of mine is either blind or has bad eye sight unfortunately
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binkyCodie
Mama Doe
the best thing is a veterinary check tbh.
the most noticeable things (to me at least) are..
- bumping into things
- not being able to find scattered food or objects in general
- following other rabbits around
you can also test in a few different ways. get a cotton stick and move it about in front of their eyes. do they react? go like you're gonna poke them in the eye (don't of course!) and see if they flinch their eyes. you can also try waving your finger in front of their eye, they should flinch. you'll find in blind rabbits though, they don't flinch until it touches their eyelashes or eye as they cant' see it coming. its a pretty good way of seeing if they do.
one of the signs also tends to be the pupils not being black. Luna's, while dark, are more of a blue color due to having no retinas. they should be pure black almost. gonna see if I can find some pictures to show you :lol:
the most noticeable things (to me at least) are..
- bumping into things
- not being able to find scattered food or objects in general
- following other rabbits around
you can also test in a few different ways. get a cotton stick and move it about in front of their eyes. do they react? go like you're gonna poke them in the eye (don't of course!) and see if they flinch their eyes. you can also try waving your finger in front of their eye, they should flinch. you'll find in blind rabbits though, they don't flinch until it touches their eyelashes or eye as they cant' see it coming. its a pretty good way of seeing if they do.
one of the signs also tends to be the pupils not being black. Luna's, while dark, are more of a blue color due to having no retinas. they should be pure black almost. gonna see if I can find some pictures to show you :lol:
binkyCodie
Mama Doe
not the best images but you can see the blue tint of her eyes due to being blind. compared to that of orion’s/snoopys that are almost pure black
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks Codie, it's Penelope so her eyes are blue but the whole eye has like a pink tinge to it, I've been wondering for a while if she can't see, she often comes running over knowing I'm there because I talk to her, but then I'll go to pet her and Apricot and Apricot will settle down for pets, whereas Penelope flinches when I touch her, like she wasn't expecting it.. But then I speak to her and keep my hand still and she comes back for pets by bumping into my hand.. Idk maybe I'm over thinking it.. [emoji38]
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binkyCodie
Mama Doe
hmm might be then. I don't think you're over thinking it at all. that was actually one of the first things that I thought with Luna. after Snoopy passed away she hid under the table, Snoopy was her guide bun so to speak. when I went to approach her she'd attack in my direction grunting, probably out of fear as she didn't know who it was. but her attacks weren't too affective as she wasn't really pointing in the right place lol. I now talk to her the entire time to let her know its okay and where I am in the room. I even talk to her as I come up the stairs just saying "its me Luna". sounds really silly but it helps her locate me and know who it is.
I also don't pet her right away as she gets spooked, i put my hand in front of her nose and let her initiate pets. that way she knows its me and its not some big hand suddenly coming down on top of her.
you can also see if her eyes react to light..go into a dim room and then turn on a torch or lamp next to her. her eyes should instantly contract as they expand in low light areas. if not, then she's probably blind, if they react slowly then it might be partial sight.
it can be hard but usually in blind rabbits (or animals) their pupil will either turn white, or may be a bluey tinge compared to what it should be of almost pure black. I'm not sure if that applies to blue eyed animals, or rabbits though, for that matter.
you might also be looking at cataracts if the eye appears cloudy?
but I think to put your mind at ease and to get a definitive answer a vet appointment in the new year might be an idea it might be something and nothing or she may have eye issues. but I think if you suspect something is best to get it checked out. blindness could be caused by a whole host of reasons, some more sinister. not to be a "negative nancy" but it can be caused by trauma, glaucoma, tumors, cataracts, abscess and so fourth. it can just be genetics or age, but for me the important thing was finding out why Luna was blind. my previous vet couldn't find out why, she was just blind, but I wanted to know why. was it something more sinister or is she really just the unlucky bun?
the vet will likely preform a few tests, including seeing if she reacts to having something waved infront of her eye. s/he will probably turn off the light and shine a light in her eyes, to see if they react to it. they will also probably have an extensive look. with Luna, they put a liquid in her eyes to check for an abscess.
I hope its something and nothing but, rabbits adapt extremely well it just comes down to knowing her. for instance, Luna gets very upset if things are moved around in her home, and even cleaning out is stressful for her. so I try to minimize that and have pet remedy on almost all the time for her, as it really makes the world of difference.
here are a few links
https://smallpetselect.com/blindness-in-rabbits/
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/blindness.html
could you get a decent enough picture of her eye? somebody else might be able to weigh in their thoughts on how it looks
I also don't pet her right away as she gets spooked, i put my hand in front of her nose and let her initiate pets. that way she knows its me and its not some big hand suddenly coming down on top of her.
you can also see if her eyes react to light..go into a dim room and then turn on a torch or lamp next to her. her eyes should instantly contract as they expand in low light areas. if not, then she's probably blind, if they react slowly then it might be partial sight.
it can be hard but usually in blind rabbits (or animals) their pupil will either turn white, or may be a bluey tinge compared to what it should be of almost pure black. I'm not sure if that applies to blue eyed animals, or rabbits though, for that matter.
you might also be looking at cataracts if the eye appears cloudy?
but I think to put your mind at ease and to get a definitive answer a vet appointment in the new year might be an idea
it might be something and nothing or she may have eye issues. but I think if you suspect something is best to get it checked out. blindness could be caused by a whole host of reasons, some more sinister. not to be a "negative nancy" but it can be caused by trauma, glaucoma, tumors, cataracts, abscess and so fourth. it can just be genetics or age, but for me the important thing was finding out why Luna was blind. my previous vet couldn't find out why, she was just blind, but I wanted to know why. was it something more sinister or is she really just the unlucky bun?the vet will likely preform a few tests, including seeing if she reacts to having something waved infront of her eye. s/he will probably turn off the light and shine a light in her eyes, to see if they react to it. they will also probably have an extensive look. with Luna, they put a liquid in her eyes to check for an abscess.
I hope its something and nothing but, rabbits adapt extremely well
it just comes down to knowing her. for instance, Luna gets very upset if things are moved around in her home, and even cleaning out is stressful for her. so I try to minimize that and have pet remedy on almost all the time for her, as it really makes the world of difference.here are a few links
https://smallpetselect.com/blindness-in-rabbits/
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/blindness.html
could you get a decent enough picture of her eye? somebody else might be able to weigh in their thoughts on how it looks
Yea I'll book in with my vet I thinkhmm might be then. I don't think you're over thinking it at all. that was actually one of the first things that I thought with Luna. after Snoopy passed away she hid under the table, Snoopy was her guide bun so to speak. when I went to approach her she'd attack in my direction grunting, probably out of fear as she didn't know who it was. but her attacks weren't too affective as she wasn't really pointing in the right place lol. I now talk to her the entire time to let her know its okay and where I am in the room. I even talk to her as I come up the stairs just saying "its me Luna". sounds really silly but it helps her locate me and know who it is.
I also don't pet her right away as she gets spooked, i put my hand in front of her nose and let her initiate pets. that way she knows its me and its not some big hand suddenly coming down on top of her.
you can also see if her eyes react to light..go into a dim room and then turn on a torch or lamp next to her. her eyes should instantly contract as they expand in low light areas. if not, then she's probably blind, if they react slowly then it might be partial sight.
it can be hard but usually in blind rabbits (or animals) their pupil will either turn white, or may be a bluey tinge compared to what it should be of almost pure black. I'm not sure if that applies to blue eyed animals, or rabbits though, for that matter.
you might also be looking at cataracts if the eye appears cloudy?
but I think to put your mind at ease and to get a definitive answer a vet appointment in the new year might be an idea
the vet will likely preform a few tests, including seeing if she reacts to having something waved infront of her eye. s/he will probably turn off the light and shine a light in her eyes, to see if they react to it. they will also probably have an extensive look. with Luna, they put a liquid in her eyes to check for an abscess.
I hope its something and nothing but, rabbits adapt extremely well
here are a few links
https://smallpetselect.com/blindness-in-rabbits/
http://www.disabledrabbits.com/blindness.html
could you get a decent enough picture of her eye? somebody else might be able to weigh in their thoughts on how it looks
Thing is her eye looks totally normal [emoji38] I'll get a picture later if I can, she has such beautiful eyes.
It's more her behaviour than anything else, as soon as she hears it's me she relaxes, but before then she seems tense whereas Apricot is fine.. Idk I don't expect her and Apricot to be the same [emoji38] it's just Idk it's hard to explain it's just a feeling I get haha
Took Roo to a very good Ophthalmology who seems to be able to asses her cataracts well. She did a flinching test that involved moving the hand towards the eye. She did flinch so she wasn't completely blind in that eye. So I guess that is something they can tell. But of course it seems it's quite hard to tell just how bad their sight is, if it's partial or major sight loss you just have to assess their behaviour?
