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Blind rabbit

cjmaclean

Young Bun
We have an elderly house bun that is gradually going blind in both of his eyes. He has been checked out by an opthalmology vet who is an expert in his field.

I am just wondering if anyone out there has any tips for helping a blind house bun to cope?

We are very happy to accommodate him by making sure there are no obvious dangers in his environment and not changing things round so he knows where to go. He is also unfortunately a single bun as his partner died and we don't want to put him through the stress of another pairing when he is going blind.

Many thanks for any help.
 
Hiya!! I have two blind house-buns who both cope really well with their disability. You may find you need to restrict your bun to just one room when unsupervised as it is tricky for a blind bun to remember where all the obstacles are in the entire house!! The other thing to remember is that as your buns eyesight deteriorates his hearing and sense of smell may become more acute. Noises which never bothered him before may start to frighten him a bit. And if you try to give him a nose rub having just washed your hands in a strong smelling soap your bun may be startled and either shy away or growl at you!! Assuming the loss of vision is a gradual thing your bun should adapt very well. My blind buns are each bonded with a sighted bun but I can understand you being reluctant to embark on bonding your bun now. Really it is just a case of keeping everything in buns environment the same and ensuring bun has a safe hidey-hole that he can get to at all times. Hope some of this helps!! Jane and Buns xx
 
Hi Jane,

Thanks so much for your reply. That does help a lot. I didn't think about his other senses getting stronger in response to his sight being reduced, but that does make sense now that you mention it as he has been acting as if we are rattling a treat bag every time he hears something like paper being shuffled around! And I will remember about the smells too.

He seems to be a bit depressed and less confident since we moved him upstairs and isn't eating as much, but we are hoping that once he settles in he will be okay. We had thought about trying to pair him up again, but he is notoriously hard to pair up at the best of times (HAS to be the boss!), so we are a bit reluctant to do that with his sight going. But we may consider it if having another bun around would keep him cheered up.

Here is a rather scraggly photo of him (in need of a trim). He is a very fluffy lionhead:

BennyFlopped.jpg
 
Awwww!! He's a cute lad!! I am sure he'll be fine once he gets used to his new environment. This may sound daft but it may help if you leave a radio on for him!! The regular background noise will become comforting....as long as its not Heavy Metal I guess!! :lol: Hope we will get some updates on how he is doing. :D Jane and Buns xx
 
Hi Jane,

Thanks so much for all your help. The radio is a great idea too, thanks. We have been putting a telly on for him when we get home from work and are downstairs making tea and catering to the other animals, but a radio during the day is a great idea too. He seems a lot more relaxed when he knows we are home and there are familiar noises.

Oh and he may not like Heavy Metal music, but he does love old Rock anthems. Where we used to live Benny and his partner could come into our main living area and my other half would put on various different types of music on the stereo to see what they liked. It turned out that Benny loves male vocals and his particular favourite (I am serious here!) is 'Kayleigh' by Marillion! He will come and flop next to the speaker when we put it on!! (We figure he must have been an old rocker in his last life or something!!)

Thanks again and I will keep you posted as to how he gets on.
Cathy
 
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