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vet appointment for luna tomorrow! U/D

binkyCodie

Mama Doe
so i decided i wanted to get a second opinion on luna's blindness, possible causes etc. my vet has just poked her around the eye, clapped and shone a light in. as its not impacting her, don't seem to interested i suppose. whereas i want to know why her eyes to not contract or dilate in light or dark, or why she is blind? what does it mean for her eyes to not dilate or contract? is there possible brain damage? but i don't have those answers :?

i rang around and decided to settle on one around 10 miles away - not too far from bobtails! its also £4 cheaper than my normal vet too so maybe they can give me answers. they have a vet that specializes in rabbits and is rabbit savvy. however they dont have the certificate like a proper exotics would.

i was going to go for a proper specialist - however that was £60 which is a bit out of my price range for a second opinion. the receptionist also said that it would be a long way and a lot of money for a second opinion on blindness. however, if we wanted to go into in depth exploration (tests, ct scans etc) they would happily take us on! but im just interested in another opinion for the moment.

hopefully i'll get some more answers!

on the way back i'll be dropping two toys and a 2kg bag of food off at bobstails also! :) snoopy only liked burgess pellet, luna doesn't and likes science selective. so i always ended up buying two different bags of food :lol: :roll: i brought a new bag right before snoopy died, so i have a 2kg bag sitting around with no use. i asked via FB and they said they would happily take it. if its no use they can chuck it but id rather offer it to somebody else first rather than just chucking it myself! i'm also giving them two toys, a sisaw carrot and a rattle roller. luna hates both of them (the toys came in packs of 2) so they might as well see if their bunnies are more grateful than mine! :lol:
 
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I think it's a good idea to get a second opinion on Luna's eyes. I would want more of an explanation too I think. I hope the appointment goes well tomorrow and she has a thorough examination.
 
so i decided i wanted to get a second opinion on luna's blindness, possible causes etc. my vet has just poked her around the eye, clapped and shone a light in. as its not impacting her, don't seem to interested i suppose. whereas i want to know why her eyes to not contract or dilate in light or dark, or why she is blind? what does it mean for her eyes to not dilate or contract? is there possible brain damage? but i don't have those answers :?

i rang around and decided to settle on one around 10 miles away - not too far from bobtails! its also £4 cheaper than my normal vet too so maybe they can give me answers. they have a vet that specializes in rabbits and is rabbit savvy. however they dont have the certificate like a proper exotics would.

i was going to go for a proper specialist - however that was £60 which is a bit out of my price range for a second opinion. the receptionist also said that it would be a long way and a lot of money for a second opinion on blindness. however, if we wanted to go into in depth exploration (tests, ct scans etc) they would happily take us on! but im just interested in another opinion for the moment.

hopefully i'll get some more answers!

on the way back i'll be dropping two toys and a 2kg bag of food off at bobstails also! :) snoopy only liked burgess pellet, luna doesn't and likes science selective. so i always ended up buying two different bags of food :lol: :roll: i brought a new bag right before snoopy died, so i have a 2kg bag sitting around with no use. i asked via FB and they said they would happily take it. if its no use they can chuck it but id rather offer it to somebody else first rather than just chucking it myself! i'm also giving them two toys, a sisaw carrot and a rattle roller. luna hates both of them (the toys came in packs of 2) so they might as well see if their bunnies are more grateful than mine! :lol:


I hope you get some answers :)

Good luck for the vet appointment tomorrow x
 
thank you both! im hoping i get the answers im looking for today as well!

stupid anxiety is playing up though as we are driving far out and to a new place, slept horribly and woke up at 4am after 2 hours sleep! :roll:
 
we went over and everybody was very friendly, including the vet herself. they also had a student learning and she was super keen to snuggle and learn about luna and rabbit's in general.

they did a thorough check of her eyes and we now know the actual reason for her blindness.

Luna's retinas are actually not developed - she vet said its incredibly hard to see them so its like its not even there. this is why she can not see, and her pupils don't react to light - theres nothing for it to bounce off of! her world is completely black. its likely that this happened while she was in the womb, or happened as a result due to her poor start to life (no food, hay, toys, shut away and ignored) as she didn't get the correct nutrition. with this, its likely all she's known for the entirety of her life is complete black, so her hearing and scent are even stronger as she's had to adapt.. this is why she can run at ravens and pigeons or chase cats out of the yard, her sense of smell and hearing work harder so to speak.

she also weighs 2.64 kg :oops: im currently trying to work out if she's overweight now or not. looking at weight charts doesn't look overweight, she looks more in the idealish range. but then she's always sat around 2.2kg.

her teeth are healthy (perfect in fact) and she's in amazing condition which is a nice relief to hear after snoop lol.

they also gave me advice to put vasaline on her sore hocks and if they rip open sudocream.

she's at home now munching away on hay :D

part of me wishes i could switch to them - they're much more knowledgeable and slightly cheaper too. but not sure how my mom would feel about driving me 11 miles for vet appointments, and its around a 45min journey. sorta knocks out your morning, or afternoon.
 
This sounds like a successful examination, even though it confirms that Luna can't see. Perhaps you could just keep this vet in mind and use them again if you need a more expert opinion, rather than using them every time. For instance I wouldn't think it worthwhile to go there just for vaccinations.

Luna's a Standard Rex isn't she? I wouldn't have thought that her weight makes her overweight. She doesn't appear to be overweight from your photos and she clearly has a lot of exercise (chasing Ravens ;)).

Regarding sore hocks, there are differing opinions on this amonst owners and also vets. It also very much depends on how sore the hock is. However, I have 3 Rexes, who all have had sore hocks in the past at some stage. It has always been mild and I have never put anything on them, but have just monitored them very closely. They have always got better by themselves. I also make sure that their nails are trimmed.
 
we went over and everybody was very friendly, including the vet herself. they also had a student learning and she was super keen to snuggle and learn about luna and rabbit's in general.

they did a thorough check of her eyes and we now know the actual reason for her blindness.

Luna's retinas are actually not developed - she vet said its incredibly hard to see them so its like its not even there. this is why she can not see, and her pupils don't react to light - theres nothing for it to bounce off of! her world is completely black. its likely that this happened while she was in the womb, or happened as a result due to her poor start to life (no food, hay, toys, shut away and ignored) as she didn't get the correct nutrition. with this, its likely all she's known for the entirety of her life is complete black, so her hearing and scent are even stronger as she's had to adapt.. this is why she can run at ravens and pigeons or chase cats out of the yard, her sense of smell and hearing work harder so to speak.

she also weighs 2.64 kg :oops: im currently trying to work out if she's overweight now or not. looking at weight charts doesn't look overweight, she looks more in the idealish range. but then she's always sat around 2.2kg.

her teeth are healthy (perfect in fact) and she's in amazing condition which is a nice relief to hear after snoop lol.

they also gave me advice to put vasaline on her sore hocks and if they rip open sudocream.

she's at home now munching away on hay :D

part of me wishes i could switch to them - they're much more knowledgeable and slightly cheaper too. but not sure how my mom would feel about driving me 11 miles for vet appointments, and its around a 45min journey. sorta knocks out your morning, or afternoon.


Hi BC :wave:

This sounds to have been a really worthwhile vet's visit :thumb:

I can't see that Luna looks overweight - what did the vet say about that? They usually comment if a rabbit is overweight. Sometimes looking at weight charts isn't always helpful. In fact I don't think I've ever looked at a rabbit (or human for that matter) weight chart in 25+ years :p

Glad to hear her teeth are so good - there are a lot of positives here, including finding this knowledgable and less expensive vet.

Where I am, I have to travel 40 mins to any vet at all, so I wouldn't worry about an 11 mile trip. Though I can see it wouldn't be for everyone.

Hope the hocks aren't too bad. Keeping nails short really helps :)
 
This sounds like a successful examination, even though it confirms that Luna can't see. Perhaps you could just keep this vet in mind and use them again if you need a more expert opinion, rather than using them every time. For instance I wouldn't think it worthwhile to go there just for vaccinations.

Luna's a Standard Rex isn't she? I wouldn't have thought that her weight makes her overweight. She doesn't appear to be overweight from your photos and she clearly has a lot of exercise (chasing Ravens ;)).

Regarding sore hocks, there are differing opinions on this amonst owners and also vets. It also very much depends on how sore the hock is. However, I have 3 Rexes, who all have had sore hocks in the past at some stage. It has always been mild and I have never put anything on them, but have just monitored them very closely. They have always got better by themselves. I also make sure that their nails are trimmed.

that would be a good idea yeah :)

the vet did say she can't tell us any more than her retina as damaged and almost not there. we could invest in tests but still, that would just tell us that she's blind and not fix the problem. they would be expensive and get us no further, we can't fix her.

Luna is a standard. i thought she was a mini but nope, she dwarfed Snoopy's 1.7kg! she does gets lots of exercise - a little less than she did which is why i think she's put the weight on. she's lost some confidence so she mainly prefers to munch in one corner (but despite that she still runs at ravens and cats :shock: not too sure what to think of this bun!!) she doesn't look overweight either. just our last vet visit aislin said she's getting tubby and on the side of overweight. bit confused! i wonder if they have her down as a mini?

sadly i got luna with extremely bad sorehocks :( they've never really gone away and always been pretty bad. they're on her toepads right now too. my main concern is that many of times she's ripped them open and blood was everywhere! thankfully i've cleaned them and its all been pretty okay thus far; but they still look nasty and painful to me. and i dont really want blood everywhere again lol. her nails have always been fairly trim except when i really struggled due to RL issues and her bein a bit of a brat. but im on top of it now and giving tiny trims every 2 weeks. some of her nails grow like rockets and others a month later and they've not changed!

Hi BC :wave:

This sounds to have been a really worthwhile vet's visit :thumb:

I can't see that Luna looks overweight - what did the vet say about that? They usually comment if a rabbit is overweight. Sometimes looking at weight charts isn't always helpful. In fact I don't think I've ever looked at a rabbit (or human for that matter) weight chart in 25+ years :p

Glad to hear her teeth are so good - there are a lot of positives here, including finding this knowledgable and less expensive vet.

Where I am, I have to travel 40 mins to any vet at all, so I wouldn't worry about an 11 mile trip. Though I can see it wouldn't be for everyone.

Hope the hocks aren't too bad. Keeping nails short really helps :)

hi MM :)

it does! i was worried it would be a waste of time but thankfully not.

this vet didnt say anything but our normal vet aislin did say she's looking a bit tubby. i do wonder if they have her down as a mini though as i thought she was a mini (what i was told) but she's clearly a standard. way to big to be a mini lol. she's around 2.64kg as i said and looks healthy. i thought the weight chart might be a help as i can see if she looks over but she doesnt in all honesty lol. no tummy hanging on the floor. her waist line isnt tucked in but never has been. (to be honest i've never bothered with human myself!!)

i am so pleased her teeth are okay in all honesty! thats my biggest worry and i probs over worry after snoopy. im so terrified of losing another that way i suppose.

her hocks are getting rather bad. they're also all on her toes now too on the front paws. i rescued her with horrible sore hocks and she's prone to ripping them open when she runs on the concrete. i can't cover the concrete sadly and she has plenty of grass. but no bunny 500's on concrete is better :roll: i had manage to heal them but i think with the stress of losing snoopy they've come back pretty badly again. i'll see if i can apply vasaline as i think 3/4 incidents of ripping open sore hocks is enough for me!! :lol:
 
that would be a good idea yeah :)

the vet did say she can't tell us any more than her retina as damaged and almost not there. we could invest in tests but still, that would just tell us that she's blind and not fix the problem. they would be expensive and get us no further, we can't fix her.

Luna is a standard. i thought she was a mini but nope, she dwarfed Snoopy's 1.7kg! she does gets lots of exercise - a little less than she did which is why i think she's put the weight on. she's lost some confidence so she mainly prefers to munch in one corner (but despite that she still runs at ravens and cats :shock: not too sure what to think of this bun!!) she doesn't look overweight either. just our last vet visit aislin said she's getting tubby and on the side of overweight. bit confused! i wonder if they have her down as a mini?

sadly i got luna with extremely bad sorehocks :( they've never really gone away and always been pretty bad. they're on her toepads right now too. my main concern is that many of times she's ripped them open and blood was everywhere! thankfully i've cleaned them and its all been pretty okay thus far; but they still look nasty and painful to me. and i dont really want blood everywhere again lol. her nails have always been fairly trim except when i really struggled due to RL issues and her bein a bit of a brat. but im on top of it now and giving tiny trims every 2 weeks. some of her nails grow like rockets and others a month later and they've not changed!



hi MM :)

it does! i was worried it would be a waste of time but thankfully not.

this vet didnt say anything but our normal vet aislin did say she's looking a bit tubby. i do wonder if they have her down as a mini though as i thought she was a mini (what i was told) but she's clearly a standard. way to big to be a mini lol. she's around 2.64kg as i said and looks healthy. i thought the weight chart might be a help as i can see if she looks over but she doesnt in all honesty lol. no tummy hanging on the floor. her waist line isnt tucked in but never has been. (to be honest i've never bothered with human myself!!)

i am so pleased her teeth are okay in all honesty! thats my biggest worry and i probs over worry after snoopy. im so terrified of losing another that way i suppose.

her hocks are getting rather bad. they're also all on her toes now too on the front paws. i rescued her with horrible sore hocks and she's prone to ripping them open when she runs on the concrete. i can't cover the concrete sadly and she has plenty of grass. but no bunny 500's on concrete is better :roll: i had manage to heal them but i think with the stress of losing snoopy they've come back pretty badly again. i'll see if i can apply vasaline as i think 3/4 incidents of ripping open sore hocks is enough for me!! :lol:


Regarding sore hocks, there may be some useful info here to try:

Gill (vet at Windelsham) recommends Derbymed SCP Spray:

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Derbymed-SCP-Spray-200ml/productinfo/DERBYMSCP/
Derbymed SCP Spray 200ml is a soothing, antiseptic wound spray that removes excessive moisture from open wounds and aids in the management of cuts, sores and proud flesh.

This cream has analgesic (pain killing) properties:

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/veterinary-s.../healx-soother-plus-topical-cream-30ml-p-7773

This has been recommended by someone on here as very good:

https://vitaltouch.com/product/natalia-baby-bottom-butter-60ml/
 
thank you so much MM! i'll for sure look into those! ♥ they do look rather painful and i feel sorry for her, currently they're bright red and warm to touch, she also does not agree with you touching them at all so i would presume they're a bit painful. perhaps i'll go with the pain managing one for now, and see how that goes. if not i'll invest in the spray :D

its just getting it on the dang rabbit... :lol: maybe i'll invest in baby socks again (that lasted four minutes before she peed on them!)
 
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thank you so much MM! i'll for sure look into those! ♥ they do look rather painful and i feel sorry for her, currently they're bright red and warm to touch, she also does not agree with you touching them at all so i would presume they're a bit painful. perhaps i'll go with the pain managing one for now, and see how that goes. if not i'll invest in the spray :D

its just getting it on the dang rabbit... :lol: maybe i'll invest in baby socks again (that lasted four minutes before she peed on them!)


You're welcome BC :)

Baby socks would be fine if you could get them to stay on the feet quite apart from the weeing and nibbling :roll:

For my french lop who had sore hocks I made bootees. I still have them - I made a paper pattern then made several pairs. He just loved going around the garden, even in the rain, so he had not only warm ones, but waterproof ones too. I also made cotton socks (with elasticated ankles) to go inside the boots to be washed twice daily so his feet stayed nice and dry. His socks and boots were always drying on the radiators :lol:
 
You're welcome BC :)

Baby socks would be fine if you could get them to stay on the feet quite apart from the weeing and nibbling :roll:

For my french lop who had sore hocks I made bootees. I still have them - I made a paper pattern then made several pairs. He just loved going around the garden, even in the rain, so he had not only warm ones, but waterproof ones too. I also made cotton socks (with elasticated ankles) to go inside the boots to be washed twice daily so his feet stayed nice and dry. His socks and boots were always drying on the radiators :lol:

yeah, peeing and nibbling is the main problem, or she pulls them off and throws em :lol: very adorable to watch. she is more affectionate now though, so maybe i can get them on and pet her for 20 minutes and that should do the trick! that or i'll buy some cheap self adhesive bandages and wrap those around. i just want them to stay on so the cream can go in and not just rub off on the carpet.

the booties sound adorable! i wish i was more creative with fabric and whatnot. i'd love to make her some little booties or socks! maybe i can do some research. i did make snoopy a blanket measured for his cage and a little hut for him! had to throw the hut out though in the end as it was peed to death on :roll:

out of curiosity do you have any pictures of your lop with the booties ? ♥ or the booties in general? :)
 
yeah, peeing and nibbling is the main problem, or she pulls them off and throws em :lol: very adorable to watch. she is more affectionate now though, so maybe i can get them on and pet her for 20 minutes and that should do the trick! that or i'll buy some cheap self adhesive bandages and wrap those around. i just want them to stay on so the cream can go in and not just rub off on the carpet.

the booties sound adorable! i wish i was more creative with fabric and whatnot. i'd love to make her some little booties or socks! maybe i can do some research. i did make snoopy a blanket measured for his cage and a little hut for him! had to throw the hut out though in the end as it was peed to death on :roll:

out of curiosity do you have any pictures of your lop with the booties ? ♥ or the booties in general? :)


Well making a blanket and a hut sound quite inventive :) Why do rabbits feel they have to pee on things? :roll:

I do have the booties, and the socks. I never kept my children's first booties, but I did keep my first rabbit's booties :lol:

I don't have any mechanism for posting photos here I'm afraid ...
I seem to remember he had a 5" hock and a very slim ankle though :D
 
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