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Boobly bears eyes - blind bunny musings

joey&boo

Wise Old Thumper
When Boo had her last health check the vet told us that in addition to her obviously dodgy eye (E.C related Uvelitis which started December) she has a cataract in her right eye. To me this isn't apparent visually - I don't know if thats because she is a REW or not. Anyway he reckons she will see light & shade in her better eye, nothing else.

Increasingly I'm doubting she can see much at all. When I wave forage around she can't see it & only locates it by running in to it. Its easier for her if its something more smelly (eg basil). Maybe she'd pick up on its scent more easily if it weren't for the forage drying in that room. She finds it anyway so not worried. What makes me think she must be able to see is that she is as awesome as ever at negociating not only her own room (the big bedroom she shares with Joe & us) but also when she crashes into my office with various states of chaos on the floor(- the bedroom is pretty stable in layout & shall remain so).

If Boobly can only see light & shade on one side I am in awe of her adventurous spirit:love: Can a fully blind bunny cope that well? This does make me think on how very different we are as species yet share some really lovely bonds.

Any experiences of completely blind bunnies out there:wave:
 
She also seems to have stopped spooking. She's always been a spooker (particulary outside or in unfamiliar environment) - typical REW. Maybe nothing is spooking her because she's not half seeing things if you know what i mean
 
My Harley is blind now due to cataracts (and now going/is deaf). He's coped pretty well until now as apart from moving the grass run about I don't move anything else.

Losing his hearing now though is meaning that I'm trying to teach him that x number of me stamping my foot = food or y number of me stamping my foot = come here/time for bed.
 
My Harley is blind now due to cataracts (and now going/is deaf). He's coped pretty well until now as apart from moving the grass run about I don't move anything else.

Losing his hearing now though is meaning that I'm trying to teach him that x number of me stamping my foot = food or y number of me stamping my foot = come here/time for bed.


Bless, is he getting the jist? Boo is completely deaf, AFAIK always has been, we've had her 6 years
 
We're working on it. Seems to mostly gotten the idea that 4 foot stamps = pellets/food and will head towards where the vibration is coming from (within distance limits) after a couple of tries.

He got a bit confused last week when I tried 4 foot stamps near the junction box to encourage him to come in rather than near the run as it's a pipe distance away so I'm now trying out 3 foot stamps and no pellets for "hey I'm here, time to come in".
 
Luna has been completely blind since birth - she doesn't have any retinas. I didn't find out until 2017 (brought her home october 2015). shes been able to do some amazing things despite her lack of sight. she once cleared couch to table (4-5ft) and bite every banana in the fruit bowl :lol: I didn't really figure out until after Snoops passing, she ran into things and fell more. Snoop was her guide bunny if you will :love: honestly she does amazingly well for being blind, you wouldn't know otherwise!
 
Mimzy was pretty much completely blind and deaf for most of his life after recovering from head tilt. He was about 5 then? He lived to be 10 and while I kept his roaming area as familiar as possible, I wouldn't have known he couldn't see and only found out he couldn't hear after my ex started up a chainsaw outside my window and only Fiver freaked out. :roll:
That being said, especially since I'm seeing how much a concern it is now with Jenna, even blind eyes need health checks. If they become injured or infected in any way (even a small scratch) it can become serious quite quickly.
 
IME Bunnies can cope very well with little or no eyesight if it comes on gradually or if they are born blind. The only time I have seen a Bunny to be distressed by being blind is when it happened suddenly as a result of a CVA (stroke). The Bunny did eventually adjust though :)
 
I've been wondering whether it is better to leave lights on for Boobly. She does get excited about the lights on the hoover. Maybe some of those night lights you can put in plug sockets. Thoughts please
 
Excited at the Hoover, bless her :love: yes you could maybe try the one and see how she reacts to it, be interesting to see x
 
I put a light on for my bunnies outside in their shed during the darkness of the evening. It's on from around 5pm for a few hours. I have to say it appears to be more for my benefit than their's. Tethra has cataracts in both eyes and Tui is a not-seeing-very-well REW. It seems to go completely unnoticed by both bunnies. If they are moving around they continue with what they are doing, both when the light goes on and when it goes off.
 
I use a low wattage dusk to dawn bulb in the bunny room, I used this - 3 Watt 270 Lumen B22 Cool 2 Pack Automatic Dusk to Dawn Sensor LED Bulb Auto On/Off Daylight/Cool White Light Bulb 6500k Energy Saving 3w-30w Incandescent Equivalent 3 Watt 270 Lumen B22 Cool 2 Pack [Energy Class A]
 
For several nights Boo has started hanging out in a new spot -on the landing. Its got Bob pondering why. Last night as we went to bed he was going on about it again. I went in the spare room & caught Joey raiding the forage box. Mystery solved I says, she was keeping guard for Joey. Bob says well I don't think she'd make much of a guard given she is both blind & deaf. I think she'd still be up to the job, she could smell us coming & bang her feet. I like that she still gets up to different stuff & finds different favourite places.

The landing is actually a pretty good spot as she'll get attention whenever someone goes up or downstairs.

I'm just letting J&B help themselves to dried forage & giving Mouse a bowl for each day
 
For several nights Boo has started hanging out in a new spot -on the landing. Its got Bob pondering why. Last night as we went to bed he was going on about it again. I went in the spare room & caught Joey raiding the forage box. Mystery solved I says, she was keeping guard for Joey. Bob says well I don't think she'd make much of a guard given she is both blind & deaf. I think she'd still be up to the job, she could smell us coming & bang her feet. I like that she still gets up to different stuff & finds different favourite places.

The landing is actually a pretty good spot as she'll get attention whenever someone goes up or downstairs.

I'm just letting J&B help themselves to dried forage & giving Mouse a bowl for each day

:love::love::love:
 
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