5 month old dwarf rex suddenly blind???

[tomw]

Had our rabbit fixed about 10 days ago. All of a sudden 2 days ago he was totally blind. Previously he would wake up and had a booming personality greeting us at the door to his cage, doing happy bunny hops etc.

Yesterday he was drinking a TON of water and will not eat his hay.

The vet gave him a steroid and we are giving him an oral steroid and the optometrist said he has never seen anything like this.

This morning he is not finding his litter box and still is not eating hay.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this. It's such a complete sudden change in personality. How can he just one day be 100% fine to this? There has been no trauma, he is in no pain. So sad.

 

[JBun]

I haven't ever come across something like this. Could it be possible a clot from the neuter surgery caused it? Or maybe a reaction to the anesthesia? You know, I'm thinking that maybe I did read of a similar thing happening. I don't remember where though, but if I'm remembering right, the rabbit's sight did come back. I'll try and see if I can find where I read about this.

Is he eating anything and it's just the hay that he's stopped eating? Is your vet sure he isn't experiencing pain? A rabbit not eating is often an indicator of a rabbit experiencing pain. Are you doing any syringe feeding? Is he still pooping ok?

 

[tomw]

Thanks so much for the reply.

We had ZuZu at the vet again today. He said if it was the anesthesia it would have been right away. ZuZu was at the vet a week after the surgery for a follow up and was 100% OK. The next day he woke up blind and we think deaf.

Today he gave us something for worms/parasite.

A fellow rabbit owner also mentioned something about a clot. However I would think there would be something else that would show up with that.

Today he started eating hay again. He was eating his regular kibble and any vegy's we gave him.The excessive water drinking was due to the steroid that the vet put him on when this first started.

This is all so confusing. We are taking ZuZu to an exotic pet vet Tuesday. It's so sad to see him like this. He had a HUGE personality and now he just seems so scared.

 

[JBun]

I'm so sorry. Your poor little bun must be so confused. I have been reading about post operative anesthesia causing the same kind of thing in cats, dogs, and people, but I don't know if that is all immediately after surgery. If it were a clot, I suppose that could explain a delayed response. Parasites are certainly a possibility as well.

Even if his sight doesn't come back, I'm sure his personality will as he starts to adjust to not being able to see and realizing that everything is still ok and that he is safe. He's just probably a bit in shock, and just needs a little time. I think a regular routine and keeping things in a regular place will help him to get his bearings.

This has a little bit about caring for a blind rabbit, that may be helpful.
http://www.lagomorphs.com/blindness.pdf

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[jlindgren]

I'm VERY interested in the outcome of this case. I woke up to a suddenly blind rabbit a few days ago. Also won't eat solid food, even treats he normally loves. It's as if he forgot how to chew. I took him to the vet and they gave me antibiotics for possible parasite, but said it could be a tumor or meningitis or something else. We are on day 3 of treatment and syringe-feeding (since he still won't eat solid food). He seems to have regained his "spunk" but is still blind and won't eat solid food. I've emptied the litter box and other obstacles out of his cage because he no longer uses them properly... he just has pine and hay in there now. I'm going to have to put him down in a week or two if he can't start eating on his own. Please HELP!! What ever happened to your rabbit??:shock2:

 

[squidpop]

jlindgren I'm not sure what is wrong with your bunny but did your vet give you Panacur active ingredient fenbendazol? That would be what you would need to treat EC (e. cuniculi) which is a protazoal infection that sometimes causes blindness, paralysis, and head tilt. It is fairly common and a lot of rabbits carry it. Usually with blindness though, there is a white spot in the eye with EC.

 

[JBun]

Antibiotics can treat a possible bacterial infection, but if the blindness is due to the e. cuniculi parasite, you need to be treating with panacur(fenbendazole) as well. Antibiotic and panacur meds will need to be given for at least 4 weeks, though the antibiotic may need to be given longer.
http://www.gwexotics.com/wccms-resources/a/5/0/e/77554b90-a660-11e0-a685-0050568626ea.pdf

Did your vet also prescribe and anti inflammatory/pain reliever(eg. metacam/meloxicam)? If the blindness is due to any inflammatory response, giving an anti inflammatory is essential.

 

[jlindgren]

Thanks so much for your replies. I called my vet since he had only sent us home with Tribrissen. He confirmed that part of the problem may be the EC but he wants to kill off any pasturella first and then give Fenbendazole if there is some improvement. He said because my rabbit was so critically ill, he didn't want to overwhelm his system with two things at once. We are going back in for a check up in a few days - at which point he said we may inititate the fenbendazole.

Thanks again!

Jen