How can you tell if your rabbit is blind?

[XxMontanaxX]

Is there anyway you can tell if your rabbit is blind?

I'm starting to wonder...:?

 

[Haley]

I would think you could try just visually seeing if he responds to things. Like a light or your hand etc.

Other than that Id say a vet should be able to tell you pretty quickly with an eye exam.

 

[Pipp]

Rabbits will often respond to shapes. If I walk into a rabbit room carrying a laundry basket or garbage bag, I almost always get a reaction. They don't recognize me.

Not sure about myother bunnies, but Pipp never responds to hand movements or light, I've tried this because she sleeps with her eyes open, I'm trying to figure out if she's awake or not. Nada. (She's the only one who doesn'trespond to the shape shifting, though, so she may just be a little weird).

They have such a huge viewing area, they don't have to move their eyeballs, so it's tough. There may be info in the Library under the Eye category. (Just click on the 'Topic' bar to sort the Index alphabetically).



sas

 

[XxMontanaxX]

Today I brought her food bowl to her while she was out of her cage, and she was looking around frantically for it, but couldnt find it at first 'till she made a circle around my arms.

Then I took my hand away from her, then moved it toward her really fast, and didn't get a reaction. But I didn't know if that was just her being her normal laid back self or not.

And for the past couple of days, I've noticed the middle of her eyes being kinda bluish...

That's all I tried.

 

[Snuggys Mom]

XxMontanaxX wrote:

And for the past couple of days, I've noticed the middle of her eyes being kinda bluish...

I would take her to see the vet. That sounds like cataracts.

Does it look like this?

 

[naturestee]

Try shining a light in her eyes and see if the pupils contract. I've noticed that Oberon's pupils contract much slower than those of my other buns. He's not blind but definitely has vision problems that have shown up in other ways too.

Good catch, Snuggy's Mom! It could be cataracts. Best to have a vet check. FYI, sometimes cataracts are linked to EC so you might want to ask the vet about treating for that just in case.

 

[clarzoo]

Does she blink if you move your open hand quickly towards her eye? Make sure not to touch her whiskers, or push wind at her, that will make her blink. Most animals (humans included) instinctively blink when they see something coming straight at their eye- even if they know it won't hit them.

 

[XxMontanaxX]

I will try the light thing today.

No, she won't blink when I do that. She won't give me any reaction, she just continued chewing her food.

What does EC stand for? I feel dumb. :?

 

[XxMontanaxX]

It's not bright blue, like that picture. It's navy-ish.


And I don't think she'sblind...maybea little bit? Because she was runningyesterday in her cage and didn't hit anything...?

 

[naturestee]

Sorry, EC=E. cuniculi, a parasite that can cause a number of different neurological problems and might be the cause of some cataracts too. A large percentage of rabbits have it but never get any symptoms. Here's the Library link for more info:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14471&forum_id=10

All I can see in your picture is a faint blue sheen which is fairly normal. Snuggys Mom's picture is of a very visible cataract. This article shows pictures of a healthy rabbit eye showing a blue sheen and of several rabbit eyes with cataracts.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Eye_diseases/disorder/cataract.pdf

Blind rabbits adapt very well, to the point where you can't tell if they are blind without testing them or moving all of their stuff around. They will quickly memorize where everything is and will run and binky like normal. Oberon's eye sight is pretty bad but he never runs into anything. If he's not sure where something is he investigates it with his whiskers before moving. For example, he'll use his whiskers to follow up the side of furniture to find out how high it is, then jump up on to it.