Rabbit born blind?

[glacies]

I recently had an accidental litter - the doe is an English Spotted, the buck is a Rex/Belgian hare cross.

She had 4 babies and did a great job of looking after them all. They're now 2 weeks old. They all opened their eyes a few days ago, but they only opened halfway. They all opened them fully today, and I think the runt is blind.

I thought he/she had odd looking eyes when they were half open but didn't think anything of it, but the pupils are completely white.

It's otherwise a healthy baby, it doesn't mind being handled any more than the rest, it just doesn't seem to know where anything is. It's about 3/4 the size of the others. None of the others seem to have any problems with their sight.

Longshot I know, but does anyone know if it's curable? It seems like it might have been born with it, though.

Failing that, can it still have a decent life - as in, it isn't necessary to have it put down? I won't be able to keep any of the babies (I already have four rabbits - oops) so is there anything in particular that I should look for for someone to take it once it's old enough? Would it be better off leaving with one of its siblings, or alone?

Thank you!

 

[whiskylollipop]

Do you mean like cataracts? Can you post a photo? Cataracts can be surgically corrected, but I'm not sure if a bunny born blind can.

If you can get him/her neutered and bonded with spayed mum, it would be great if you could keep them together in the home he/she grew up in. Or at least rehome him/her with a sibling. I should think it'd be terribly scary for a blind bunny to be alone in an unfamiliar house.

 

[Morning_Snow]

Yeah can you post a picture? It might give us some hints over what it is. Some animals are just born blind. Like Whisky said it would be best to let him stay with siblings or Momma. Not only will he be with somebun he knew all of his life, the other bunny can be his "seeing-eye-bun" and help him live comfortably. I am afraid of him being adopted out alone because he may not be the most easy bun to raise and I worry if you give him to someone inexperienced they may have problems or worse put him into a shelter. (although, that is just negative thinking on my part) If you do I would suggest only adopting him out to experienced bunny owners and make sure they know the challenges they may face raising a blind bunny!

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Did this kit open its eyes later than the others? Did you notice any redness/irritation, pus, or "gooeys" in the eye?

Eye problems can be caused by infection from the nestbox. That can cause blindness.

Also, some breeds are prone to eye spots. They are generally just small, usually barely noticeable discolored spots in the eye. They don't usually cause any problems, but you can see them from an early age.

Another possibility is trauma or genetic predisposition. Hard to say, but a photo might help.