Think my rabbit is blind - ANGIE-LEE from Trial Board

[Bo B Bunny]

Angie-Lee wrote:

Well he is actually my mom's rabbit. we have a Mini Lop (or that's what we assume he is) named Shadow. we don't know much about him because we got him from a petstore, who got him from a family who also new.... well nothing really (they has him named Daisy when he was clearly a male.. being not neutered and such).

lately he has been acting strangely. Usually when we put a treat in his cage or run/pen he hop's right up to it, graves it, hop's to his chosen spot and starts munching. Lately when we put a treat in his cage ( He loves triscuit crackers) he hop's around smelling for it first and when he does find it he just stays is one place to eat. I did a test, I slowly moved my finger towards his eye (without touching his sensor/feeler hairs) and he didn't blink at all ( I read in a horse magazine that if you wave your hands in front of the eye it can create air waves that will make them blink weather there blind or not, so when checking for blindness slowly move your finger towards there eye but don't poke them in the eye), I also waved my hand by his shoulder and he didnt turn to look, and when I was taking pictures he didn't blink at all, even when the flash was on. A few months ago my friend noticed that he was missing some fur around the corner of his eye. It wasn't a lot so I didn't think much of it. but after a few days there was more missing so I pointed it out to my mom, and suggested bringing him to the vet if he kept loosing hair. My mom said that if it wasn't swollen or pussy then there was no reason to bring him to the vet as she didn't have enough money to pay 50$ just to find out nothing. Could this hair loss around his eye have something to do with his "maybe" blindness.
I'm not 100% sure he is blind.. But if he's not blind I think he is slowly loosing his sight.. I hope he is not completely blind. we have him outside a lot in the summer and he really enjoys it. I would hate to see him not get to enjoy his summers because he cant see. Poor baby.

I was told that it could possibly be an eye enfection and if treated he could regain his sight, I suggested to my mom to call the vet and ask them about it, and maybe they could help without bringing him in. She said they would insist on is bringing him in, and we didn't have money for that, and since he's not in any pain or discomfert he would be fine. When I said that we don't know if he is in pain or disomfort she got all snappy saying that we won't have the money and to just stop talking about it.

I don't know what to do. I might be getting a 2nd job in which case I will bring him myself, but I want to know if there is anything I can do for him in the meantime. Or if anyone has another idea of what is may be. I have pictures, they are not that good because when the flash is on the furless area goes white and when the flash is off you don't see it that much. But maybe someone can draw something out of the pictures.

sorry the length of this post.. I'm just worried about Shadow.

His eye is closed in this picture:

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Flashy wrote:

Poor bunny. That does need seeing to, but I doubt it would bring back his sight, to be honest.

What country are you in? There will be aids in most countries that can help if necessary, such as working out a payment plan, and various other options.

Rabbits hide their discomfort as much as possible, so I imagine that it is probably stinging and uncomfortable, and that, because he is a prey animal, he is hiding it.

Angie-Lee wrote:

I'm on Canada (Ontario), and yeah but i mom refuses to consider that he is in an pain or discomfort... but like...his eye looks terrible! the pictures don't really show how bad it is. Granted its not oozing or anything. But its not normal either. And even if it might not bring back his site, if he's in discomfort maybe there is something to make him comfortable.

Flashy wrote:

I think we have some ontario members, it might be worth waiting until the forum comes up and then hopefully some of them will respond, such as with ways that you could get him to the vets, good vets to use, what financial support people in Canada can get, etc.

You could try bathing it. I use cooled boiled water and just bathe eyes. It might just help a little, even if it's not actually what he needs. What he really needs are pain meds and anti biotics for starters.

Angie-Lee wrote:

OK, but bathing his eye wont irritate it more? and yes I know this but my moms not going for it and unless I get a 2nd job (im waiting for the call) I literally only have 8 cents so i cant bring him either.

naturestee1 wrote:

That blue color in his pupils- is that just the picture or is that how it actually looks? Cause in the picture it kind of looks like cataracts.:?

Is the fur around the eye wet? Is it a thin, clear fluid or a thick snotty kind? Thin and clear fluid is more often from some sort of irritation or tear duct blockage, while thick discharge is much more likely to be from infection. Either way the constant wetness would cause the fur to fall out.

Gentle washing with a warm wet cloth wouldn't hurt. Sterile saline- like the stuff we use for contact lenses- would be best. You can also use chamomile tea instead of water on the area around the eye. It acts as a mild anti-inflammatory.

Really though, try to convince your mom to take the rabbit to a vet. Eye infections are very uncomfortable. And usually they're not too expensive to treat, just some antibiotics.

tonyshuman wrote:

Others have had some good input. I bathe bunny (and hamster) eyes with saline solution that's made for contact lenses (not enzyme cleaner, just saline solution).

Here's the House Rabbit Society's list of Ontario vets: irishlops wrote:

i agree. is it the pic? or its eye?
good luck

Angie-Lee wrote:

Thats the picture, his eyes are normal, i checked that first because I always assumed blindness came with cataracts. Obv I was wrong but yeah. My mom said she washed his eye but... It didn't help. As for his eye. The one that lost the hair is just really try, the other one has a clearish goo type thing. I don't know if that means anything or if its just.. goo. But yeah. I have tried to talk my mom into taking him to the vet but she just yells at me because we don't have money