Need some advice about blind rabbit ? no silly answers please?

Question

ok just got back frm vets to be told one ofmy rabbits is mostly blind whilst hes happy and healthy i plan to keep him going , i just wondered if anyone else out there has a blind bunny and can offer me advice , the reason we first took him to vet was becouse he lost weight vet says cos of his sight , he is an out side bunny and lives with his girlf gizmo , again just looking for advive here guys and nothing about putting winstan down

thanks

Answer 1

Maybe put another food and water dish in his "home" .

Keep an eye on his weight. remember he knew he  couldn't see long before you did so he's already adapting. Now it's your turn.

Oh, and don't forget to install braille on his food dishes :)

Answer 2

Ok, same thing with me. Its sad , but easy to handle. Your going to have to start handfeeding him from now on, and on a more regular basis too. If he isn't spayed, get him, and he'll manage life easier, Not much should change besides eating and drinking, But make sure you love him LOTS more, to help him deal.

Answer 3

There's no reason why Winstan shouldn't carry on and live a contented life. We have taken in a number of rabbits with sight problems, usually cataracts as a result of poor, or inbreeding.

In most cases we have kept these rabbits on their own to avoid losing out in the competition for food, so if he continues losing weight I'm sorry to say that I would recommend his own hutch.

There are a number of things you can do which will help him adapt.

Make a point of always speaking to him as you approach his hutch.

Always place his food bowl and water bottle in the same spot.

Stroke him regularly as you speak to him. This helps if you have to pick him up for health checking or clipping nails.

Hope this is of some use.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

Yeh just feed him yourself, but its so important to make sure he is eating enough his girlfriend might be eating all the food, i had 2 girl rabbits i had to seperate because the one was eating all the food and i didnt realise, eventually the smaller one was so sick she nearly died. :( so just make sure they definetly eat! =) and if hes happy and healthy thats lovely good job !

Answer 5

I have a bunny thats starting to go blind too. I think the best thing to do is not rearrange objects in his hutch so he knows where things are. Also make sure nothing in his hutch sticks out so he doesn't walk into it and hurt himself.

Answer 6

You don't really have a choice.  You know what you have to do.  Make some bunny dark glasses and a bunny cane.   Oooh or get him a German Shepherd seeing eye dog.  That would be nice.

Answer 7

Well I don't have a blind bunny, but I would suggest you handle him carefully. Make sure he is approached slowly because he will get frightened and try to defend himself. When you pick him up, make sure his feet are stable against your chest or however you try to scoop him up. Just make sure he is comfortable, and once again, consider how he would approach to you with blindness and how you would feel to be in the situation.    PS- Don't forget their whiskers can do a lot for them already, so just cause he's blind doesn't mean he is like paralyzed.

Answer 8

Well, I'm sorry, I can't really think of any right now. But That's so great that you'll keep him even if he's blind. Most people would say "He's blind, I don't want him" but you didn't! I might have a little bit of info for you though, maybe the girl rabbit will be his eyes, she'll tell them in rabbit language where everything is and stuff!

Answer 9

Just hand feed him - if a carrot goes to his mouth he'll start munching!

You might want to make a nice sound - maybe kissy sounds - as you approach him so that he associates it with food and knows you are coming so that you don't surprise him.

I presume that by "girlfriend" you don't mean that you have a possibly reproductive pair of rabbits when one of them is maybe genetically blind? You shouldn't leave it to chance that you could be reproducing a defective animal that would have died in the wild.