Cataracts? Image heavy

[MeketatenBun]

When I recently took Meki into the vet for not eating (Wednesday, all is well now), the vet mentioned she was getting cataracts in her eyes. He had me look at them under a light and sure enough, her pupils were turning white. But her eyes always kind of did that… Here’s some pictures: The first is when she was 10 weeks old. Normal looking,

The next was from Christmas of that year (4 months old) and looking super cloudy:

Then December of 2011, so a year after the last picture things looked normal again:

February of this year looking cloudy:

And finally today I literally just went upstairs to take pictures while writing this post. These were all taken seconds apart (she has conjunctivitis she’s been being medicated for for quite a while now, thus the crusties) :

The third one is what’s making me truly starting to come to terms with that they probably are cataracts. I’m a bit in denial because one, she’s my baby and I’m a worried momma, and two: her eyes have always been like this, for as long as I can remember. If a picture showed up with a SUPER white eye, I’d go “welp, take another picture to fix that problem” and from a different angle it’d be gone. Looking at her eyes is the same way- from different angles they’re visible or not. 

For the record, here’s her other eye from tonight: 

She was being a butt and hardly staying still, so I only got one, but in the bright light I could always see them for as long as I can remember. I figured it was just the bunny-reflective eye thing.

I suppose I should trust the vet, he knows what he’s talking about and Meki’s eyes do look fairly white from the naked eye when she’s in bright light. I just always figured cataracts were something you could see clear as day no matter the angle.

I’ve been reading around that sometimes bunnies can just be born with them and they start to develop. The vet said, since this was his first time seeing her, that he doesn’t know how long they’ve been going on, but sometimes they show up and just stay as is, sometimes they get worse and she’ll eventually go blind. But it appears she’s had them for most of her life. I even read back into the archives and found this post: https://binkybunny.com/FORUM/tabid/54/aft/128559/Default.aspx  about how apparently cataracts can just disappear? What can I do for my bun? Right now she’s on hay and maybe 1/8 cup pellets. She’s super picky with fresh foods, sometimes eats dandelion leaves or carrot strips, but if I leave lettuce or green beans or other veggies she’ll leave them until they get gross and I end up taking them out, untouched, a few hours later.

Also, side question and for future reference, I tried the thumbnail option for the photos but it was coming up as a broken image, is there a better way to post multiple photos? 

[Flabebe]

Im so sorry to hear that Lilac has a cloudy whiye spot in one of her eyes from when we found her, but the vet said it was an old, healed up wound.
I can say that your bun is picky! Have you tried organic lettuce that is freshly washed (and still has water on it) perhaps the lettuce itself is too dry for her? And have you tried small pieces of broccoli or spinach? Or different types of lettuce? It may be hard to get her to eat those things, but I recomend you keep trying until you find something that works! Also, I find my bun prefers to have her lettuce in a more interesting way ither than on the ground :p I have a hanging veggie ball for her and sometimes cut a toilet paper roll to hold it for her.
I highly recomend looking up hebs and veggies that help with sight/cataracs and making sure they are safe with buns!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I adopted a blind bunny, had one go partially blind and now Rupert is developing cataracts. Chuck was my blind from adoption bunny and he did wonderful. I did end up finding him a friend just by fate, but before than he found his way around and did just great. If there is no treatment your vet recommends, then I would just ensure your stairs and anything your bunny could fall from/into is blocked off. With partial cataracts the depth perception will be affected. It sounds like your bunny only has it in one eye so that’s really good as she’ll have some vision. But from experience I can tell you they do just fine with no vision! They learn.

I found while browsing a pet store, scented dots, that are for blind pets-you stick them on furniture (at the height of your animal) and it helps them find their way around! A thought-if your vet thought the other eye might develop one too.

Anyways what I really wanted to come through in my answer is-it’s totally ok and your bunny will be fine and adjust Just need some extra precautions around stairs and the like

[leothebrave]

Hi

I just wanted to make you aware of some eye drops that work successfully naturally with all kinds of animals including Rabbits they are called ethosheaven bright eyes drops for pets. A little expensive but cheaper than surgery and they work.

[Sarita]

How old is your rabbit?

[MeketatenBun]

Thanks for the replies everyone! She just turned 4 years old about two weeks ago. And I’ll read up more about bunnies with cataracts, but for the time being she can still see and she knows she’ll be loved for the rest of her bunny days whether she can see or not

[jerseygirl]

Youve done well capturing this!

It might be worth having her tested for E. Cuniculi.
The test involves 2 blood test taken 2(?) weeks apart. A rising titre can be indicator of an active infection. Lots of rabbits may test positive to EC because they have had a immune response to exposure from when they’re young (usually). Also, even though testing “positive”, they may stay symptom free their whole life. E.C. is thought to be wide spread among rabbits.

Along with K&K, I will also add that buns do cope very well with vision impairment. My bun Jelly sometimes had me thinking he could see perfectly, despite his very visible cataracts!
Rabbits use sense of hearing and smell a lot. I don’t think vision is one of their stronger senses.

[Sarita]

I think it might be a good idea to see an vet who specializes in opthamology for a 2nd opinion…

[Author]

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