Grace is here!

[MooBunnay]

Grace arrived yesterday!  I’m so glad I am adopting her – especially because even though she is so friendly, she definitely would have been un-adoptable at a shelter (unless a bunny pro happened to get her). 

She grunts and lunges any time I enter her cage, most likely because she can’t see very well and still doesn’t understand all of the smells in the house.  She arrived in a convertible w/ no AC, and wasn’t even transported in her carrier but one of those small rabbits pens (no wire floor thank goodness!)  She is a little overweight – she was being fed that Kaytee mix with corn and treats in it (*poo*) and having alfalfa hay (though she is 2 years old) and her previous owner brought me about  6 huge bags of pine shavings (still trying to figure out what I’m going to do with all that!)

Grace is going to the vet on Wednesday – I’m holding off on the photos until he tells me if a flash is OK for her – her only eye has a cataract so I’m afraid she won’t be able to see anything much longer

[osprey]

Yay Grace!  A nearly blind bunny, she is fortunate that she survived the shelter.  Around here, a rabbit with that kind of disability would need immediate rescue or they’d have killed her.  Yay for you for saving her!  As for the pine shavings, maybe there is another small animal rescue that can use them?  Not sure who uses them, would you like me to ask someone who’s opinion I trust?

 

[osprey]

My trusted source (Anita from For Other Living Things) says that Pine shavings are basically toxic to all animals.  Unless they have been heat treated to remove the pine oils, the only thing they are safe for is mulching your garden or compost.

 

[BinkyBunny]

SaveAbunny had a completely blind bunny named Grace!  She was all white.

Congratulations and Happy Homecomings to your Grace!  What a big sweet heart you have.  She is lucky to have you!

The pine shaving are not good, so unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend using them.

[MooBunnay]

Hello! Grace is doing well, almost ready for pictures I think

She still startles very easily, and lunges when something scares her, so I got bitten trying to clean her cage yesterday, but I know it wasn’t intentional, its just because I was picking up something next to her and she didn’t know what it was that was moving next to her! She tries to make up for the blind eye by turning that side of her head in towards her body, and looking around with the other eye, but now that it has a cataract that I think is getting worse, I think she’s panicking more than normal. I gave her a covered litter box and I think she really likes it because she feels safe in there, and she spent most of the morning snoozing in there She’s laid down in her cage and done “happy feet” a few times so I think she’s getting used to things!

Her back legs seem to be a bit splayed, can that happen from a big bunny being stuck in a tiny cage? Or from a bunny being overweight?

[BinkyBunny]

Splayed back legs can be from being weak, and it can also be a permanent medical condition.

[MooBunnay]

Grace went to the vet yesterday – when she gets nervous she gets a tick or twitch in her head and eye so t he vet became concerned that she has a neurological condition so she could not be spayed. However, the good news is that when he saw her calm and relaxed he said its really not as bad as he previously thought AND she will be OK to be spayed in a couple weeks after a dose of Baytril to make sure that she does not have an inner ear infection.

The doctor also said that Grace is actually 100% blind, she’s having a bit of trouble getting used to me and Bri – Bri (my boyfriend) insists on kissing her on the forehead – he’s almost lost an eye himself a couple times when he startles her and she lunges

Has anyone encountered this issue with a twitch when the bunny is nervous? Her eye twitches, and so does her head, towards her blind side. Also, when she lays down, one of her back feet doesn’t go underneath her but instead kind of goes out to her side.

[BinkyBunny]

MooBunnay, Did the vet notice her back leg? Does she hop funny at all, or just only when she lies down. Also, I did I send you the tips for blind bunnies? It was a compilation of of great advice I received from Marcy, head of SaveABunny and from a couple of bunny moms that live with blind bunnies.

Also, what did she say about the twitching?  I mean what was her explanation?  I really don’t know because any twitching I have seen in the past has been neuroligical.  But then again, it’s not like I’ve seen a ton of twitching bunnies. I’ll check around too and see what I can find just by researching and asking questions.   You also might want to try asking at allexperts.com http://www.allexperts.com/el/703-9/Rabbits/ and scroll down to ask Dana Krempels, Ph.D.  She’s very rabbit savvy.

If you go that route, let us know what her reply is!

UPDATE;  Okay, so what I found is it could be scanning.  Is Grace an albino?  (it’s supposed to be common in albinos)   Anyway, some rabbits do this twitch with a little head sway and they are trying to scan the area. And I could see where during stressful situations, a bunny would do this.  If it’s in her blind eye, maybe her brain still requests that she scan even though she can’t see. 

Here’s an article about scanning: http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/eye_scanning.html

 

[poopy]

How wonderful of you to take her in! There should be more CPAs as caring about animals as you….

[MooBunnay]

Poopy – Thanks you and me will have to start the CPA’s for Bunnnies club!

BB – Grace is not an albino, but I did notice that the twitching was from side to side, I think that scanning could definitely have something to do with it, especially because the twitch turns the side of her head with no eye in towards her body, while turning her “eye” outwards, I think she’s trying to compensate for the blind eye by trying to see in front of herself with the other eye. Though, this eye no longer works either (or may only work just a bit) so she might be panicking and trying to refocus over and over. I think if it was a stork the vet would have known, as he was holding her while she was twitching (my vet is rabbit savvy and pretty well known in the are for being a good rabbit vet)

It would be great if you could send me the blind bunny info…maybe I’ll start a thread about it sometime to let people know what works…once I know what works that is…I got a bite on my finger today trying to pet Grace as my bathrobe accidnetally bumped her and startled her, poor thing Do the people with blind bunnies that you know have them bonded? I’d like to bond Grace to Raymond, but I don’t want him getting injured if he startles her!

[poopy]

Ya it will have to be a secret club so we don’t get publicly ridiculed in the office….

And yes, email Krempels….

This is just my own thought, but I know that for alot of different living things, when one sense goes out, the others are heightened (smell, hearing, mental mapping, etc.). Maybe you can establish a sound/code system with Grace, either with clicking or your own sounds. For example one sound can be to announce your presence, make others for feeding, cleaning, etc. Obviously it would take alot of repetition for her to learn them, but given that she depends on her hearing for alot, I’m sure she would learn quicker than a non-blind bunny.

[BinkyBunny]

I’ll send over the tips! And there are things in there that are similar to what Poopy suggested in regards to sound. This is the third request within the last month and half for those tips, so I’ll just create a page somewhere on BinkyBunny,, and I’ll add to them as people find more tricks that work.

Also, can you clarify for me. She’s 100% blind in one eye? And how much can she see in the other? Do you know if this is how she’s been for a long time, or did it just recently get worse? Just wanting to know because there are tips for “going blind” bunnies and blind bunnies.

As far as bonding goes, I have seen bonded pairs where one was blind, but I don’t know if one of the bunnies went blind with their already familiar partner by their side.

I suspect you can bond once she feels safe and calms down a bit. You would just have to approach it with more caution. I will ask around regarding that aspect as well, as I am sure it could be challenging in different ways.

[MooBunnay]

Hello – I had a similar idea to what Poopy and BB suggested – whenever I walk into the room I always say “Hi Grace” to let her know I’m there, and she will come over to the side of the cage for a nose pet I have more trouble when I go INTO her cage though (which i would expect even with a seeing bunny) so I have tried saying things like “pet” before I pet her, and I talk to her a LOT when i am in the cage.

I think she is 100% blind, 80% at the least. She startles very easily, and though the lady who had her said it was a birth defect, I just can’t imagine thats right because Grace seems sooo new to being blind! I hate to thing that something happened to hear, but she just realllly doesn’t seem like she knows how to handle not being able to see which leads me to think it wasn’t a birth defect. And she is SOOOO sensitive about me petting anywhere even close to her eyes that its concerning poor lil’ thing.

I did walk into my room yesterday and saw Grace in a giant flop, right on her side, with her feet practically allll the way up in the air!

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