Tashi the Blind Bunny

[tashibun]

 Hi,

I’m new to bunnies, and to the forum (at least to post).  I’ve recently taken on a bunny to foster because he was languishing at the shelter where I volunteer with no adopter in sight.  What a delight he’s turned out to be!

I don’t know much about his background.  He was abandoned in a county nature preserve/park which is better known for its bike trails and dog park.  He was picked up by a good samaritan and brought to the shelter.  The staff took him to the vet (fortunately we have a great rabbit-savvy vet in town).  He appears to be about 3 years old and healthy in all ways except that he has glaucoma in both eyes and is totally blind.  Before making the decision to foster I had a meeting with the vet, and the bunny, to ensure that I could provide what he needs to be healthy and happy.  The vet was impressed with his tremendous little bunny spirit, and I’d have to agree.  I’ve named him Tashi for the kid’s book character, a funny little magic fellow with a mysterious background who outwits and outsmarts, and who has an absurd giant curl of hair (the vet identified him as a lionhead; hence the hair issue).  I’m told the name means “good fortune” which seems appropriate as well.

His digs, at the moment, consist of an x-pen, with a NIC cube construction in the works.  He happily bops around, and once he figures out where things are he doesn’t run into them again.  He is eating well — lots of hay and an ever-increasing repertoire of fresh veggies (introduced slowly, as per the vet’s instructions).  So far cilantro is a gift of the gods, and carrot is a bad culinary mistake.  His litter box skills are great.  His most-rapidly destroyed toy was the BB fruity chew cube.

I’ve found the BB site to be a tremendous source of info.  I would be grateful for any insights you all can offer on helping me to make a fantastic little blind boy happy.  I just can’t overstate what a great guy he is, and I’d like to return the favor. 

Thanks!

 

 

[Barbie]

Welcome! It sounds like you’re doing everything right, and good for you for fostering him! Pictures please!

[jerseygirl]

Welcome! I like the meaning behind his name – very well suited. He sounds like a happy fellow already! Are you doing a cube condo? I’m unsure how well a blind bun would manage with one but given what you’ve already said about Tashi….he probably could! Some of the other members also have blind bunnies so they will be able to give specific advice. Glad you found BB.com

[Lintini]

Welcome! It sounds like you have given him a great home and an amazing second chance! We would love to see photos! Your description of him and his culinary behavior is darling!

[Elrohwen]

That’s so awesome that you gave a disabled bunny a home! It sounds like he’s very happy living with you and you’re doing a great job taking care of him 🙂 I’d love to see pics!

Oh, and my bunn loves the fruity balsa chew from BB as well 😛 It’s his favorite.

[Beka27]

Welcome here! It sounds like you’ve figured it out already, but an important thing with a blind bunny is going to be keeping his space consistent since he may not see where things move. Does he appear to have a sense of light? When you turn on the light do his eyes scrunch up at all?  Thank you so much for rescuing him, he will be much happier in a peaceful home.

http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/disabled_rabbits

This link has a disabled bunny forum.  You may check in there too for more advice on making a suitable home for a blind bunny.

 

[tashibun]

Thanks, everyone, for your kind words. I’ve discovered with fostering in the past (albeit cats) that it isn’t always clear who is helping whom. I’m sure that will be true this time as well.

I’ve posted a message (and picture) on the general q&a forum since I had some questions. I am, Jerseygirl, trying to work out a way to give him a bit of vertical space without the risk of falling. I find all the pictures of NIC creations on this site pretty inspiring! I’m thinking that perhaps I could make a sort of ‘second floor’ that is entirely enclosed, and make a ramp up to it that would be protected as well. If I succeed I’ll let everyone know. In the meanwhile, I’m ordering a mini haven (at BB’s suggestion) so that he can stretch his brain a bit wandering through, and not get hurt if he climbs on top.

Beka27, thanks so much for the link. His eyes don’t respond to anything at all. They are, as I guess might be expected with glaucoma, rather bulgy. The vet mentioned that part of his cute look was these abnormally large eyes. She assured me that they weren’t causing him any pain, so I’ll just enjoy the cute.

I look forward to learning more in the company of bunny fanatics!

[MimzMum]

Welcome to the forum!
Tashi sounds adorable! Thank you for rescuing him! I can imagine a sightless rabbit is going to have more adoption concerns than all the cute little baby bunnies that will likely be flooding the shelters soon.
I will add my poking stick to the mix and say, Pictures please! ^_^
What story is his name from? My daughter used to love to read magical stories but we haven’t heard of this character?

We have a forum leader named Kokanee&Kahlua here who has a blind bunny, (he’s actually lost both eyes), I feel the two of you will have a lot to talk about.
Once again, welcome!

[tashibun]

 Mimzmum, for whatever it is worth there is a whole series of Tashi stories.  They’re for younger kids (lots of illustrations), and are, I believe, from Australia.  The authors are Anna and Barbara Fienberg.  

Our shelter doesn’t have many rabbits come through the door.  Of the ones I’ve seen, Tashi was just about the cutest.  The staff all agreed that he has a really lovely personality despite being stuck in a crate in the main hallway with lots of dogs passing by and cat smells (to say nothing of the people).  Given his particular needs, though, he can’t go to just any family (and perhaps particularly not one who is attracted to him because he is so cute).  So, we’ll see.  I’m already arming myself with “Make Mine Chocolate” materials.

I look forward to ‘meeting’ Kokanee&Kahlua; I’m grateful for any and all insights.

I’m not very good at taking pictures, and especially of moving targets like energetic bunnies…  I have figured out how to get rid of the inevitable red eye that comes from Tashi’s eyes not responding to the red eye setting on the camera.  However, my store of reasonable photos is quite limited.  I put one on the Q&A forum.  Here’s another:

 

[wiseleyd]

He is adorable!!! I wanna kiss his nose.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome I have a blind (and deaf) bunny as well. I always have to tell people that he’s blind as you could not tell. The only things I really do very different for him is always have the same ‘layout’ where he is going to be-so his home stays very much the same (at least food and water in the same area, litter pan etc-though I do add and remove toys) and anywhere he plays stays the same.
Careful of stairs and obvious dangers of course.

I would suggest not trying to do safe vertical height. At least with my boy-he won’t climb or jump up on anything and he does check for height (like if he’s in the litter pan he puts one paw out to find the floor before jumping out-so if he were up higher he would just stay in the litter box) so my thoughts are even if it’s safe eh likely won’t go up and down-now a ramp with sides and a roof might be ideal-Chuck doesn’t use it when I put one up-but your might.

That’s all I can think of but lemmie think and post back Welcome!

[tashibun]

Kokaneeandlahlua, your post got me thinking. So, I sat and watched Tashi when it was time for evening zoomies around the perimeter. He doesn’t seem to be bothered about jumping up and down, so long as he knows where the obstacles are. He actually uses his litter box a little like second base, jumping in and then launching himself out again. It has been in exactly the same place all along (though I did have to switch to slightly higher sides early on). On the other hand, the grass basket in the picture has been moved, by him, I guess because it was in his way when he was running. It wasn’t a good thing to jump in because it is light weight and irregularly shaped, and tended to tip if he hit it wrong. So, he hauled it out of the way by pulling and shoving it until he could run around behind it. There is fleece that he likes to dig in and rearrange, and the basket was in the way of that so I guess it really had to go!

Thanks again.

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