what to do with runt. nestbox eye/blind

[user 3861]

After 3 weeks my first litter has gone from 9 down to 4 kits. Soon it may end up being 3. The current problem I have is that the runt of the litter is not opening his eyes like his litter mates. I have seen his eyes cracked open, but most of the time they are closed. I assumed it was next box eye and decided to clean his eyes today, a bit late I know. The method I used was just a clean soft rag and warm water. I was able to get the eyes open; however, I did not find any puss or debris in the eye. Nor did the eyes look any different than those of the littermates. Also, the eyes weren’t difficult to open so I am not sure if he has the illness or not.

This leads me to another possibility. Could the kit just be blind and chooses not to open its eyes sense they would be of no use? After I got his eyes open, the kit closed them right away. Also, when I set him down in the living room, it would aimless walk around till it found something soft and then try to chew on it. It did the same thing when I put it back in the cage. It would walk aimlessly around till it found the doe or it would follow along the wall till it got to the nest box where its littermates are.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Poor little guy.

Blind animals keep their eyes open just like sighted ones. They don't have the concept that their eyes don't work.

It sounds to me like he may be blind since he followed the cage side, but I also think he doesn't feel well which is why his eyes are only partially open.

I would watch him for other signs of discomfort, like teeth grinding, and symptoms like diarrhea, bloated belly, and dehydration. If you pinch the skin on the back of his neck, it should snap right back into place when released. If it goes back slowly, he is dehydrated.

Sorry you are having so much trouble with the litter.

 

[Celice]

I once had a kit go blind from some reason (Ether the mother scratched it or it was born that way) the pupil was a milky color and when I took it to the vet he gave me a clear cream steroid and it seemed to work fine with it.

ANYWAY, you can tell if your kit is blind by looking at it. Is the pupil fuzzy looking? have a milky shine to the eye? most importantly dose it react to light or objects?

if you have a small flash light move the light from the nose to the eye slowly and if the eye pupil gets smaller then you know your kits can see light. Now move your finger close to the eye, but don't touch the whiskers! dose it flinch away or closer?

if it flinches without you touching it it most likely can see you.

 

[Zass]

I would watch him for other signs of discomfort, like teeth grinding, and symptoms like diarrhea, bloated belly, and dehydration. If you pinch the skin on the back of his neck, it should snap right back into place when released. If it goes back slowly, he is dehydrated.

My own hunch is along these lines. It sounds like the kit may be very weak and perhaps failing from GI issues. How old is it? Is it eating, drinking, or nursing along with the other kits? Can you feel the ribs and spine easily?

 

[user 3861]

Well...I no longer have a problem and now have 3 kits left :evil: . I walked back out there, roughly 2 hours after returning him to the cage, to do as Celice said to do with the flash light. Found kit and mama huddled near the cage door and the kit not moving. rushed him inside to warm him up. He is now warm and dead. any how, I took a closer look at his eyes and they have dark cataracts. The are a little darker than the rabbit here: baby-rabbit-with-cataract-t21226.html The blue milkiness is near indistinguishable from the brown iris. Rest of the kits seem fine and it looks I wont be having rabbit for Christmas dinner.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

He is now warm and dead.

Well, that's a bummer.

it looks I wont be having rabbit for Christmas dinner.

Where are you located? Maybe an RT'er can hook you up. I would gladly give you one for Christmas dinner to help spread a bit of holiday cheer.

 

[Zass]

Well...I no longer have a problem and now have 3 kits left :evil: . I walked back out there, roughly 2 hours after returning him to the cage, to do as Celice said to do with the flash light. Found kit and mama huddled near the cage door and the kit not moving. rushed him inside to warm him up. He is now warm and dead. any how, I took a closer look at his eyes and they have dark cataracts. The are a little darker than the rabbit here: baby-rabbit-with-cataract-t21226.html The blue milkiness is near indistinguishable from the brown iris. Rest of the kits seem fine and it looks I wont be having rabbit for Christmas dinner.

The appearance of cataracts can show up after death. I see it pretty often on the frozen animal heads in my freezer.

 

[Celice]

awww! that's a bummer!

well, it's a learning thing. Hope the others do well!

I should have taken pictures of the one rabbits I had that was born with cataracts they are just different to the ones they get when they are dead. On my rabbits that had them they only developed inside the pupil and the eye just looked...well, for the lack of a better word... shinier. He moved around okay in his pen, but having extending feelers on the face really helps, but he was blind as a bat. Once I took him to the vet and started his treatments he started to get his eye sight back. I don't think he could see as clearly as other rabbits but at least he could see.

he ended up going to a very loving home with a girl that was very sympathetic with him and just babied the little buck...maybe a little too much...but that's a story for later...