Cataracts in rabbits?

[africandreams]

I believe that my 3 month old lionhead has a cataract on her right eye. The way her cage and food bowl is you can always see her from the right side and I had noticed that she always ate with her eyes closed which I thought was a little odd. A few days ago when she was sitting on my chest I noticed that again she had her right eye closed but her left eye was open. I pulled back the eye lid to look at her eye and it does not look normal. The eye is cloudy looking and even around where the eye connects to the socket does not look like the other side. I can not tell if she can see out of this eye or not. I moved my finger in front of her eye and she did not close it or flinch until I touched the lashes around it, but she did the same on the other side as well. I do believe she can see at least out of one eye, she does not bump into things and she will wonder around outside of the cage. She is new to our home, only been with us for about a week. I have called vets in my area and was referred to a specialist who gave a "very vague estimate" of $2300-$3800 to do laser surgery to remove it. I am looking on any information on rabbits living with cataracts.......such as does it hurt at all, do they cope well, eventually lose all sight etc??? I am not sure why she keeps it closed all of the time, from pain or just annoying? I am taking her to the vet next week for an exam to make sure it is a cataract but there is no way we can afford the laser surgery at this time. Any information is greatly appreciated.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I'd get it checked out, but wouldn't really do the laser thing--just want to make sure it isn't something else.

 

[naturestee]

She's awfully young to have a cataract, at least one caused by age. I'd have a vet check her out to make sure there isn't some sort of infection or other problem going on. I do have rabbits with cataracts, confirmed by the vet. The pupils (center of the eyes) look cloudy. These are 6-7 year old buns, and a 3-year-old who was already known to have mild arthritic problems so she is not aging gracefully.They cope just fine, although even the worst bun has some vision left.

 

[pla725]

It sounds like an injury to the eye.

I have a rabbit who is almost totally blind due to cataracts and Bono is over 7 years old. I did foster a mini-lop who had a cataract. Both vets involved with him donated their services to the rescue. The surgery would have cost about $1000. Abner had the catatact removed but he is still blind in that eye. The damage was already done.

 

[hillrise]

There's actually a gene in rabbits that causes cataracts at that age. Most likely your little bun will eventually have cataracts in both eyes, and will be completely blind. As a pet, he can still live just fine, as it doesn't effect his hearing or sense of smell, although you won't see him doing some things that rabbits with sight are more likely to do, and he may startle easier to loud sounds.

I've seen rabbits eat with their eyes closed before. I usually just summed it up to them just being happy and comfortable (but that might just be because I know that cats will actually wink or narrow their eyes when they're particularly contented).

Sorry you're bunny's going blind. If you know his breeder, you might want to let them know that his parents carry a gene for early-developing cataracts.

 

[naturestee]

Before we assume that it's genetic, it should definitely be checked by a vet. Injuries, eye infections, and E. cuniculi can all cause cataracts. Always play it safe with the eyes and have a vet check them if problems are suspected- they are very delicate. Besides, we wouldn't want to make the breeder think there is a bad gene in her stock if the problem is caused by an injury.

 

[DixieDoodle]

my 1 year old flemish was just diagnosed with early cataracts and because it is in both eyes the vet suspects it is genetic and not caused by a parasite. her conjunctiva looks red and inflammed and that is because her eyes do not like the cataracts being there. she was prescribed an NSAID to treat the inflammation and pain that the cataract could be causing and we are to re check it in 2 weeks. pretty much her eye could get used to the mild cataracts or it could worsen and id have to look into surgery, which is also scary because i dont like putting her under GA. if it also doesnt get better the vet said they would have to check her eye pressures to make sure it wasnt glaucoma

 

[Azerane]

It could be cataracts, but it could be other things. I believe EC can cause cloudiness like that in the eye, so that may be worth getting checked out.

I would certainly get it thoroughly checked out and make absolutely certain you know what it is before getting such expensive surgery done. Best of luck.