Dewey hurt his eye

[Happi Bun]

I feel so awful! :cry1:

Dewey's blood vessel in his eye appears to have burst again. This has happened twice before (possibly to the same eye) when he seizures. I'm not sure when he had the seizure, I never heard or saw anything. But when I woke up yesterday I noticed around his eye was red and it looked like a blood vessel burst.

Here are pictures I just took...

It hurts my heart... He's my little sweet baby. I'm very protective over him. He's eating, drinking, and was out playing doing binkies/zooming around despite his injury. He isn't keeping the eye shut or anything. The first seizure he had he was taken to see the vet, he had burst an eye vessel then too, she said it would heal on it's own and it did.

I just don't know what he could have hit it on... :nerves1

 

[ra7751]

I think the blood vessel is nothing too much to worry about....as long as the hemorrhage is controlled by the body. I would be much more concerned about the seizures. Any idea what is causing them?

Randy

 

[pamnock]

Blue eyed white rabbits are prone to seizures, which can be brought on by any number of stimuli. Anti-seizure meds can be given to control seizures.

Pam

 

[tonyshuman]

Oh no, I'm so sorry. Is there anything you can do to heal it? I know you said his seizures weren't frequent enough for him to need daily medication, but maybe you and the vet will want to re-think that decision.

 

[Happi Bun]

Randy,

I believe he has Idiopathic Epilepsy. From doing research I learned it has been observed in white furred, blue-eyed rabbits.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Neurology/seizure.htm

In the beginning he was having them a few times a month, they seem to be stress induced. Now they occur must less. He's only had one known (meaning I was present) seizure since being back at home and that was on the first day, likely from the move and stress.

He shows no other symptoms of anything else that could cause it. Any other time he acts 100% healthy and like a normal rabbit. It's perplexing, really.

 

[Happi Bun]

Claire & Pam,

Medication options have been discussed with two different vet's. Both felt he doesn't seizure often enough to truly need to be medicated due to the fact it will likely change his quality of life, making him feel drugged and tired.

It's so hard, emotionally, having a special needs bunny. :cry2 But I still love him dearly.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I would keep a record of the seizures and the blood vessels. Write down the date and time (if you know) of the seizure and any related things like to blood vessel bursting and when it heals. Also include anything that you think could have triggered it. If it is more about stress, any changes, no matter how small could be the cause. As your vet is aware of what is going on, you probably don't need to contact them each time, but a record can help in the future and give a a good idea about how often they happen and if things change over time. You can give it to your vet when you do see them next time you need to.
Just an idea so you can track it easier and be able to detect what might trigger it and if it gets more frequent over time.

 

[ra7751]

Just wondering....since most of the available information on possible seizures isn't clinically proven.....has any blood work been performed? I don't really buy into the blue eyed whites being more prone to seizures just like I don't buy into the megacolon myth. Not saying there isn't a possibility of some issue there....I just haven't seen it proven in a clinical situation. I have quite a few BEWs here and have never seen anything resembling a seizure....again not implying that it isn't possible. I like clinical proof of these issues....not hear say. But the brain, as we all know, is a complex series of electrical circuits....and it is truly amazing that any brain doesn't misfire more than it does....a true miracle of nature.

I do see a lot of seizures in wildlife....in particularly squirrels. Our testing and experience shows that this particular issue is metabolic and is related to a misfiring in the brain caused by a chemical imbalance. We have been able to find...and apparently correct....these seizures partly by drugs and by nutritional supplements. It also appears that these type of seizures are some type of infantile seizures that diminish in intensity thru proper husbandry and aging. I have a squirrel here now that had seizures so intense that we were at the point of euthanizing. We did some blood work and other tests and found the problem was caused by a dietary issue that had inhibited the absorbing of calcium. While he is not releasable....he is living a happy life here and has not had any seizures (thatI have seen anyway) in over a year. My point here is that with an interested vet....some diagnostic testing might reveal a cause and possibly a non-drug resolution. I agree with the caution on the sedatives and/or anti-seizure type meds.

And I fully agree with your view on special needs....we have a house full of them and wouldn't trade a one of the for anything.

Randy

 

[Sweetie]

Poor bunny, I hope that he gets better.

 

[Happi Bun]

Blood work has not been preformed, on Monday I'm going to contact my vet to get a price estimate and hopefully schedule an appointment. I need to be sure getting blood work done is worth it, because he will likely have a seizure from the stress of it all. I try to avoid those kind of situations because I have read blindness and brain damage can occur.

What would I be wanting them to look for? Just anything generally unusual?

 

[tonyshuman]

The only thing I can think of that could cause seizures and also show up in the blood work is unbalanced electrolytes, but maybe somebody else knows. Blood work usually tells you how the liver, kidney, and blood-generating systems of the body are doing.