Kits' eyes don't want to stay open

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amdfarm

amdfarm

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Hope's kits were 3 wks old yesterday. It seemed that all six had BOTH eyes open during that 2 wk old period. But now I've got 2 that have trouble keeping one of their eyes open. Everyday I wetthemand gently open and everything looks normal, there's no matt, eye goobers or anything. Eyelashes areon the outside where they should be. So why don't they stay open after I open them???... and it's w/ ease. I wet them and gently pull the lids apart. Wallah, both eyes open, but by the next day, back closed again.

Please tell me they'll be okay and eventually keep their cute little eyes open????

TIA
 
I would give them a few more days. Sometimes it just takes longer with certain kits.

Right now you're doing everything you can. If there is no discharge, crust, or clouding of the eyes, then it doesn't seem too serious.

If the probelm continues however, you may want to consult a vet. It may be possible that the kits may have damage in their eyes-possibly a scratch from another kit, or something genetic.


 
Thanks for the reply. I'll keep an "eye" on them, pun intended. :)

If they don't stay open by the weekend, I'll take them to my rabbit savvy vet. Guessing it's okay to take them away from mom to run them to the vet? He's 35 miles away.

And no, nothing abnormal about the eyes either. And their nestbox is clean.
 
Do they still have their nestbox? I usually pull the box after 2 weeks old for this reason. I give them an ezmat and a pile of hay to sleep on for a few days after I take the box away.
 
No, they're not just sleeping, they're awake and frolicking all over the place driving Hope a tad nuts, but she gets over it. lol

But, on a good note, now it's just one and it's the biggest kit, pretty sure it's a buck. He's a good sized boy. He's so good about me doing this to him, like he's used to it. As soon as we hit the bathroom he just relaxes and lets me do my thing, no fuss no muss. Good baby bun bun!

What's odd about him, is that while I'm wetting his eye, I can see him trying to blink, yet after I get it opened, he won't keep it open, he closes it then doesn't want to blink so he can see out of both eyes. It's weird. If he's not better by Monday, I'll take him to the vet. Poor little man. Aside from the eye he's totally fine.

Oops, forgot to comment on the nestbox. It's actually a bedroom that's attached to the main part of the cage. When I cleaned it out, I put a potty pad on the bottom and then putgood clean straw ontop of the padfor them to sleep on. If I took that roomaway, my doe would go more nuts. They tend to stay in there most of them time which gives her a break.
 
The problem is you do not want your kits to get "nestbox eye" and can cause blindness what I do when I have a kit that has a hard time keeping the eye open from eye goop i will trime the fur very carefully around the eye and put a product I get at the local drug store on it called Aqua Tears it is a ointment so it will not dry it keeps the eye and the area around the eye moist so the kit can open and close its eye normally, it is basically a sterile saline solution that is made into a ointment so it is totally safe for the rabbits. you may have to apply it daily if mom licks it off of the kit......Good Luck and keep us posted
 
Thanks, Tobi. I'll pick some up tomorrow and try it. I hope it helps, as he's the only one w/ the problem now.

L.
 
I'm going to try cucumber juice first. A long time breeder and friend told me cucumber juice will cure just about any eye problem in rabbits, horses and even goats. She's seen it work. She's actually getting a couple of cinnamon does in a couple weeks that are blind from this that she's pretty sure she can cure. They're being given to her, so it won't hurt to try and she can use them either way or find them pet homes.

I'll let you know how he does.

Thanks!
 
Kits are 4 weeks old today. And it's the start of Day 2 of the cucumber juice treatment for "Popeye". This morning his eye was still open and he was blinking well. Sooo happy!! I will continue the CJ twice a day until it matches his other eye, but so far so good. Can't believe how quickly it worked. He seemed pretty proud of himself this morning and he peeked out of the bedroom and looked at me w/ both eyes, as to say, "Look Mom, I can see out of BOTH eyes!!"


 
Thanks, Angela! I'm very happy! :D

Yes, they keep me very entertained and awake! They're so dang loud. In her cage they sound like a herd of small elephants when they get to hopping and running around back and forth. Then Hope joins in to get out of their way and it's even louder when she gets going.

Check out my other thread about their first outting Monday evening! We had soo much fun w/ them and they were sooooo good!!!
 
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