Meet Rayne!!!

[rayne.lover]

Hi! My name is Ella and I am 16 yrs old. Recently, we found a nest of bunnies in our backyard. One day it flooded all day long, and we noticed that the whole nest was drowning and super cold. We put them in a basket, brought them in a quiet room, and put a heat lamp over them to warm them up. They were about 8ish days old, eyes still closed. After we brought them back outside, we would check on them every now and then to see how they were growing. One day we noticed that the runt seemed to have no eyes. We decided that we will take her in once her siblings leave the nest. It has been 4 days with our baby and she is so happy. She adjusted really well with the new milk, and was a bit confused at first as to why she was getting a normal amount. She was definitely not getting fed the same amount as her siblings. The hair covering where her eyes should be always seem to be a bit damp, or oily. Im not sure what it is yet, and i'm just going to wait till she gets a bit older to make sure her eyes are okay. As she is still very young and those eye sockets may still be raw from birth. Anyways, she is happy and healthy, and her eye sockets seem to be fine. If any of y'all have good tips on taking care of blind and/or wild bunnies lmk.

 

[Blue eyes]

Have the other siblings gone on their way and it's just the one that you're caring for indoors now?
Baby cottontails are about the most difficult to hand-raise. Here is an excellent article loaded with info on dealing with baby cottontails.
https://vetspace.2ndchance.info/how-to-care-for-orphaned-wild-cottontail-bunnies/

 

[rayne.lover]

Yes Rayne is the only one inside. The other bunnies are grown up and have left the nest. Thank you so much for the article!!

 

[JBun]

It's a wonderful thing you've done to, not only notice this bunny had a problem, but also try to help it survive.

It would be extremely unusual for a rabbit to be born without eyes, but of course still a possibility. The most likely thing going on, especially with you seeing moisture around the eye slits, is the bunny has what's called 'nest box eye'. This is basically a bacterial infection in the eye, and the eye discharge can sometimes glue the eye shut. There are still normal eyes in there, just infection sealing the eyes shut.

The usual treatment is moistening the eye area with sterile saline, letting it soak for as long as needed to soften the sealed eyes, then very gently opening the eye slits but not forcing if still stuck closed (have to keep working at moistening it enough to get them safely open), then cleaning the eyes with sterile saline, then applying an antibiotic eye drop/ointment for a week or two minimum. If the eyes themselves have been permanently damaged with infection, eventual eye removal will likely be necessary.

www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Newborn/Opening_eye_en.html

www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Newborn/Shut_eyelids_en.html

The best thing for a wild bunny, and my suggestion would be, to find a wildlife rehabber that works with small animals (eg squirrels, rabbits, NOT a raptor rehabber), and turn the bunny over to them for raising. Also, in some states this is required by law. The rehabber will be able to get the bunny the necessary vet treatment, and they also have the knowledge of how to best raise the bunny to try and prevent the common ailments that befall wild bunnies being hand raised, as well as how to properly prepare the bunny for eventual release if it regains sight and proves healthy for release.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/rehab/list/

So that's my recommendation. But whatever you decide to do, at the minimum the bunny needs the eyeslits moistened, safely opened, properly cleaned, and treated with ophthalmic antibiotic eye drops/ointment to clear up the eye infection, if it does have nestbox eye and this is actually what's going on with it.

And if in doubt, best thing is to call up an experienced rabbit vet for advice. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Texas

If you do get the bunny to a rehabber, and if the bunny doesn't actually have eyes or the eyes have been permanently damaged causing blindness, you may be able to inquire with the rehabber about providing a permanent home for the disabled bunny, though this may require some sort of licensing with your state.

 

[rayne.lover]

It's a wonderful thing you've done to, not only notice this bunny had a problem, but also try to help it survive.

It would be extremely unusual for a rabbit to be born without eyes, but of course still a possibility. The most likely thing going on, especially with you seeing moisture around the eye slits, is the bunny has what's called 'nest box eye'. This is basically a bacterial infection in the eye, and the eye discharge can sometimes glue the eye shut. There are still normal eyes in there, just infection sealing the eyes shut.

The usual treatment is moistening the eye area with sterile saline, letting it soak for as long as needed to soften the sealed eyes, then very gently opening the eye slits but not forcing if still stuck closed (have to keep working at moistening it enough to get them safely open), then cleaning the eyes with sterile saline, then applying an antibiotic eye drop/ointment for a week or two minimum. If the eyes themselves have been permanently damaged with infection, eventual eye removal will likely be necessary.

www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Newborn/Opening_eye_en.html

www.medirabbit.com/EN/Eye_diseases/Newborn/Shut_eyelids_en.html

The best thing for a wild bunny, and my suggestion would be, to find a wildlife rehabber that works with small animals (eg squirrels, rabbits, NOT a raptor rehabber), and turn the bunny over to them for raising. Also, in some states this is required by law. The rehabber will be able to get the bunny the necessary vet treatment, and they also have the knowledge of how to best raise the bunny to try and prevent the common ailments that befall wild bunnies being hand raised, as well as how to properly prepare the bunny for eventual release if it regains sight and proves healthy for release.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/rehab/list/

So that's my recommendation. But whatever you decide to do, at the minimum the bunny needs the eyeslits moistened, safely opened, properly cleaned, and treated with ophthalmic antibiotic eye drops/ointment to clear up the eye infection, if it does have nestbox eye and this is actually what's going on with it.

And if in doubt, best thing is to call up an experienced rabbit vet for advice. They should be able to point you in the right direction.

https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Texas

If you do get the bunny to a rehabber, and if the bunny doesn't actually have eyes or the eyes have been permanently damaged causing blindness, you may be able to inquire with the rehabber about providing a permanent home for the disabled bunny, though this may require some sort of licensing with your state.

Thank you so much for responding! I moistened her eyes with a q-tip and then tried to pull apart anything. gently of course. One of the eyes has what looks like her eye but really underdeveloped. And the other has nothing. There are no slits or anything, and there are indents already in her face to where eyes should be, so I really don’t think she has any. I will keep checking though. But the partial eye thing looks a bit infected, so what kind of ointment should I buy? It was difficult getting a photo of the eye because its so small.

 

[JBun]

I've used terramycin ophthalmic ointment before. Farm stores like Tractor Supply, or even Amazon, have it. Everything else is usually prescription.

 

[JBun]

Just be aware, sometimes the tissue around the eyeball can be so inflamed that it can make the eye appear sunken and that there isn't a normal eyeball when there actually is. I would approach treating this as if there is a functioning eyeball underneath the swollen eye tissue still. At least until the infection and swelling has cleared up and it can be determined if there definitely is or isn't one.

 

[rayne.lover]

Just be aware, sometimes the tissue around the eyeball can be so inflamed that it can make the eye appear sunken and that there isn't a normal eyeball when there actually is. I would approach treating this as if there is a functioning eyeball underneath the swollen eye tissue still. At least until the infection and swelling has cleared up and it can be determined if there definitely is or isn't one.

Hi. Yesterday and today she started loosing hair on her face. I don't know if this is normal or not or it is from the eyes. I started putting on the ointment this morning. I don't see any improvement yet. Let me know please if this is normal or not, and what I should do if it isn’t. This little baby is a fighter, and has so much personality. I don’t want to loose her and I will do everything I can to make sure I don’t.

 

[JBun]

Moisture on the skin and the pus from the infection, can cause there to be some fur loss, which will start to grow back as the infection and discharge clears up. In my experience, it usually takes a few days of twice daily (minimum) application of the antibiotic eye ointment before there is gradual improvement, with the sticky discharge usually being gone after a week, and the eyes being completely better by the end of 2 weeks treatment.

More serious infections require longer treatments and more veterinary help usually. And if there's a worsening of condition, the eye is looking worse, the bunny is doing worse, this means the infection is getting worse and the bunny needs immediate emergency treatment by a qualified rabbit vet.

Even though this is a forum of rabbit lovers and owners, where we can share our own experiences and knowledge, as well as our opinion, we're not vets here. I can share my opinion or what I might do, but I can't tell you what you should do medically, since that wouldn't be legal. If you want someone to properly diagnose the problem and give medical instruction, you would need to go to a qualified vet.