sight

[Becknutt]

Can the vet test a rabbits sight? I think Ruby has poor vision. Shes been bumping into things and such. She seems to have poor depth perception. When I reach tword her and she goes to sniff my hand she bumps into it full steam and then looks startled. I know red eyes are prone to poor vision...anyone have experience with this?

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I'm not sure about a test for vision, but surely, they can do one for you. I'd check into it. I'll have to see if there's anything here on it for you.

I know rabbits can'tfocus directly in front of them, or directly to the side. They can see best from the side though. It is a depth perception, from what I understand. They see better a bit away from you and not directly in front of themselves.

I have heard people talk about the red eyes. From what I've heard, they can scan. They sit there and slowly move the head from left to right, right to left. It's called "scanning". I don't know anything more about it though.

I'm sure some will chime in that have had direct issues with this.

Here's a link to a great, insitefularticle from HRS By Dana M. Krempels(Ph.D.):

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/vision.html

 

[Flashy]

That conjured up a great image of a bunny doing the reading thing on the wall, lol.

I don't know if they could. You might be able to tell, like if you shine a light in her eye, does she react, stuff like that. Also, do the eyes scan backwards and forwards? Because that can be an indication that there are sight problems. also, if you walk into a room quietly, or if she cxan only tell you are there through sight, how does she react? My blind bun panicked unless I spoke to her so she knew I was there, so maybe you could see how she reacts in that way too.

Are you sure it's sight? Is it possible it could be co-ordination issues? My blind bun (who was only half blind) didn't run into things, and they would presumaly use their whiskers to guide them, so I'm thinking maybe ti might be something else?

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Ruby's a red eyed white correct?

She's going to probably have some sight issues since they commonly do.

This is an article by a person with albinism and how they see things. I found it very interesting trying to relate this to animals.

http://www.albinism.org/publications/What-We-See.html

 

[Becknutt]

Thanks everyone. I'm pretty sure it's a sight problem. She responds when I speak to her but as you mentioned she panics when you "sneak up" on her. She tends to take her time exploring new places and I observed her last night, and I think she is scanning. Once she knows the area she can get around fine. She has no problem in the multi level nic cage so I don't think she is completely blind. I originaly attributed this to her getting used to her new home,but its been 2 months now. She was in the dining room for the first time the other day and she was very scared and lost looking. She stopped as soon as she entered the room and just looked around, then would hop back to the living room. Did this a few times and keptgoing back to her "comfort" spot.

When I said running into things, I mostly meant me. When Iput my hand outtword her she will hop to me full steam and crash into my hand. This could be from a fewfeet away or accross the room.When I do the same to Floppy he will hop to me and stop a few inchs away, then lean forward and sniff my hand for a treat.

Thanks for the articles, the one on albanism is perticularly interesting. I knew they were prone to sight problems, now I understand a bit more.

 

[timetowaste]

many lab rabbits are the albino white ones with the red eyes, and it is not recommended that we perform vision studies on them, because their vision is more apt to go poor with age or be poor from the start.

so we can't use them for those types of studies because we can't generalize their results onto a human population. and if we can't do that, why would we want to have to test the buns? you know?



tracy and nemo

edit:::

ps: same with red eyed white rats. those are the stereotypical lab rats used nowadays. in my lab, we use a breed called sprague-dawley rats. the lab next to mine uses fischer rats. they are all white with red eyes. and we cannot use them for vision studies either. some structures in their brain that are typically used in the human brain for vision have NOTHING to do with vision for them!!!!

 

[tonyshuman]

science woot!!

and i thought i'd mention that anything albino will have worse vision than usual, because the lack of pigment in their bodies affects the way the eyes work. just like human albinos, who often have really serious glasses and vision problems. i'm sure Ruby will be ok, just treat her gently. you might want to check for cloudiness on the eye though, to make sure she isn't getting cataracts.

 

[maherwoman]

Really interesting, timetowaste...

One thing I'll input...when I took Fiver to the vet to have his vision checked, she said there wasn't anything that would DEFINITIVELY prove his vision capabilities one way or the other. She said she could look for PHYSICAL indicators of poor vision (like injuries, eye deformities, etc), but couldn't tell me for sure if he was blind, except by judging his movement and ability to get around.

She also said that even an eye expert wouldn't really know FOR SURE on it...since you can't really sit there and test a bun's eyes with definitive proof one way or another.

(I still think he has visual problem, but since there's no way to PROVE it, I won't be able to tell for sure...)

 

[BlueGiants]

The following is from studies done on rats and normal pigmented eyes vs. albino eyes:

http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatVision.htm#BrainWiring

Seems like albino rats share a lot of the same traits as albino rabbits, head swaying, light sensativity, etc.

Some points:

Albino rats can't control levels incoming light.

Rods require a melanin precursor to develop (dopa). Albinos can't make this. Without it, about 30% of the rat's rods fail to develop

The albino rat's poor visual acuity leads to poor visual depth perception

Problems coordinating what the two eyes see: There are even further visual differences between albinos and normally pigmented animals, involving the eye-to-brain connection

Albino rats have greatly impaired motion perception

Albino rats also have abnormal lens fibers compared to pigmented rats

And the link has an interesting conclusion with photo's showing how humans see, how pigmented rats see and how albino rats see...

 

[naturestee]

Great info on this thread!

I just thought I'd add that Oberon (REW New Zealand just like Ruby) has poor eyesight too. He usually checks stuff out with his whiskers before doing anything, such as jumping up on furniture. And his pupils don't respond to light as quickly as those of my other rabbits, who have brown or blue eyes.

 

[maherwoman]

I'm going to add this thread to the Blind Bunny thread. Good data!