possible eye removal & fussy eater foster buns… HELP !

[RosieBunny]

Hi Fellow bunny huggers! 

This is my first post on any bunny boards as I am fairly new to bunny world (18 month veteran) and all it’s intricacies!

Our first bunny died suddenly on Dec 15, 2015. We are still waiting slide pathology results as his necropsy revealed nothing. It could be some kind of brain inflammation from EC, herpes simplex, toxoplasmosis etc we don’t know yet. We are still completely gutted as he was such a special little creature and we miss him immensely.

We have just welcomed a darling one year old mini lop (japanese harlequin) foster bunny into our home… The reason for fostering versus adopting at the moment is that we may go back to Australia from the US in the coming year. If we stay, then little Bow will undoubtedly have found her forever home… she is a super special bunny. I didn’t think it possible to find another as sweet as Rosie & Bow has proved me wrong! 

Bow comes to us with some pretty big health concerns. She’s only 1yo but was kept in a cage most of the time and whilst in the well meaning hands of a mum with two young daughters… the mum admitted she really wasn’t a bunny person and didn’t want to have to deal with her health issues and future care.

Firstly. She has an eye that started as what the orig owner called a scratch that has developed into

Medical Notes read:

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 “lens with cataract appears to be subluxated, protruding; Iris dorsally is dark and thickened; possible mass or iris bombe.

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the eye pressure at hand over last week was 14 (normal) , she was so excited and happy to be out of a cage and in her new home (very very affectionate running love circles etc. On monday she became quiet and looked like she was in pain. So we had a recheck & started her on glaucoma meds. I took her for 2 second opinions with regular bunny vets (not ophthalmologists) who said take it out in the next few weeks, but didn’t do a tomometry reading. On thursday I took her back to AMC in NYC and where the ophthalmologist is. Her new reading has gone up to 24, so we started her on painkillers (metacam) and glaucoma meds (dorzolamide) as well as the anti-inflame meds (Flurbiprofen)

Medical Notes read:

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Luxated cataract OS, early glaucoma 

IOP OS: 18, 23

 Consult wit ophthalmology- it is reasonable to enucleate. Gave owner estimate for enucleation. Discussed risks of anesthesia and higher risk for rabbit enucleation due to large venous sinus behind eye. Complications include fatal hemorrhage. Owner interested in moving forward, will schedule with Dr. van der Woerdt.

Pain may be secondary to increased pressures- will start dorzolamide today. 

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Ugh. SO with the new meds she is definitely more comfortable but I am concerned as to which is the best way to move forward. Dr Quesenberry at AMC has advised as above indicates that enucleation in a rabbit is risky surgery due to the proximity of a major vein right behind the eye socket. So do I move forward with the vet ophthalmologist at AMC who does many many enucleations a year for dogs and cats but only  a handful for rabbits OR with the other regular bunny vet (not eye optho) I have consulted, who mainly does bunnies and therefore does many of these a year. When I asked for a number I was told she has done thousands. I am so nervous to make the right decision here and would love to hear any advice. My ideal would be an opthomologist who has prolific experience with bunnies but I have not been able to locate one near NYC (happy to travel farther by car if needed)

SECONDLY. Bunny only eats greens at present which is not ideal and especially not ideal heading into surgery. I am trying to get her to eat hay & pellets but no success bar a couple of nibbles in a week. Even trickier is the fact she DOES NOT LIKE SWEET FRUITS either! so banana, fruit etc tricks won’t work!  I have tried oats… they worked at first but she has now lost interest 🙁  I have just soaked some hay to try fool her into thinking its a leafy green. Any advice greatly appreciated! 

All and any recommends for doctors, procedures, tricks will be seriously considered! Thanks for reading this long intro!

Bow is a really special little girl, super affectionate, loving and engaging! I’d love to get her through all of this and on to a happy & healthy painfree inky filled life!

Thanks, Kate.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Any chance the experienced rabbit vet could work with the experienced vet who’s done eye surgeries before? Or consult together?

I adopted a rabbit who had one removed, probably similar situation. He was blind in the other, but did really well. I wasn’t in his life for the surgery-I adopted him two years later, but he got on well.

For the food-try different kinds of pellets, as long as they are timothy based and don’t have junky bits of grain and cookies in them, feel free to try different brands. For the hay-also try different brands and types, and try giving a small amount a few times a day instead of having a ton always available that doesn’t get refreshed.

Sounds like she had a limited diet-rabbits are very picky about trying new things, but if you persist, offering, taking away, and offering the same again-they will branch out and try new things, after several offerings.

[RosieBunny]

Thank you Kokaneeandkahlua !

I need to turn on notifications as didn’t see your response when it came thru those months ago 🙂

I have mananged to expand Bowies diet and done extensive research with vets re the eye removal. Due to the time to do all this research plus a trip to Australia we have Bowies enucleation set for April 27.

Her eye has been stable and relatively non-problematic although I am aware that it does need to be addressed imminently.

I did find an ophthalmologist who does not remove the eye but removes the contents (the damaged interior) and places a prosthetic sphere inside the actual eyeball, so essentially Bowie would keep her eye, tear ducts, eyelids & muscles. In discussing this with the foster group I am fostering Bowie through they were concerned that this was too experimental and that the few bunnies they had heard of going through this procedure had post op complications such as infections etc. Thus, as heartbreaking as enucleation is, we have decided on that route.

In the meantime, another concern has popped up… I am not sure whether it is a “phantom pregnancy situation” or she is upset because we were away for two weeks in Australia. I had a vet tech look after her at our house (stay overnights).

For the first 24 hours after we got back she was her affectionate, loving, excited self, then suddenly on waking to day 2 of our return she changed…. she stopped eating and became very reclusive. She ended up staying at the vets (very good bunny vet clinic) for two nights to get her eating again. I was so excited to pick her up from the clinic. But when we got her home she has been totally with drawn, and non-affectionate. She has been “digging” at her bedding and hay box a lot late at night, but is very withdrawn the rest of the time.

She used to come running and jump on the bed and lie across my daughters neck she was so crazy affectionate and sweet. But now she lunges and nips at my daughter and isn’t much better with me.

We are heartbroken, we feel like we’ve lost our darling old, loving buns and don’t know how to help our new fragile, terrified feel more safe and secure with us… 🙁 If her eye is stable with meds should I get her neutered first and then deal with the eye op. I hate to think of her going through this alienation again post big major eye op.

Do you think she is upset because we left the love fest for a couple of weeks, or do you think this sounds more like phantom pregnancy or abandonment stuff?

Any feed back greatly appreciated !

Many thanks from Kate and our now hiding under the bed nervous wreck bunbun Bowie !

[jerseygirl]

Hi Kate from another Kate : )

Love that your rabbits name is Bowie!

Only vet I can think of that might be worth checking out is Dr Laurie Hess of the Veterinary Centre for Birds and Exotics. They’re based in Bedford Hills, NY but may consult elsewhere. http://avianexoticsvet.com/ 

Would the NYC chapter of House Rabbit Society give some recommendations? 

ETA: There’s a contact number for Mary Cotter here. I would encourage you have a chat with her. She’s been involved with HRS for a long time and no doubt has seen a few rabbit come through that have needed this surgery. She could probably recommend a vet that you can have confidence in.   

[jerseygirl]

SECONDLY. Bunny only eats greens at present which is not ideal and especially not ideal heading into surgery. I am trying to get her to eat hay & pellets but no success bar a couple of nibbles in a week. Even trickier is the fact she DOES NOT LIKE SWEET FRUITS either! so banana, fruit etc tricks won’t work! I have tried oats… they worked at first but she has now lost interest 🙁 I have just soaked some hay to try fool her into thinking its a leafy green. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Have you tried 3rd cut hay? That might be more appealing for her. I think sometimes you can order sample sizes of different cuts and varieties of hay so you can try find a winner.

[BinkyBunny]

I have had a bunny before with glaucoma and eye ulcers. Eye issues can definitely be challenging! I’m glad that the glaucoma meds are at least working right now.

I ditto JerseyGirl’s hay suggestions. Also, have her teeth been checked?

Regarding her being a different bunny when you returned. I actually have a very sweet and loving bunny who will turn into a big snarky snark when I am gone for a week or if I get busy for longer than a few days. For example, these last two weeks, I have been busy moving our business location. Long long days. So I saw her in the morning and then again late at night — around 11pm. Normally she is used to me hanging with her for a couple of hours in the evenings. She went from being the sweetest most affectionate bunny to seemingly grumpy and territorial.

So for the last few days I have just come in and sat on the floor near her or on the couch. (There is a love seat in the bunnyroom — she is a queen around here! LOL) Anyway, I just hung out with a couple of carrots or some other treats and let her come to me which helps her trust again. (OHHHHHH! so funny, so as I write this, she literally came flying up onto the couch, then up to the back of the couch and sniffed my shoulder. It startled the heck out of me!!! I reached out to pet her and she just melted. So strange that just happened as I write about earning her trust back, but it looks like we are besties again — as she jumped down to the cushion next to me and is bumping my hand for pets — I have to stop pet her, and then type.)

So I guess my method has worked. Try it and hopefully it will work for you too.

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