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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Albinos, neurological issues and blindness

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    • Fosterish
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        As a biologist with a particular interest in genetics, I know that there was a link between different types of albinism, neurological conditions and blindness across the board in the animal Kingdom. 

        I knew this when I bought my frosty point minilop and I knew the risks. What I didn’t know, and didn’t figure out for a couple of weeks, was that not only were his eyes beautiful, blue and constantly moving from side to side (a condition called Nystagmus – common in albino animals), but they were completely sightless.

        For an animal with a form of albinism to be completely blind often suggests that there may be a tumour or lesion on the animal’s occipital lobe. When I took Casper to be neutered, the vet actually asked if I was sure that I wanted to spend money on this rabbit who has a question mark above his life expectancy. Casper could have a timebomb in his head. Or he could live a long and happy life. To be honest I’d rather not think about it and just enjoy each day!

        I am posting this for 2 reasons:

        1) to see if anyone has any stories / experience / knowledge about the links between albinism, neurological issues and blindness in rabbits.

        2) To share some of the things that I have learnt from having a blind rabbit. Which are as follows.

        Firstly, consistency is key. When things move, confusion ensues. If a particular jump spot changes height, you’ll get a bunny missing the jump. If you move the water bottle or food bowl, make sure your bunny knows where they are. Watch them. Check that they are using everything okay.

        Secondly, they are going to bump into things. Casper runs into a least 5 things a day. Often Tuppence or my feet or a wall. But occasionally he trips over something or misses a jump. Just because he’s blind doesn’t mean he isn’t curious. He will explore everything and try to jump on everything, and get stuck in everything, and panic over everything. So bunny proofing needs to be even more thorough!

        Thirdly, a big cage is a must. Casper can’t be let out of his cage unsupervised because he panics if he can’t figure out where all of his walls and boundaries are. He checks them daily. The cage has to have a closed top, because he will often climb on his jumps to check the top of the cage. It keeps him feeling safe. He certainly can’t go outside unsupervised. This all means that Casper spends most of his time in his cage. Luckily it is 24 square feet!

        Because he is confined to a cage, his bonded bunny buddy is very important. She keeps him entertained and helps calm him when he is scared. A variety of different of different ways to entertain Casper are useful. I tend to take popsicle sticks and rub different smells on them. The neighbours dog. Badger wee. Different plants. Different juices. Next doors hamster. Etc. The weirder and smellier the better. I then let him smell them. It’s good stimulation and lets him explore a world he has no access to! Toys are also a must. Hanging things are the favourite, so are cardboard rolls and anything with a bell in it or that makes a noise. Mixing things up, not in a big way though. Hide treats in new places, set up a “treasure hunt”, put different textures in the cage. (Tuppence isn’t blind, but she enjoys all of this as well!!)

        Finally trust. A blind rabbit has got to trust its human (all rabbits do, but it’s much easier to spook our sightless friends). And the human must trust the rabbit – they’re hardier than they look with regard to crashing into things! It’s never nice to watch, but you can’t stop a rabbit from being a rabbit just because it can’t see!!

        Anyone else got any hints and tips or experience? Would love to hear some happy blind bunny stories!


      • Booplesnoot
        Participant
        50 posts Send Private Message

          Aww… What a sweet boy. How did you learn that he was blind?

          I have a REW mini-lop which I assume is albino… I’m still trying to find clarification on the REW/albino thing. Are they the same?
          My bun has super light blue irises but everything else is red. I haven’t noticed nystagmus yet but he seems to do most of his observing from the corners of his eyes, so my guess is that may be his null zone. My boyfriend has nystagmus so that’s how I know about it, lol.

          I have often wondered if my bun may be somewhat deaf. I don’t know how to do a click test with a lop because his ears obviously don’t move…but the thing that makes me wonder is that he doesn’t mind the vacuum cleaner. The cat is terrified of it but I’ve followed Boople as he drops pills with the thing and he acts like it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Sniffs it and goes about his way. If I yell NO or do a squeal in response to an overly amorous nip, he responds physically by stopping whatever he’s doing and holding stock-still for a few seconds, but will usually go right back to what he was doing beforehand, like he thought he heard something but wasn’t sure…


        • Azerane
          Moderator
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            Red-eyed whites and blue-eyed whites are very different genetically. REWs to the best of my knowledge are true albino. They have a double recessive cc gene which masks all colour pigments. REWs are known for having vision problems.

            BEW comes from the Vienna gene, which can give blue eyes, and white markings on coloured rabbits. A rabbit with two recessive vienna genes vv will be pure white with blue eyes. I’m not aware of vision problems for BEW, the nystagmus is very concerning and can be caused by many things including metabolic and eye disorders, nutritional deficiencies, trauma, brain lesions and ear infections. The direction of the nystagmus can also aid in diagnosis, however given that he is blind it may simply be a result of that. However I think it’s worth looking into the blindness, as it may be a result of something and not actually blind from birth.


          • LBJ10
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              REWs are albino and the gene is dominant. There are a couple of color/pattern genes that have incomplete dominance with REW. That would be Himalayan and Sable. You can end up with a mostly white bunny with some shading and red eyes. Sometimes the shading is dilute, which appears to be the case with your bunny.

              Yes, REWs can have vision problems or sensitivity to bright lights (at the very least). REWs are known to “scan” when trying to look at things. The rapid eye movements you’re describing though sound concerning. As Azerane said, the direction (left/right or up/down) can actually help a vet determine the cause. I would definitely look into it a bit more. It may have nothing to do with him being blind.


            • LBJ10
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                Here’s a blog post that talks about scanning: http://thebunnyguy.com/wordpress/red-eyes-eye-scanning-rabbit-vision/


              • Fosterish
                Participant
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                  Yeah, the nystagmus was worrying at first, but we do know the cause – it is linked with his blindness and is due to the lesion on his occipital lobe (bunny brain scans are more expensive than I would like to admit!)
                  He scans a lot which was what alerted me at first. I took him to the vet and we went full on detective! One eye reacts slightly to light, the other doesn’t. Suggesting he may be able to make out shapes and shadows with one eye. The other eye is completely blind. He has side to side nystagmus in both eyes and scans a lot. The brain lesion is small and we hope that it will not cause any further issues or turn out to be cancerous, but I am not putting him through surgery to find out.

                  With regards to albinism, it is not just alleles which are recessive or dominant that determine colour. Different hox genes and silent genes also play a part, and the phenotype (observable) coat colour is quite different to the genotype (genetic code). Ultimately a lack of expressed pigment in any circumstances can be classified under the umbrella term “albino”. Which is where confusion can come in because the term in this sense has a slightly different meaning to the idea of “true albinism” as a colour variation in breeding rabbits.

                  In any case blindness and nystagmus are always concerning and should be checked out. In Caspers case they are unfortunately a result of a potentially life threatening neurological issue. But that doesn’t mean doom and gloom!

                  It also doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a link between the timebomb and Caspers colour. But with there being a documented link between the two, it’s worth raising as a possibility to see if anyone else is in the same boat.

                  Booplesnoot I have no idea about deafness, but I do know that my bunnies both do the same thing you described when told “no”! Cheeky little fluff balls!!


                • LBJ10
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                    Yes, REWs can appear in many breeds and can mask the underlying colors. A bunny can be REW (phenotype), but carry the color genes for a different color/pattern (genotype). Sorry, I wasn’t explaining that very well. LOL

                    We’ve talked about other colors/patterns that are associated with diseases/disorders in the past. A big one is the “English Spot” or broken gene and megacolon. REWs don’t come up too often, so it’s nice having someone share their experience on this (it may help someone else who stumbles upon this thread later).

                    If the vet has already determined the likely cause of Casper’s nystagmus, then I suppose all you can really do is try to keep him happy. It sounds like you’re doing a great job so far. Hopefully others will be able to help. I don’t have any experience with blind rabbits, but my Leopold is deaf.

                    Booplesnoot – Deafness is actually relatively common in Holland lops.


                  • Booplesnoot
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                      Interesting stuff here. My Boople is a mini lop (and a big one at that), not a Holland, but I’m going to do some reading up on that anyway. 🙂

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                  Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Albinos, neurological issues and blindness