I think my rabbit is blind?

Question
I have recently purchased a lionhead doe, it is about 3 months old. I have
only had it for a few days, and I have started to notice it doesn't react to
movement. The first thing my mum noticed was when it sits still it's head
sways, also it is constantly shaking, and always looks nervous. I have taken
into account that it could just be the new environment, but when you wave a
hand infront of it's eyes it doesn't react at all. When it hears loud noises it
gets really freaked out and jumps almost everytime. She won't eat food unless
she has a chance to sniff it out herself. When we put her in the run, she kept
wandering around and nudging then climbing the walls over and over again.
Another thing I noticed was that when you put her on the floor, she stays in
the same place for ages, and walks around very slowly, again nudging things
with her nose, whereas other rabbits I have owned run around and chew
everything as soon as they get a chance.
I feel really sorry for her, it could just be the new environment as she does
respond to light, but I don't know.


Also I have a 4 year old peaceful, male guinea pig, who had another companion who past away a while ago, I was wondering, if she is blind, could
I put them together, so he could help her?

Answer
Dear Lovisa,

Poor bunny. It does sound from your description as if she is blind.  There could be any number of reasons for this, but if her pupils are dark and not white (cataracts?), then this is probably a permanent condition.  At her tender age, I doubt that she has cataracts.

If you really wanted to confirm that she's blind, you could schedule an appointment with a veterinary ophthalmologist, but I'm not sure it would be worth the expense, since blindness in such a young bunny is probably either congenital or developmental, and probably not treatable.  But you could ask a local good rabbit vet for a referral, if you want to be sure:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Rabbits and guinea pigs can get along well, if they are introduced carefully.  The only caution is that *some* rabbits carry Bordetella bronchiseptica, a bacterium that can be a very dangerous respiratory pathogen in guinea pigs.  You can read more about rabbits and guinea pigs at:

www.rabbit.org

The web site seems to be down at the moment (very rare!), but if you input "rabbit" and "guinea pig" in the search engine, you will find information about the two species and how they can interact and possibly live together.

The bunny will gradually adjust to her new surroundings, but I'd confine her to a relatively small area so she can get used to that first, and then gradually expand it.  Doing so will let her feel more secure.

Hope this helps.

Dana