Injury to Rabbits Eye

Question
Long story short, a bunny I know somehow poked his eye.  He must have run into something or something poked him badly in the eye.  We don't know.  The thing is, they were not going to take him to the vet.  His eye was bulging out!  I got him and took him to the vet this morning and he is having surgery to remove his eye and stitch it closed.  He hopefully will be fine.  My question...would he have been ok without going to the vet?  Was he in pain?  He was just sitting there when I picked him up and he didn't seem distressed or anything.  It sure looked painful to me.  If it was my eye I would have been screaming.  I just don't know what rabbits feel when they are injured.  If they have some kind of defense mechanism that keeps them from suffering.  Can't handle it when animals suffer.  What do you think?

Answer
Dear Patty,

I think you are a hero, and I hope the people who owned that rabbit should let you keep him, since they don't care enough to take care of him when he is so seriously injured.  Poor bunny!

Of course he was in pain.  But rabbits, being prey animals, do not SHOW pain.  They have an instinctive behavior/ability to hide pain because their ancestors that didn't do so were easily noticed and preferred by predators, as easier to catch.  So the "modern" rabbit has evolved this defense mechanism to avoid predation...but it doesn't mean that they don't feel pain.

He will do MUCH better with the eye removed and sutured shut.  I know plenty of one-eyed rabbits who do just fine, and his pain will be gone in a few days, as opposed to *weeks* if the eye had been left as it was.  Plus, the eye itself would probably have become infected, and he likely could have died from that.

So you may have saved his life, and you are wonderful.  I hope the little guy never has to go back to those people who cared so little about his life and safety.  They should be reported to the SPCA!

Take care, and bless you!

Dana