Aysia is gorgeous little Pomeranian who came down to us as an emergency one evening.  She had been jumped on by another dog and afterwards her owners had noticed a problem with her eye.  They rushed her straight down to be examined.

Aysia’s left eye was hanging out of it’s socket.  This is known as a prolapsed globe.  The attachments at the back of the eye had become loose and strain was placed onto the optic nerve.  Thankfully Aysia had no other injuries but her eye was of real concern and required emergency treatment.  The longer the eye was out for, the greater the risk of blindness in that eye.

Unfortunately the eye had come too far out for us to replace it easily and so Aysia was admitted to the hospital. She was given pain relief and sedated whilst we tried gentle manipulation of the eye to see if it would go back in with Aysia more relaxed.  Unfortunately too much swelling around the eye had occurred and so it would no longer fit back in.  We would have to try and replace the eye under a general anaesthetic; to do this we made a cut at the edge of the eyelids to extend them outwards and widen the eye opening.  This allowed us to pop the eye back into the socket.

Aysia’s eyelids were sutured close to keep her eye from coming straight back out again, taking care to ensure the suture did not rub on the surface of her eye.  Despite the surgery, there was a risk that Aysia’s sight would be permanently lost and we would not know for sure until we removed the sutures in two weeks’ time. Aysia was discharged on a course of antibiotics and pain relief.  She also had to wear a buster collar to stop her rubbing at her eye.

We initially checked Aysia back a few days after the procedure and she seemed very comfortable.  We then saw her two weeks after the surgery and removed the sutures.  She was such a brave girl we were able to do this conscious.  Thankfully her eye stayed in place and she could see! 

She had an ulcer on the surface of her eye (the cornea) shown by the green dye. This was likely sustained at the time of injury.  We treated that with some eye drops for a week and it resolved without any further complications.  Aysia was a really good girl and we are so pleased to have such a positive outcome for her.

This years Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW) is the 2nd to the 10th of June!  RAW  is a coalition of experts, organisations  and welfare charities who have been working together over the last twelve years to encourage and focus on the best rabbit care and welfare. 

This year they are focusing on ‘moving away from muesli’. Rabbits are selective feeders so when we feed them a diet with different flakes and pieces in they will sort through, pick out their favourite and eat these only! This poses the risk of an unbalanced diet and some of these varieties can be high in starch and sugars.

A rabbits diet should consist of 85-90% good quality freely accessible hay. Dry feed can be given as a supplement to hay but this should be in a ‘nugget’ form to avoid selective feeding. Also in moderation to avoid your rabbit becoming overweight. Fresh greens and snacks can also be given in moderation. Please read RAW’s diet advice for more details.

For RAW this year Hollybank will be offering FREE rabbit health checks with a registered veterinary nurse. These will be offered at specific times throughout the week commencing 4th June and every pet will get a free goody bag with some food samples and leaflets. Please phone us on 01606 880890 to book an appointment.