Is it me- Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah SOME VETS !!

I am not trying to say I am a Rabbit expert and I dont pretend to have the intellect required to study Veterinary medicine.
BUT threads on here recently appear to indicate that there are too many Vets out there who are absolutely clueless about Rabbits.
It is really bugging me now. For goodness sake Rabbits are the third most popular domestic Pet !! If we can all make the effort to learn about their health needs why cant the Vets. They are still happy to take our money but the knowledge they have about Rabbit illnesses could fit on the back of a postage stamp :evil:
And dont get me started on the 'no pain relief' one :evil:

Sorry, rant over

Well I thank God for people like you and several others on here for the dedication you show to rabbits and in taking the time and effort to share your wisdom I have learnt so much from your posts! If it wasnt for the advice on here my little girl wouldn't have had a gut stimulant or pain killer after her spay!! I'm dumfounded that a qualified vet didn't seem to know very basic bunny care

Boudicca said:

Well I thank God for people like you and several others on here for the dedication you show to rabbits and in taking the time and effort to share your wisdom I have learnt so much from your posts! (

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Completely agree with this I have learnt so much from the forum

Jack's-Jane said:

I am not trying to say I am a Rabbit expert and I dont pretend to have the intellect required to study Veterinary medicine.
BUT threads on here recently appear to indicate that there are too many Vets out there who are absolutely clueless about Rabbits.
It is really bugging me now. For goodness sake Rabbits are the third most popular domestic Pet !! If we can all make the effort to learn about their health needs why cant the Vets. They are still happy to take our money but the knowledge they have about Rabbit illnesses could fit on the back of a postage stamp :evil:
And dont get me started on the 'no pain relief' one :evil:

Sorry, rant over

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This is the exact same conversation I was having with Alison on Monday.
One thing that Jen (vet) said to me which I guess unfortunately is very true is that we are in a minority. Most people who take their rabbits to my surgery don't want them treated, their usual reply is that they don't want to put the bunnies through it which roughly translates into we can't be bothered to pay out for a bunny

We are one of the only people at our surgery that actually wants our rabbits treated, and as jen says this puts the vets at a disadvatage too as it means they are not getting any experience with treating bunnies however interested they are in them.

I'm certainly not sticking up for all vets after yesterdays fiasco, but I did think it was another view point worth considering :?

I suspect traditionally most rabbit owners weren't prepared to pay a lot for them as they were seen as 'disposable', so the vets haven't (generally) bothered to learn much.

I felt totally alone until I discovered RU, I had read "Rabbit Health in the 21s Century" which scared me a lot as to the complexities to deal with and all the stuff in there about rabbit savvy vets - I though you'd only get that in America, I didn't realise we had experts here as well.

My first rabbit needed a dental 6 weeks after I got her and then 12 weeks later she had the same symptoms. The vet offered to put her to sleep :shock: I think the idea was to 'get rid' and then go and get a less expensive one. My heart breaks to think a lot of people would say to go ahead. She coped fine with GA as well, it would have been a purely financial decision :?

A lot of what I have read also shocks me, especially when in an emergency there's often a hefty call out fee and then it's in the lap of the gods as to whether the vet actually has a clue when they've turned out.

Bunnies deserve more and they are so complex they need to be studied a lot rather than neglected.

It's so reassuring to be able to ask on here instead of just 'hoping' you are doing the right thing.

rabbits are still 'exotic pets', and just like some vet surgeries don't know their stuff on avian or equine, the same goes for rabbits! People need to find a rabbit specialist vet to get the best care. Right now theres no masters degree in rabbit medicine, so vets can't persue their career in this branch, but hopefully in the near future there will be.

Not all vets are bad with rabbits, you need to look around for the right one!!

It just upsets me so much when I read of the rubbish 'advice' and treatment some Vets give. The very basic right of any animal is to have their pain aleviated. Yet how often to we ask the question 'So did your Vet prescribe analgisia for you Bun' after his/her Dental/Spay/abscess excision/during an ear infection and to read the reply 'no. the Vet said my Rabbit wouldn't need any'............

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :evil:

coco1200 said:

rabbits are still 'exotic pets', and just like some vet surgeries don't know their stuff on avian or equine, the same goes for rabbits! People need to find a rabbit specialist vet to get the best care. Right now theres no masters degree in rabbit medicine, so vets can't persue their career in this branch, but hopefully in the near future there will be.

Not all vets are bad with rabbits, you need to look around for the right one!!

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Yes, but when you register your rabbit(s) with a Vet would it not be helpful for them to disclose that Rabbits were not their speciality.
I bet most Rabbit owners assume that ANY Vet would have enough knowledge to treat the third most popular domestic Pet. Unless these folk join RU first how can they be expected to realise that this is not necissarily the case.
I certainly didn't realise it when I started keeping Pet Rabbits. Consequently some of my Rabbits were PTS unnecessarily and I have to live with that

I spoke to a lady the other day who told me the pdsa vet she saw with a 4 1/2 month old rabbit, told her to take it back in a couple of months to be sexed because she couldn't yet tell what it was :shock: My reply was that the vet needed the sack then if they couldn't even sex an 18 week old rabbit.

coco1200 said:

rabbits are still 'exotic pets', and just like some vet surgeries don't know their stuff on avian or equine, the same goes for rabbits!

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I think the point is that they shouldn't still be exotic pets - they're the third most popular pet in the uk...yet not routinely taught about at vet school :? Thankfully this is starting to change with the RWA input into Bristol and now Edinburgh, so that's 2/6...

I was talking to Sharon Redrobe at the RWA conference and she was having a rant about this too, saying how crazy it is that they spend so long studying pigs when a good chunk of those vets will never treat a pig once they qualify, yet the vast majority will treat a rabbit at some point.

Bizarrely, I've often found that the best rabbit vets are those who trained abroad, particularly in countries where rabbits are considered pests, such as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It seems that many vets coming to the UK from these sorts of countries recognise that they don't know about the UKs 3rd most popular pet, so they take it upon themselves to learn!

Hugo's There said:

This is the exact same conversation I was having with Alison on Monday.
One thing that Jen (vet) said to me which I guess unfortunately is very true is that we are in a minority. Most people who take their rabbits to my surgery don't want them treated, their usual reply is that they don't want to put the bunnies through it which roughly translates into we can't be bothered to pay out for a bunny

We are one of the only people at our surgery that actually wants our rabbits treated, and as jen says this puts the vets at a disadvatage too as it means they are not getting any experience with treating bunnies however interested they are in them.

I'm certainly not sticking up for all vets after yesterdays fiasco, but I did think it was another view point worth considering :?

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I have to kind of agree with this (missed what happened yesterday though). After my two babies bun's having eye troubles, I got to see alot of the vets over the weeks. One conversation we had was that alot of people wouldn't have done what I did. Now personally I dont think I did anything special - the buns needed help and I got it but like I say the receptionist did say they alot of people dont bother with rabbits.

I am just so very grateful that I am registered with a Veterinary Practice that has taken the time and trouble to expand their knowledge about Rabbits.
I have no problem with a Vet saying 'I am sorry I dont know how to help your Rabbit but I will refer you on/make some calls to specialists etc...etc....
Its those that wade blindly on, refuse to listen to our suggestions and refuse to admit they dont know what to do that really me off.

On the whole I'm very pleased with my vets but there are some vets at the practice that I wouldn't allow to treat my rabbits.

If I have a bunny being neutered I always ask who is operating before I will book them in and make sure one of the good vets does the op....bizarrely the vet I trust the least is one of the practice partners but then I suppose that means hes a bit more 'old school' maybe?

Jack's-Jane said:

I have no problem with a Vet saying 'I am sorry I dont know how to help your Rabbit but I will refer you on/make some calls to specialists etc...etc....

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Exactly Jane, that's what I like most about my vet, she'll listen to my suggestions and will say "ooh I haven't heard of that, let me go and do some research and I'll get back to you" - and she will.

When I was fostering Eddie she spent ages ringing round other people, trying to get hold of specialists, faxing Bristol vet school etc to see if there was anything else that we could do.

Jack's-Jane said:

I am just so very grateful that I am registered with a Veterinary Practice that has taken the time and trouble to expand their knowledge about Rabbits.
I have no problem with a Vet saying 'I am sorry I dont know how to help your Rabbit but I will refer you on/make some calls to specialists etc...etc....
Its those that wade blindly on, refuse to listen to our suggestions and refuse to admit they dont know what to do that really me off.

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I 100% agree with every word Jane...
Imagine my horror when my (now previous!) vet said... "ooh Toshi, what are we going to do with you.. we will ahve to phone Roger and see if he has anymore bright ideas..." BRIGHT IDEAS, BRIGHT IDEAS.. you are treating a rabbit with partial impaction due to megacolon, and suffering anorexia.. and you are fishing for bright ideas....

Do you know in 1 1/2 weeks (includes 5 appointments and 2 days at the vets!) she never once examined his mouth, listened to his insides through steth, or took his temp.... I ended up asking for her to take his temp.. 106f.. "oh that's perfectly normal" she says... so Linzi investigates on t'internet (and subsequently asks her newly recommended vet) and finds out this is classed as high temperature! I EVEN HAD TO ASK FOR METACAM, which I was told.. "well I doubt it will help him, but I can certainly give him some" Comes to something when you have to go to the vet and tell them what you want them to do... it is not finance that is irritating me.... but it really gets my goat when they seem to know sweet FA about rabbits and tot you up a bill of over £250 in 1 1/2 weeks for the priviledge! Sorry to rant but I'm sick to the back teeth.. (perhaps I need a dental!) Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It seems to be all about the money with vets taking advantage of rabbit owners like us lot - knowing we will pay out stupendous amounts of money for our bunnies health.. and they seem to milk it! (not all vets but a lot!)

Santa said:

Bizarrely, I've often found that the best rabbit vets are those who trained abroad, particularly in countries where rabbits are considered pests, such as New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It seems that many vets coming to the UK from these sorts of countries recognise that they don't know about the UKs 3rd most popular pet, so they take it upon themselves to learn!

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The vet we saw yesterday is from New Zealand:?

We did have to smile when we saw him today though. He had obviously been doing a bit of homework since yesterday as he had FHB's textbook on the side this morning open to the relevant pages on stasis!

It all stems from the training. The veterinary medicine qualification is still very traditional and has only just started to move along with today's society. It's all physiology, physiology, physiology and a pinch of anatomy of cats, dogs and livestock. To specialise in a certain area (equine, reptiles, small animals) further training is needed and not all vet graduates are prepared to take that and and quite understandable with 40k+ debt under their belts! My advice would be if a rabbit savvy vet isn't available go to the youngest vet possible (most recent qualifications), or, if its behavioural, see a VN, obviously they are not qualified to give an official diagnosis but can help a lot. Vet nurses, i believe, know a lot more than people (and vets) give them credit for.

Hugo's There said:

The vet we saw yesterday is from New Zealand:?

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I did say most, not all :lol:

In the absence of someone who really knows their stuff, I'd go for a newly qualified vet who studied at either Bristol or Edinburgh, as at least those two vet schools do have rabbits on the curriculum!

Santa said:

I did say most, not all :lol:

In the absence of someone who really knows their stuff, I'd go for a newly qualified vet who studied at either Bristol or Edinburgh, as at least those two vet schools do have rabbits on the curriculum!

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I agree, but I go back to the issue that most 'normal' (there's that word again Santa :lol Rabbit owners wouldnt know that and would have no reason to know that. They would understandably assume that Vets treat Pets and Rabbits are Pets !!

Anyway, I must of gotten outa me bed the wrong side this morning hence my grumpiness.
Then again as I am bedless again I dont know how that could be possible :?

Hugo's There said:

The vet we saw yesterday is from New Zealand:?

We did have to smile when we saw him today though. He had obviously been doing a bit of homework since yesterday as he had FHB's textbook on the side this morning open to the relevant pages on stasis!

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Wow! That's kind of encouraging but also scary...imagine going to a doctor for a repeat visit and the same thing happening! :shock: Yet quality of life/being pain free is just important to a rabbit as it is to humans - more in a way, because they can't articulate it and are at ours/the vets' mercy...:?

I'm just grateful for the wealth of support/experience so generously provided on RU!