Upset by vet

When I dropped two of my buns off for spay/neuter this morning I found out my usual vet has left. On their last vacine she found they both had very tiny spurs so I asked if the new vet could bur them at the same time which they did.

However when I collected them on the usual post care sheet they give you about not using sawdust, no jumping etc there was a comment stating that it is unusual for young buns to need dentals and basically implied it was my fault and I need to change their diets.

All five of my buns are champion hay eaters, I go through bales of the stuff. They get a small amount of pellets only.

My usual vet knows what I feed etc and would never of said this to me. In fact when she found them she said with one being a mini rex she said that she wasn't surprised as they have shorter faces.

I found the fact that a note was given instead of asking me what i feed etc rude and I am almost in tears that someone who has never met me accused me of bad husbandry.

Am I over-reacting?

I would say yes you are as the vet doesn't know you and he is only looking at the rabbits best intrest. I wouldn't take any notice. They are only doing their jobs so don't take it personal. You know you look after your buns and you dont need to convince them.

I have to say Amy I had the same thing said to my face by a new vet at our practice some time ago when I took a new bun in for a myxi jab & felt exactly like you. I felt patronised & as though I was being lectured by this particular vet! From our records he could tell we had 23 bunnies & had, had several others registered with them so should know a bit about buns :? I know our normal vet would never have spoken to me in that way.

I wouldn't let it get to you that much, but perhaps mention next time you go in that you would have appreciated it being perhaps written down in a better way :?

Thanks bunny addict.

unfortunately the vet is probably so used to badly looked after rabbits that they assumed it was diet issue, its a shame it upset you hun and i probably would be quite wounded by the suggestion im a bad bunny owner too, but i think on this occasion you should try not to take it personally and try to put it out of your mind. *HUGGSSS* xxxx

I personally think he was rude and should have approached you and discussed it with you rather than "assuming" and writing it down!! he should have asked what you feed them and if he disagreed with it THEN explained what is best for the rabbits health and maybe advise you on ways you could help prevent them growing quick. Hugs to you, id proberly take it personaly too xx

I had a similar thing with a locum vet. My Flynn needed a dental, and he truly shows no signs until he starts to drool, which is usually at night and discovered in the morning. The locum went mental at me saying i had neglected him for at least 10 days.

On one hand i can see she had Flynn's best interests at heart. Most bunny owners are pretty clueless and useless. As she had never seen me, she didn't realise i am a "bunny person". We now get on quite well and i do understand her point, but i was mightily offended at the time. So, i fully understand how you feel, but dont take it personally, there are two types of bunny owner and the group we fall into are few and far between.

Thank you all. I must say the check up today was no better. I think they have been taken over as are launching a appointment scheme (it is usually walk-in) and there are lots of new vets and all the old ones have vanished. The vet today (not the one who wrote the comments) only had one of the two buns booked in for a post op check and she could hardly hold one of my buns I had to do it for her and they are by no means difficult rabbits. I have lost my faith in them a bit.

Amy104 said:

I found the fact that a note was given instead of asking me what i feed etc rude and I am almost in tears that someone who has never met me accused me of bad husbandry.

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At work we usually write notes on the care sheets, but only to serve as a reminder for us to speak to the client about it!
Obviously I cannot speak for your vet but if it wasn't your usual vet that dealt with your bunnies it may just be that they didn't realise that you are more experienced in dealing with rabbits?
Either way I would hope it wasn't meant in an abrupt or rude way, and I totally understand how you feel as I think I would feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot!

gosh if only it was rare for younger buns to need dentals :roll: unfortunately yes a lot of buns get dental problems caused by bad diets but so many others get them due to malacusion. Unfortunately because perhaps they were only small spurs and both of them have them, he probably made they flying assumption that it was caused by bad diet rather than what is possibly more accurate that maybe (especially if they are related) they have a slight malacusion which you are managing to keep to low levels by feeding them a good diet.

In some ways I think yey! a vet who wants to make sure rabbits get good care even if he is wrong in this case but in other ways I think if he seriously had concerns he should have been speaking to you face to face as a little note on a care sheet is unlikely to change the mind of anyone who's been feeding their rabbits wrong AND as you have found he's completely jumped to conclusions and ended up insulting you are putting you off the practice which is not good customer service.

It's always slightly tricky to discuss possible husbandry problems, especially in writing. I would give them the benefit of the doubt - they were only trying to help prevent any further problems and don't know you well so have to cover all bases just in case. Often there is little space on forms to add details so they are often a little abrupt. I'd be annoyed if they weren't sure whether diet could be involved and said nothing! Please don't take offence but make a point of discussing diet next time - tell them exactly what you feed and ask if they feel this appropriate. Hopefully they'll see then that it's not a diet related problem. It does take time to build up a good relationship with a vet so find one there you are happy with and see them each time, that way you don't need to explain yourself each time!

I'm afraid ,like you,I'd have taken it personally.To leave just a note and not have someone actually talk to you is [in my opinion] bad customer care.They didnt know what you are feeding so how could they assume its dietary-I notice no advice was given either on how a rabbit should be fed and they obviously gave no thought to a genetic pre-disposition.From what you said about their lack of knowledge of even handling a bun then i'd be looking for a more rabbit savy vet.