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Zoo Vet At Large - last night's episode

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Mama Doe
Hi guys, did anyone watch Zoo Vet At Large last night with Matt Brash?

There was a couple who had a lovely female bun and they had got a stunning grey french lop to be her husbun. They tried putting them together but they fought badly and so ended up keeping in separate rooms.

They took both buns to the vet (Matt Brash) and his first suggestion was to remove the female's front teeth. He said if she couldn't bite him and hurt him, everything would probably be fine.

Now, I'm no expert and am genuinely interested in everyone's views, but surely that's animal cruelty?!? :shock:

Some buns just won't be bonded to any bun, never mind a certain bun which the owners have chosen, rather than the bun itself.

Also, I would have thought that even if/when the female went to lunge at the male bun, the charging and lunging would be enough to set him off at her, not just the actual bite from her?

It also showed you the owners picking their male bun up and plonking him in HER run/territory!! Surely this should have been the first thing the vet should have asked about as this is bound to be more likely to not work if it's her territory.

The owners ended up opting to put the female on tablets to improve her 'security', therefore making her less likely to start a fight.

The buns did end up being bonded, but this was after the owners decided to keep the buns for several weeks in runs separated by mesh and then putting the female in the MALES territory.

Slightly worrying that they could have had the female's teeth removed :)evil:) for no reason.

Thoughts?
 
I watched it. It's an episode I've actually seen a few times and every time I smack my palm to my forehead in desperation! :lol:

I really hope no one would have watched that and thought it'd be a good idea to do it to their rabbits. :shock: And putting the doe on tablets?! What's that all about?! I have to admit, I wonder if it was kind of staged to make for a more interesting story on TV as it really is that stupid.

It also bugged me that they didn't mention if the rabbits were neutered or not. I think it would have been good if Brash had made a point of telling the owners how important it is to have both rabbits neutered purely so the viewers got a quick neutering education rather than possibly believing it would be ok to put any two rabbits together 'for company'.

Generally, I think Matt Brash is a plonker! :lol:
 
I watched it. It's an episode I've actually seen a few times and every time I smack my palm to my forehead in desperation! :lol:

I really hope no one would have watched that and thought it'd be a good idea to do it to their rabbits. :shock: And putting the doe on tablets?! What's that all about?! I have to admit, I wonder if it was kind of staged to make for a more interesting story on TV as it really is that stupid.

It also bugged me that they didn't mention if the rabbits were neutered or not. I think it would have been good if Brash had made a point of telling the owners how important it is to have both rabbits neutered purely so the viewers got a quick neutering education rather than possibly believing it would be ok to put any two rabbits together 'for company'.

Generally, I think Matt Brash is a plonker! :lol:

50-odd views and 1 reply...- bow down to you! ;-)

I think I might actually write to him about it as I'm so cross about the way it was dealt with on TV. Like you say, neutering would have been the first thing that should have been mentioned, especially as it was going out on TV.
Argh!
 
Wonder if it's worth someone who saw it writing to the RWA and asking them if they can make representations? After all, Matt Brash chaired the veterinary session at the recent RWA conference so maybe someone knows him well enough to say something... it may well be that he already knows now that this advice was pretty pants, but there are so many repeats on TV I don't know if there's a way to lobby to get this episode removed or at least voiced over with something more sensible?
 
omg what stupid advise, calming tablets removing her front wth !!!!!! the simple basics in bonding would surfice, is that filmed in this country ???
 
Thats ludicrous, I cant believe a vet actually handled the situation in such a bizarre way :shock: The worrying thing is that people will watch that and think that that is the correct way to go about bonding buns :(
 
just wondering if there is anyway of getting through to the people who own the rabbit

i didnt see the show, are they both neutered the buns ??
 
No idea on the owners, and I might as well stop typing my email to Matt at the vet practice!! Will try and contact ITV or something. Wonder why he's sold up :?
 
I've contact the RWA, Flamingo Land, Matt's old vet practice and ITV - don't expect I'll get a reply from anyone other than RWA though :roll:
 
50-odd views and 1 reply...- bow down to you! ;-)

I think I might actually write to him about it as I'm so cross about the way it was dealt with on TV. Like you say, neutering would have been the first thing that should have been mentioned, especially as it was going out on TV.
Argh!

:lol: I feel like that about my threads sometimes - I spend most of the time talking to myself on here to try and get someone to notice! :oops::lol:

I'd be interested to see if you do get a reply from any of the places you've emailed.

I miss good old Rolf and Animal Hospital! :(
 
just wondering if there is anyway of getting through to the people who own the rabbit

i didnt see the show, are they both neutered the buns ??

Neutering wasn't mentioned at all throughout the program - which I think sucks! That should have been the first thing Brash asked. (I guess he probably did ask but it was edited out of the program).

The story started with the owners talking about how 'Honey' (I think it was Honey?!) had lost her original partner so they bought this new one to bond her with and she hated him and the next thing you saw was them in the vet with Brash ramming his fingers in her mouth and suggesting taking her teeth out. :shock: They opted to put her on calming tablets and then the cameras went back a week later and the owners put the male bun into Honey's run and they had a fight (unsurprisingly!). The owners eventually opted to put them in ajoining runs and then put Honey into the male buns run and all was fine.

Basically, it was about people going about bonding the wrong way. The people did seem to really love the rabbits though. :)
 
Just had a reply from Battle Flatts vets, saying "Matt left the practice in May this year, but I shall forward your email to him"
:)
 
I've had a reply from RWA:

"have to agree with you that it is so important to explain everything.
Years ago an old teacher of mine said that you should treat everyone when
you are training them as though they know nothing and then that way nothing
gets missed. Definitely it should be pointed out that the rabbits should be
neutered. (I often suggest that if you are having difficulty in pairing a
rabbit up that you could try them in the bath. I always made sure I say *
but no water* because there is always someone who does not know)

Most experienced people should also know that a male should never be put
into the females encosure- always the other way round. Was it really
implied that it was best to remove the front teeth to prevent the buck being
bitten and did Matt definaely not say that it was because the teeth were
malocluded.

I have no contact e mail address for Matt as he has chaged e mail address's.
I will pass this to Burgess Petcare as Matt is their small animal advisor
and they must have contact with him. You could try and trace him yourself
and write to the practice. There are three in Yorkshire. I belive it is
Battleflatts possibly Pollington.

I will definitely pass this to Burgess and ask them to forward and do agree
with you that this was not good"

I replied:
"Thanks for the reply. Matt gave no other reason for teeth removal other than
to stop her nipping him. He used the example of if she bit the male, it
would make him angry and he would turn on her - provoking a fight. But if
she tried to nip him with no teeth, she would only 'gum' him and (I quote)
"he would only giggle". Ridiculous.

I have emailed Battle Flatts vets but he left in May, though the office did
say they would forward my email to him. I've also emailed ITV and Flamingo
Land in order to try and get my email sent to him.

I have spoken about this on a popular rabbit forum where at least one other
member has seen the episode in question, and they too agreed so it's not as
if I got the wrong impression.

Would appreciate it if you could let me know what Burgess think."

She replied:

"To be quite honest I don't think that they will make any comment. They
probably would say that it is unethicalto reply on his behalf but they will
forward to him.

I shall be interested in their comments if they make any.

I did not think that you would have got it wrong about the teeth and it
confirms it with the comments about gum him. That's bad to advise their
removal for that reason

Thanks for letting me know. Members are our eyes and ears"
 
Unbelieveable :shock: bit worrying that he works for Burgess!

Let us know if you get any more replies.....will be interested to hear what they say
 
That's good that the RWA are going to try and contact him. To be honest, I think they have a higher chance of getting a response than an unknown member of the public (no offence!).

Even if he doesn't respond, hopefully it'll make him think twice about offering that sort of treatment to rabbits ever again. Makes you wonder how many rabbits teeth he has removed with no good reason really doesn't it?! :?
 
I was surprised to see he'd sold up. I haven't seen this episode (and it does sound ridiculous) but I've seen another episode where a lady had taken an ill doe to him and it turned out she was not spayed and had advanced cancer. Matt then did take time to explain the reasons why it was so important for rabbits of both sexes to be neutered, so it's not like he doesn't know.

By the way, our vets recommeded Battle Flatts vets a couple of years ago when our piggy had a bladder stone. The vet that saw Scooby and did the operation was fantastic and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. Sadly little Scoobs passed to the Bridge later on the day we brought him home - it had just been too much for his kidneys and they failed (plus he was the grand age of 6) but I'm sure the vet did everything he could. We had a follow up call the next day to see how we were getting on and he seemed genuinely upset that he had passed away. He also sent us a lovely card saying we'd done everything we could and that he wished all the owners he saw tried as hard as we had. Off topic a bit that sorry, just thought they were great.
 
I was surprised to see he'd sold up. I haven't seen this episode (and it does sound ridiculous) but I've seen another episode where a lady had taken an ill doe to him and it turned out she was not spayed and had advanced cancer. Matt then did take time to explain the reasons why it was so important for rabbits of both sexes to be neutered, so it's not like he doesn't know.

By the way, our vets recommeded Battle Flatts vets a couple of years ago when our piggy had a bladder stone. The vet that saw Scooby and did the operation was fantastic and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. Sadly little Scoobs passed to the Bridge later on the day we brought him home - it had just been too much for his kidneys and they failed (plus he was the grand age of 6) but I'm sure the vet did everything he could. We had a follow up call the next day to see how we were getting on and he seemed genuinely upset that he had passed away. He also sent us a lovely card saying we'd done everything we could and that he wished all the owners he saw tried as hard as we had. Off topic a bit that sorry, just thought they were great.

Sorry about Scooby :cry:

My Mum actually used to work as receptionist at Battle Flatts (!) and their dogs used to be patients there, but Mum got sick of Matt's attitude so quit and took the dogs elsewhere!! :lol:
 
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