How to find a Rabbit Savvy Vet
When having a rabbit it is important to have a rabbit savvy vet. Many vets are excellent at treating cats and dogs, however rabbits are very different and you need to make sure that any vet treating rabbits knows and understands what rabbits need.
Here are a list of suggestions you can ask a vet to see how much knowledge they have.
-How many rabbits do they treat each week? (this will give you an idea of whether they see a lot or not).
-What are the common ailments rabbits are treated for at their hospital? (this will just give you a good idea of what they have knowledge on)
-How do they close incisions? (Some vets use glue, some use external sutures/stitches, some use stitches/sutures that the rabbits can’t reach. External stitches are chewable and are uncomfortable for the rabbits, so that
is not ideal).
-Do they spay and/or neuter rabbits at their hospital? Also ask how many they have lost within the past year for each, and find out what caused them to lose those rabbits. (Anything more than one or two is too many, especially for healthy rabbits).
-Do they provide pain medication after spays and neuters? (It is important that they do because it is inhumane to expect a rabbit to not have pain meds after an operation like that. They might mention Metacam, which is a mild pain relief and the most commonly prescribed).
- Do they recommend stopping feed on the night before a surgery? (Answer should be no. Rabbits have no gag reflex so can not vomit, which means that they do not need to have their food restricted before surgery).
- What do they recommend you do to prepare a rabbit for surgery?
- What type of anesthesia do they use? (Isofluorane or Sevofluane are commonly used these days.)
-What Vaccinations do rabbits need and how often? (Myxomatosis annually in areas with little to no Myxomatosis around, however, most rabbits should be vaccinated every 6 months, although some vets are suggesting every 4 months. VHD needs to be vaccinated against annually.)
-What Vaccination do they use to protect against VHD? (Cylap is the most common, however, there are a long list of severe side effects, that the vet should be aware of. A different option is Lapinject, which has different side effects, and again, the vet should be aware of these).
- What are some of the antibiotics they use on rabbits? (Amoxicillin, lincomycin, and clindamycin could be deadly with one dose, although Amoxicillin can be safe when given as an injectable, not as an oral antibiotic. Penicillin, actually any "cillin" could be fatal to a rabbit. Baytril or Maxaquin or Bactrim or Zithromax are commonly used and are okay for your rabbit.)
- What are their hours and how do they handle emergencies after hours?
- What are the most common surgeries they perform on rabbits?
- What does a visit cost and what does it include?
-Would they recommend using FrontLine flea treatment on rabbits? (the answer is no, never, they might use Ivermectin-which might come as something called Xeno 450-or other numbers, or Advantage can be used too. Xenex is licensed in rabbits but has been reported to have a lot of negative reactions, and the vet should be aware of that).
(adapted from the questions found on
http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=2114).
