bunnylover177
Alpha Buck
I'm hoping people will add stuff new to them to this thread. They had troubel with the printers so we don't have the detailed lecture notes yet. This is what I learnt which was new to me:
1. According to a proper study done by uni student, hutch + pen is the best way to encourage lots of positive bunny behaviour (next best is the system with lots of tubes and pens - called runaround I think - she was surprised that this one did not come out top although I don't think there was much in it - she showed us lots of statistics about rabbit activity at different times of the day which will be interesting to see in the lecture notes)
2. Richard Saunders gave a really practical talk on managing E cuniculi - we all agreed it was a bit of a nightmare for rescues to handle. He recommending telling owners of new bunnies adopted from rescue centres to give them a 28 day course of panacur along with their new companion. He did say there was a study which showed that 42 days would be more effective as 28 days not always enough time to kill it. He was fairly reassuring about head tilt as rabbits could adapt and live untroubled lives with it - not a problem for the rabbit - it does not mean that it has a damaged neck, just that it's brain is seeing things differently.
3. Francis Harcourt Brown on GI statis and obstructions was really interesting. She said that true obstructions are most often caused by rabbits eating the stringly poo they produce when they are moulting (not caetotrophes - the ordinary ones when they sometimes come out in a string because of the amount of hair in them). I now know to worry about them and to pick them up any time I see them! She saw only about one obstruction a month and recommended operating fast. I didn't think to ask her about her sucess rates unfortunately. Now this bit was most interesting - she dealt at some length on how to decide when you have a true medical emergency which can not wait til morning. She is suggesting a new way to establish this by measuring the blood glucose level of your rabbit using one of little machines things sold by Boots chemist to diabetics (about £10). This measurement will tell you how much stress your rabbit's body is under according to which figures you get e.g. around 4 mmol/l is normal. Less than 2 or more than 20 is an emergency and needs a vet- hope I've got the figures right - I expect they'll be in the lecture notes. Francis has written a paper on this which is currently being reviewed before publishing so this approach is brand new. She suggests using a syringe needle to ***** the ear vein to get the tiny bit of blood required. On a different subject - her nurses mix dairy free baby cereal with critical care for rabbits which need syringe feeding - they say it is a better consistency and the rabbits seem to really like it.
4. Elizabeth Mancinelli showed us lots and lots of x-rays and scans for a variety of conditions - I think after that I can understand at least x-rays a bit better. SHe recommended using all the different sorts of scans available before operating as then the vet had much more accurate information before starting. Sometimes the scan would show that the condition was effectively inoperable and the bunny had to be put down - it was better to have this information before trying to operate and put the rabbit through more suffering.
There was lots of other good stuff - hopefully someone else will add more! I think the lecture notes would very much be worth buying from RWA this year - I think they'll go on sale soon!
1. According to a proper study done by uni student, hutch + pen is the best way to encourage lots of positive bunny behaviour (next best is the system with lots of tubes and pens - called runaround I think - she was surprised that this one did not come out top although I don't think there was much in it - she showed us lots of statistics about rabbit activity at different times of the day which will be interesting to see in the lecture notes)
2. Richard Saunders gave a really practical talk on managing E cuniculi - we all agreed it was a bit of a nightmare for rescues to handle. He recommending telling owners of new bunnies adopted from rescue centres to give them a 28 day course of panacur along with their new companion. He did say there was a study which showed that 42 days would be more effective as 28 days not always enough time to kill it. He was fairly reassuring about head tilt as rabbits could adapt and live untroubled lives with it - not a problem for the rabbit - it does not mean that it has a damaged neck, just that it's brain is seeing things differently.
3. Francis Harcourt Brown on GI statis and obstructions was really interesting. She said that true obstructions are most often caused by rabbits eating the stringly poo they produce when they are moulting (not caetotrophes - the ordinary ones when they sometimes come out in a string because of the amount of hair in them). I now know to worry about them and to pick them up any time I see them! She saw only about one obstruction a month and recommended operating fast. I didn't think to ask her about her sucess rates unfortunately. Now this bit was most interesting - she dealt at some length on how to decide when you have a true medical emergency which can not wait til morning. She is suggesting a new way to establish this by measuring the blood glucose level of your rabbit using one of little machines things sold by Boots chemist to diabetics (about £10). This measurement will tell you how much stress your rabbit's body is under according to which figures you get e.g. around 4 mmol/l is normal. Less than 2 or more than 20 is an emergency and needs a vet- hope I've got the figures right - I expect they'll be in the lecture notes. Francis has written a paper on this which is currently being reviewed before publishing so this approach is brand new. She suggests using a syringe needle to ***** the ear vein to get the tiny bit of blood required. On a different subject - her nurses mix dairy free baby cereal with critical care for rabbits which need syringe feeding - they say it is a better consistency and the rabbits seem to really like it.
4. Elizabeth Mancinelli showed us lots and lots of x-rays and scans for a variety of conditions - I think after that I can understand at least x-rays a bit better. SHe recommended using all the different sorts of scans available before operating as then the vet had much more accurate information before starting. Sometimes the scan would show that the condition was effectively inoperable and the bunny had to be put down - it was better to have this information before trying to operate and put the rabbit through more suffering.
There was lots of other good stuff - hopefully someone else will add more! I think the lecture notes would very much be worth buying from RWA this year - I think they'll go on sale soon!
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