• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Anyone use 2 vets?

weedug

Mama Doe
Just wondered if anyone used 2 vets for the same animal, and if they were willing to say why they used 2, and what they used each for?
 
I have used different vets for the same animal, but I really don't recommend it. When I had bunnies, for a while I had their vaccinations done at a local vet, and their other treatments at one quite some distance away. I eventually changed, as the health check at the local vet was pointless, because (a) they didn't know their history (b) they weren't very good with rabbits anyway!

In recent months I have been trying out a local vet, so Boris the hamster has now seen several. I'd always recommend trying to find a good vet and sticking with them.
 
I will be doing this! Using my nearest vet for basics of vacs and then a more specialist vet, which unfortunately are further away, for anything else!
 
I would not use two vets as I like to see the same vet who knows the history of my animals. I think the health check which is carried out during the vaccinations is important as it can pick up problems early. What would people do if they went to a cheaper vet for boosters and the vet found an illness would you tell the vet you will get the illness treated somewhere else or would you stay and have the treatment from them?
 
Personally I dont think it is a good idea to do this unless BOTH Vets are aware of the arrangement. Continuity of care is essential and the Vets need FULL details of past medical history. This would only be possible if all Vets are aware of what is going on.

What if your Bun had a bad reaction to a particular drug at Vet A. Vet A will note this for future reference. Then at a later date Bun is taken to Vet B as an emergency, unrelated to the Vet A consult and given the same drug. Vet B would not know of the previous problem.

So I think using two Vets is only OK if you are up front about it to the Vets involved.
 
I agree with loppy ears and Jane. I considered using a closer vets for vaccinations but in the end decided against it, partly for those reasons and partly because they get a much thorough check up at the good vets and I know they are more likely to pick up on any illnesses early.
 
Yes - one for acupuncture and one for everything else. But only because my specialist bunny vet doesn't do acupuncture. Both are aware that I do this and are happy with the arrangement. Even though my specialist vet is expensive for vaccinations, I wouldn't go anywhere else because I know that they get a thorough check over by an expert. Plus, I want him to stay in business!!!!!!
 
What would people do if they went to a cheaper vet for boosters and the vet found an illness would you tell the vet you will get the illness treated somewhere else or would you stay and have the treatment from them?

Exactly! Plus if they aren't particularly good with rabbits, they might fail to pick it up anyway, whereas the better vet (which might be further away or more expensive) would be more likely to have.
 
I would not use two vets as I like to see the same vet who knows the history of my animals. I think the health check which is carried out during the vaccinations is important as it can pick up problems early. What would people do if they went to a cheaper vet for boosters and the vet found an illness would you tell the vet you will get the illness treated somewhere else or would you stay and have the treatment from them?

This is what I believe too. I have to use two vets if I want to use the specialist vets as they don't cover all their own out of hours and the vets that do the official cover aren't by any means rabbit vets, nor do they have immediate access to my rabbits' medical records anyway. They are also 50 minutes away. I decided if I was going to use the specialist then it would be for vaccinations and the lot because of reasons stated above (in quoted post). I want a RABBIT VET to do the health check and vaccination. Local vets also only use Cylap and didn't want to order other VHD vaccinations in and the last vet to give a myxi vacc there didn't do any health check before administering, not convinced she did the 10% intradermal either :?

I have done a bit of trying a few vets for the out of hours and based on my most recent experience I was very happy with local vets, they are staffed at night which is a huge plus when choosing. Both vet practices are fully aware of my using each other and have asked for copies of medical records from each other when needed.
 
Last edited:
I have been at the same vets for nearly 4 years and in all that time I have only ever once seen the same vet twice, every other time it has been a new face! Even when Co-Co was poorly we still saw 2 new vets and they didnt really know what the other had done!!! There is no continuity of care and rabbit knowledge of the last few vets I have seen hasnt been great! If there was an option to go to one practise with a good rabbit vet I wouldnt hesitate! I have no intention of losing another rabbit for the sake of staying with the same vets. The nearest good one is over an hours drive away and Dudley doesnt travel well, it would be unfair to take him that distance just for an injection.

I'm more than happy to be upfront with my existing vet and explain my reasons :D
 
I use my local vets (10 minutes away) for everything except out of hours emergencies, as they use a different practice for this who I have no confidence in whatsoever. So for anything out of hours I use another which is 25 minutes away.
 
I use my local vets (10 minutes away) for everything except out of hours emergencies, as they use a different practice for this who I have no confidence in whatsoever. So for anything out of hours I use another which is 25 minutes away.

I've just found myself in this situation and I think this is what I'll be doing from now on.
 
I use different vets for neutering, different vets for vaccinations and another vets for rabbit specialist, then a different one for the tortoise. :oops:

This is because a) I move alot b) have been at uni c) certain vet I find does a better cleaner job when neutering, d) other vet uses vaccinations I am happy with and administers them correctly..however neither are rabbit specialists and the rabbit specialist is over an hour away hence not used for vaccs etc.

All my vets fax medical records of the buns to one another as we ask that of them, this included the 28pages of Lola's vet history :oops:
 
Last edited:
Back
Top