Nail clipping at the vets....(and risks of sedating a bunny) ?

Some of you might know that I have huge problems with cutting Bella's nails. She literally CAN'T be held, she squirms and freaks out to the point where she hurts herself.

As it is now I cut her nails while she sits on the floor. This sometimes works ok and other times not at all; some times she just keeps running off and gets really stressed out when I keep going after her with that scary nail clipper :roll:

I've been thinking of taking her to the vets to have them trimmed, but I'm worried that she'd be too much of a challenge for them and that they'd have to sedate her in order to do it properly (they're NOT rabbit savvy)....which made me wonder. How does sedation work with bunnies, do they get completely knocked out or are they still conscious? I'm assuming that it is less risky than a full GA? How do bunnies generally react to being sedated? How do they recover afterwards, how long are they affected by it? (lots of questions all at once, but I seriously don't know which is bad. I need to start reading up on these things )

have you tried habng her on a table, or putting a towel around her to stop her kicking out?

I have tried wrapping her up in a towel but she was having none of it She just gets so scared, the little nutter. Do you think I could try to get her used to that though? Do you think she'll realise, if I'm persistent and don't let her go, that it isn't dangerous? She acts as if she thinks I'm about to murder her. One time she even screamed/whimpered at me

I haven't tried putting her on a table though, don't you think she might try to jump off? :shock:

Aww no that doesn't sound like a great situation! Are there any rescues or breeders nearby? It's likely they're used to squirmy rabbits and might be more willing to really securely hold the rabbit (I'm not saying you don't, just I've noticed some owners worry they're squashing/hurting their rabbits when they're not) and will be so used to it they can get it done within a minute or two maybe even faster. And the towel thing is a great idea if you haven't already tried, search 'bunny burito' on youtube

My Daisy is just like that, but she epileptic on top of being nervy so if I pick her up she often has fits after. I work at a vets and I take her. In with me when it needs doing and the nurse does it in the carrier on the floor, so she doesn't have to pick her up. And if she jumps it is only out of the carrier on the floor. The car journey stresses her but not as much as picking her up does.

I wouldn't want to GA a rabbit to clip claws, it would be less stressful to get it done by a nurse concious I think.

Spenser had his done at the vets on Monday this week. Spenser stayed sat in his carrier (we just lifted the lid off). The vet lifted his paws up as little as possible, and I stroked his ears throughout. It seemed to go better than previou clips when he has always been out of his carrier on the table.

It's no fun is it! Jenson won't be picked up or held either, he's really good right up until anyone tries to lift him.
We take him to the vets, the nurse sits on the floor and holds him with a towel and lifts his front feet up and his back end stays on the ground and the vet cuts his nails. This usually works. Last time she held him in her arms and he was wriggly but after he's ok, he just doesn't like being held.
I would agree with Susie that on the floor is a good idea because they can't jump and hurt themselves.
If you can find a bunny savvy vet as they will cope with a handful bun!!

prehaps let her wear her nails down on some paving slabs outside while she's in a run?!

I take all 3 of mine to vets for clipping. They stay in the carrier where they feel safer (like susie bun said ) and I reassure and stroke while vet clips. :thumb:

If you wrap her securely in a towel she wont be able to move, you can then get someone to hold her whilst you quickly clip her nails, maybe not all at once if she is really stressed.

Thanks for the replies everyone :wave: I'll try to cut them myself before I consider taking her to the vets, just gotta pluck up enough courage I guess I should do Boris' nails first to gain some confidence, he's a lot more willing to cooperate! (Actually he isn't, but he has enough common sense in his little head to know that I'm not doing it to be mean)