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Vets/dentals - added costs.

sun_city_girl

Warren Veteran
Dear helpful peeps of RU

Had a massively stressful day today Left for work at 7.30am and got home at 22.50pm:evil:

Anyway boyf took Bun to the vets because I was worried about an area of hairloss under his chin. I wanted the vet to check his teeth but vet was only able to check his front teeth because she couldnt hold him properly to look at his back teeth (!?surely a vet should be able to check a rabbits molars?).
She said his front teeth might need to be trimmed (?) and that she could put him under GA on monday to do this and check his back teeth. Bun is absolutely fine - no problems eating, drinking, weeing or pooing.

I dont mind him going under GA if there really is stuff to be done.
She said an estimate of rabbit dental was £90
but then on the form it said they would give IV fluids for an extra £46 or he would get subcut fluids - is it essential for bun to have IVs???
Then fibreplex after for £10

does all this sound reasonable?
he mainly eats hay but we have reduced his pellet intake.

I hate the vets around here they are all rubbish.
 
Your last sentence is my biggest concern :shock: Are you sure there aren't any good vets around? :(

The other bits I don't know about - but I thought "trimming" of teeth isn't good, if they mean clipping? I thought burring is meant to be better. But I could be wrong!
 
Have you tried asking for a rabbit savvy vet in your area on here? I wouldn't want to let a vet I didn't trust do a dental. Hope Bun will be OK xx
 
Even an excellent vet can't always see all the molars, due to the design of a rabbits mouth without putting them out under a GA.

However, simply suggesting 'clipping' his teeth for what appears to be no reason is a little of concern to me, especially if they arent overgrown or causing him problems :?

When bun drinks, does the water often dribble down under chin or does the chin end up in a bowl at all?

Only you can get skin infections (fungal i think?) from the water drying and getting skanky etc, we've had this with Ginger before.

If you dont trust your vet, the last thing i would have them do is a GA/dental. An inexperienced/rubbish vet made a mess of Ginger's dentals in the past and now we refuse to let anyone but 2 or 3 vets do them.

Where in the country are you, perhaps a vet recommendation could be given?

Pop a thread up in rabbit chat "Rabbit Savvy Vet Needed in <your area here>?
 
Im no expert but do have a dental bun, I would have thought (although a minor point), that the fibreplex woudnt be needed unless bun stopped eating. I have stopped buying things like this just because I was told to like I used to, I use my judgement instead now. In 2.5 years my bill has been over £4000 for one buns teeth issues (mostly).

If bun isnt having problems eating I would personally just keep a close eye, to me it seems if some vets arent sure they just jump in 'the teeth' being the issue, I wouldnt put my bun under anaesthetic on a hunch from a vet as such.
 
Even an excellent vet can't always see all the molars, due to the design of a rabbits mouth without putting them out under a GA.

However, simply suggesting 'clipping' his teeth for what appears to be no reason is a little of concern to me, especially if they arent overgrown or causing him problems :?

When bun drinks, does the water often dribble down under chin or does the chin end up in a bowl at all?

Only you can get skin infections (fungal i think?) from the water drying and getting skanky etc, we've had this with Ginger before.

If you dont trust your vet, the last thing i would have them do is a GA/dental. An inexperienced/rubbish vet made a mess of Ginger's dentals in the past and now we refuse to let anyone but 2 or 3 vets do them.

Where in the country are you, perhaps a vet recommendation could be given?

Pop a thread up in rabbit chat "Rabbit Savvy Vet Needed in <your area here>?

It could be where he drinks from his water bowl because he does seem to stick his head right in and it sometimes looks wet around his mouth - I was a little concerned though that sometimes his eyes seem a but runny.
I have asked for rabbit vet recommendations on here before but had no joy - I am in Somerset - Frome.....and have tried 2 vets and never really felt like Ive trusted either - the vets around here see a lot of livestock - they dont seem to know much about rabbits. I would be willing to travel to any of the surrounding towns ie bath, trowbridge, westbury, warminster, shepton etc but I just dont think there is anyone around here....

Im no expert but do have a dental bun, I would have thought (although a minor point), that the fibreplex woudnt be needed unless bun stopped eating. I have stopped buying things like this just because I was told to like I used to, I use my judgement instead now. In 2.5 years my bill has been over £4000 for one buns teeth issues (mostly).

If bun isnt having problems eating I would personally just keep a close eye, to me it seems if some vets arent sure they just jump in 'the teeth' being the issue, I wouldnt put my bun under anaesthetic on a hunch from a vet as such.

yeah its so hard, I mean it could be his teeth but I worry about putting him under GA whilst he seems well - eating, drinking, pooing, weeing etc but then again I wouldnt want him to become properly ill before I did anything.

It sounds bad aswell that i dont trust that they would bother giving IV fluids if I requested them; they would just charge me extra and give subcut anyway. maybe I could request the IVs but say i want to watch them cannulate Bun first and set up the fluids before i hand the money over!!!!
 
That doesn't really sound right, if they can't check they'd get someone to help surely. My vet has always been very good with Nibbles and his teeth, has the help of one of the nurses if he gets a bit flustered. He gets fibreplex because he's had issues in the past with his gut so they give it as a precautionary measure. Nibbles is quite happy to take it :thumb:
 
Even FHB said they can't see properly at the back of the mouth until the rabbit is under GA. The first time she did Scarlets teeth she said that once she was under GA and she could see properly things were much worse than she thought. She could however see there was a problem without GA, she just couldn't see the extent of it.
I always have critical care in in case there is a problem with the buns, but I never buy the probiotic they like to give (biolapis) because Scarlet won't drink it. Scarlet has had some pretty hefty dentals but has never been given fluids either subcutaneously or via IV, she will however eat and drink afterwards.
If the vet suspects a problem with the front teeth, I can't see why they would want to do a GA to check the back teeth if there is no evidence of a problem. There is always a risk with a GA so I wouldn't do it without a good reason. If FHB wanted to do it to check because she suspected a problem I'd say yes, but I trust her judgement implicitly.
 
Sorry you are not confident with your vets. I too would try to find a recommended one before having your bunny admitted. I have had a dental bunny who had them every 5-6 weeks under GA and he was never given IV fluids. I too always keep Oxbow critical care in (get from VetsUK, the fine blend one which is easier to syringe but they do tend to like it) my first aid kit.

These links may help you find an alternative vet:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?367473-Rabbit-Friendly-Vet&highlight=somerset

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...t-the-UK-Please-List/page4&highlight=somerset

You could PM Geoffs people to see if they can recommend a good vet.
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...lp-for-bonding-in-Somerset&highlight=somerset

or GrahamL (I think his vets are pretty good)
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...Rabbit-vet-Frome-Wiltshire&highlight=somerset
 
Sorry you are not confident with your vets. I too would try to find a recommended one before having your bunny admitted. I have had a dental bunny who had them every 5-6 weeks under GA and he was never given IV fluids. I too always keep Oxbow critical care in (get from VetsUK, the fine blend one which is easier to syringe but they do tend to like it) my first aid kit.

These links may help you find an alternative vet:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?367473-Rabbit-Friendly-Vet&highlight=somerset

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...t-the-UK-Please-List/page4&highlight=somerset

You could PM Geoffs people to see if they can recommend a good vet.
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...lp-for-bonding-in-Somerset&highlight=somerset

or GrahamL (I think his vets are pretty good)
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...Rabbit-vet-Frome-Wiltshire&highlight=somerset

Thanks for this - unfortunately both the vets at the top are an hour away by car. I think they are probably the only good vets in the area, and the ones in bristol but those are also an hour away.
I really dont know what to do, I think I will cancel his appointment for GA on tuesday and phone rwaf and see if they have any advice........
I have asked for rabbit savvy vets in my area before but never had any replies!!!!
 
We have to travel an hour to see FHB. Does said bun not travel well? I wouldn't say ours like it but they cope with an hour and I thought we were quite lucky to have a really good vet that close.
 
I think it is worth an hour's drive to get to a good rabbit-savvy vet. It isn't ideal, of course, but I think many of us (me included) just have to travel as we are not confident with more local vets and specialist vets aren't easy to find. Hope you manage to find someone.
 
There is a vet recomendation list on the Cottontails rescue website, as they are in Westbury Wiltshire hopefully some of those recomendations may be nearer to you?
 
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