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Just back from the V-E-T-S and as per it was a nightmare .......

Bitzy-B

Mama Doe
....... and they were only getting their nails clipped!!!!

Oh my goodness them poor bunnies, I thought Rascal was going to have a heart attack, as soon as I put him in the carrier he was panting and shaking. Dizzi was ok at first but by the time I got them to the vets they both looked like they were about to peg out!!! :shock:

I feel soooo bad at the moment, having to put them through it!

They hate being handled but love nothing more than a good all over body massage whilst they're on the floor ...... its times like this that I wonder if I should try and handle them a bit more as at the moment I don't because they hate it so much. :?

I know this question comes up periodically, I ask it myself sometimes ..... but do you think I should try and pick them up and handle them more so they're less afraid when it comes to vet checks?? They're 3 yrs old now and I haven't handled them regularly since they became stroppy teenagers and decided they hated it. :(

I do have lots of ground floor snuggles though. :thumb:

(just not today as I am now in their bad books BIG time)
 
I know what you mean, Leo did a starfish while he was at the vets yesterday :roll: it was so difficult to handle him :lol: he has a dental on Monday so I told him he has to behave because we aren't going to be there for fusses until later :lol:

Donny and Lola are going next week for their claws to be clipped ..not looking forward to it but I can't do these 2 even with help! :shock:

I don't think picking them up more will help tbh, I try with Leo but he hates it. Donny used to be a cuddle bun and didn't mind being picked up but he'll only tolerate it for a few seconds before struggling. Poppy is okay but we have to pick her up weekly, sometimes more, to check her bum. Lola.. I don't even go there unless I have to :lol:
 
Biscuit hates vet trips too, he hates any human interaction that isn't really me and my wife and at that, its ALWAYS on his terms, not ours.

I can't hold him to clip his nails, its actually physically impossible, he has such instincts it feels so wrong to him.

I don't think its worth trying to hold them, personally, as it just instills "mummys coming, that means bad thing" in my opinion.
 
I think it depends on the bunny. Spenser is much more tolerant of being handled, and until comparatively recently I would not have thought this possible. He doesn't come looking for cuddles, but once he is up he generally settles. Our vet is very close-by, so I do take him there for nail clips, but if he wasn't such a big rabbit or I had someone to help I could probably do it at home.
 
I always dread Frankie needing the vet as she does not tolerate it at all. She always has had very natural instincts, I'll go to feed her in the morning and she has constructed massive tunnels out of hay with a sleeping chamber in the night, and even as soon as we got her at about 10 weeks old she resisted handling and would wriggle and leap out of arms, I've always thought of her being more like a wildie really. She is also tiny, and her bones just feel somehow delicate compared to her sisters so I am scared she will hurt herself if I have to hold on really tightly if she's attempting to fight being held at the vets.

I tried getting her used to handling by letting her walk into the carrier and take her out the top, but all that has done has made her not want to voluntarily go in the carrier. She had to go to the vets a couple of days ago. Thumping at us on the journey :lol: Me and the vet had to hunch on the floor with her, and she still isn't happy with me two days later!

Like yours she loves being stroked when on the floor. She'll flop out right in the middle of the floor and dip her head asking for strokes, I even get teeth chattering when I do it or when I kiss her head, but holding is a definite no! I don't think she's ever going to tolerate it. The only issue with it is tricky vet trips, but she is otherwise perfectly happy.
 
Doughnut has had so many trips to the vets that she hates the carrier. I leave it out permanently now and put hay and treats in it for her. She then goes in to eat them eventually but it's normally tippy toes first and run in get the treat and out again. When I don't need her in there she jumps in and eats the hay quite happily, think she senses me being anxious about her going in.

I can't catch her as she's so quick and hates being picked up although the specialist makes it look so easy, the nurses and the other vet said they had trouble syringe feeding her and catching her.

I don't pick her up but wish I had since she was a baby, would have done it every day to get her used to it. That may not have worked though.

She is now more relaxed in there now, or resigns herself to it as she cleans herself in there and then settles down to go to sleep after digging frantically to get out.

Could you try leaving the carrier out and putting treats in or their bowl of pellets for them to eat so they get used to it and don't associate it just with the vets. I use it to transport her to the garden for grass time so will be tempting her in on Saturday.
 
Thanks for your replies guys, good to know its not just my two!

Good idea about leaving the carrier in their run for a while, I did that with their old one ......this is a new one, one of those Cat-it Cabrio ones and I'm not sure if the front comes off completely, will investigate (if it doesn't I'd be worried about one of em accidentally getting locked in it)!

They seem to have calmed down somewhat and are now both doing DB flops on their fave fleecie! :D

Fingers crossed they only go to the vets once or twice a year so I reckon its not worth stressing them on a regular basis trying to get them used to handling, maybe best to just handle the fallout after the vet visit!?!
 
When I first got Peter I made sure he tolerated being handled, he hated it and was petrified, but I needed him to get used to it, so I held him everyday until he stopped struggling then put him down in his run or gave him yummy food. He was over 1 year old when I got him and I got him to calm down and keep still when picked up. I don't think it'll work on all rabbits, but I think if they do get used to short bursts of handling daily and only let down when they calm down they should be better and maybe less stressful.
 
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