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Supervet has scared the life out of me!

Sarah1991

Warren Veteran
After watching little Rufus on Supervet yesterday (I had recorded it) I've scared myself half to death! Him talking about how terrible rabbits are at going under and coming out of GA and the risk of heart attacks and things :cry:

I'm so scared for when my boys go for their neuter! (20th June curretly, maybe sooner depending on behaviour) Is it really so bad?

Also Rufus was adorable! I was so glad he was ok! My OH was saying if anything happened to him he didnt know what he was going to do, because he knew I would cry :lol:
 
I didn't watch it. But if your boys are healthy they should be fine, it's not a big op for the boys :thumb:
 
I didn't watch it. But if your boys are healthy they should be fine, it's not a big op for the boys :thumb:

I know there's a risk with everything but I just keep on looking at my boys and imagining them going through that! They are so small! I know they are generally home by the afternoon/evening so I know its quick and everything. Im going to be SO stressed on the day. :shock:
 
I know there's a risk with everything but I just keep on looking at my boys and imagining them going through that! They are so small! I know they are generally home by the afternoon/evening so I know its quick and everything. Im going to be SO stressed on the day. :shock:

I know exactly how you feel - I felt like that when my little Cheyenne went in for her spay - she just seemed too small to have to undergo that.

It is worrying but try not to let Supervet make you too anxious...yes, there is a risk but it's not really all that high for a healthy rabbit...and for a neuter, even less so. Rufus had to be under GA for quite a long time whilst his leg was fixed - and that would have increased the risk - but a neuter is very much a quicker operation - and therefore not so much risk.

We've had 6 buns get neutered/spayed - and I've worried myself silly about every single one of them - but they've all come through with flying colours. Sheldon was up and bouncing off the walls that night following his spay in the day - he is a bit bonkers though :love:

I was also so relieved to see Rufus bouncing around again - I certainly know where I'm going if any of my buns injure themselves :thumb:
 
I know exactly how you feel - I felt like that when my little Cheyenne went in for her spay - she just seemed too small to have to undergo that.

It is worrying but try not to let Supervet make you too anxious...yes, there is a risk but it's not really all that high for a healthy rabbit...and for a neuter, even less so. Rufus had to be under GA for quite a long time whilst his leg was fixed - and that would have increased the risk - but a neuter is very much a quicker operation - and therefore not so much risk.

We've had 6 buns get neutered/spayed - and I've worried myself silly about every single one of them - but they've all come through with flying colours. Sheldon was up and bouncing off the walls that night following his spay in the day - he is a bit bonkers though :love:

I was also so relieved to see Rufus bouncing around again - I certainly know where I'm going if any of my buns injure themselves :thumb:

It really was amazing! Especially seeing as her regular vet had just told her to have the bunny put to sleep. :( Poor Rufus, you could see how much they loved him and the love he got at home!

I wish all vets were like him, he really seems to care and will do anything and everything to help! :D
 
I find it's best not to think about these things. At the end of the day if a rabbit needs a GA then it needs a GA and if something happens then as much as I'd be heartbroken I'd know that I was doing what was best for my rabbit. If I hadn't had Levi and Daisy neutered then they wouldn't have that companionship and would both be pretty miserable. So I'd never have considered not putting them through the op. Similarly when it comes to dentals in the future, they will be necessary to give a good quality of life.

If we all thought about all the things that could go wrong in life we'd never set foot out of our rooms in the morning! :)
 
I find it's best not to think about these things. At the end of the day if a rabbit needs a GA then it needs a GA and if something happens then as much as I'd be heartbroken I'd know that I was doing what was best for my rabbit. If I hadn't had Levi and Daisy neutered then they wouldn't have that companionship and would both be pretty miserable. So I'd never have considered not putting them through the op. Similarly when it comes to dentals in the future, they will be necessary to give a good quality of life.

If we all thought about all the things that could go wrong in life we'd never set foot out of our rooms in the morning! :)

I know, its my own fault for being such a stress head. I know they are going to have to have GA anyway so i'm not getting myself too worked up. But hearing all of the stuff about how badly they can take it was a bit '':shock:''
 
He may be an expert Vet in many aspects but Rabbit Anaesthesia is clearly not one of them. The picture he portrayed of it being almost inevitable that a Rabbit's heart would not cope with a lengthy GA is both misleading and untrue. Yes, Rabbit Anaesthesia is a 'speciality' but it is far from being such a huge risk as it was portrayed in the programme.

He's still drop dead gorgeous with a cherry on top though.....................:oops:
 
Don't worry too much please!

I had the same concern with Ludo, and a vet nurse responsible for monitoring bunny ops kindly rang me up and talked me through the steps taken in a rabbit GA one by one. She also said that the practice had never lost a bunny under GA apart from ones already poorly or with known heart conditions etc.

If you're worried perhaps your vet surgery could talk you through it in the same way? It was very reassuring.
 
He may be an expert Vet in many aspects but Rabbit Anaesthesia is clearly not one of them. The picture he portrayed of it being almost inevitable that a Rabbit's heart would not cope with a lengthy GA is both misleading and untrue. Yes, Rabbit Anaesthesia is a 'speciality' but it is far from being such a huge risk as it was portrayed in the programme.

He's still drop dead gorgeous with a cherry on top though.....................:oops:

Haha I thought this also, there was that (according to my OH) ''unnecessary'' shot of him taking off his top at the end.

I'm sure there are many of us that deemed it entirely necessary. :lol:
 
He may be an expert Vet in many aspects but Rabbit Anaesthesia is clearly not one of them. The picture he portrayed of it being almost inevitable that a Rabbit's heart would not cope with a lengthy GA is both misleading and untrue. Yes, Rabbit Anaesthesia is a 'speciality' but it is far from being such a huge risk as it was portrayed in the programme.

Completely agree JJ. he was totally over the top. It's the typical response of someone used to dealing with cats and dogs. Scarlet has had at least 13 GAs now (those are the ones we know of)
 
I agree too. Doughnut was put under GA 3 times in 10 days. My specialist said they give the minimum amount of gas so they come round very quickly. After that I no longer worry about her going under.

It's very much who is doing the op and how good they are. The supervet is fantastic but he obviously specialises more in one area.
 
I had a seven year old rabbit (Artie) who came through 2 long surgeries - first remove kidney stones, a long and complicated procedure and then only 3.5 weeks later he had the kidney removed. He had a very high titre for EC at the time, which was a potential risk factor for his recovery.

I'd just say choose your vet carefully. I often see threads on here for people hunting around to save £10 or so on neutering, it's really not worth it, just get a competent rabbit vet to do it even if it does cost a little more.

I do wonder also if the risk associated with anaesthetic was overplayed in the programme just to have people on the edge of their seats and make the vet look even more fantastic (with or without shirt ;))


Oh, and I've been told it's £200 a night for dogs to recuperate there so if anyone's thinking of taking their pooch there just to meet him you'd better get saving up now!
 
He may be an expert Vet in many aspects but Rabbit Anaesthesia is clearly not one of them. The picture he portrayed of it being almost inevitable that a Rabbit's heart would not cope with a lengthy GA is both misleading and untrue. Yes, Rabbit Anaesthesia is a 'speciality' but it is far from being such a huge risk as it was portrayed in the programme.

He's still drop dead gorgeous with a cherry on top though.....................:oops:

It's funny - I didn't get that at all - that he thinks it's inevitable that a rabbit will die...I just got it was a risk and that he was a bit pessimistic having lost a bun before under GA - but then again my hubby was having a 'I've got brain cancer' moment during the programme so that was somewhat distracting :roll: (he hasn't got brain cancer - needs new glasses though ;))

I think he cares an awful lot about the animals - and imagines the worse case scenario. Look at him with Daphne and his reaction to the infection getting into her new paw - it really cut him up but she was fine at the end. He also got very stressed about the spaniel. I do think he knows what he's doing - but he also is very much aware of what can go wrong.
 
Maybe he doesn't get as many bunnies as he does dogs and cats. He certainly cares for the animals.

I think I would go to him for wonderful devices as he's got a great imagination for animals to get around when they have missing limbs etc, but I would stick with my specialist for everything out as he knows everything there is it seems about little fluffies.
 
I'd imagine the types of op he does regularly are longer and more complicated that the average op - which increases the risk factor (and he seemed quite dramatic about everything :lol: ). Neutering is very routine, rescues have hundreds of bunnies done a year.
 
He may be an expert Vet in many aspects but Rabbit Anaesthesia is clearly not one of them. The picture he portrayed of it being almost inevitable that a Rabbit's heart would not cope with a lengthy GA is both misleading and untrue. Yes, Rabbit Anaesthesia is a 'speciality' but it is far from being such a huge risk as it was portrayed in the programme.

He's still drop dead gorgeous with a cherry on top though.....................:oops:

I agree with this. Having been a VN and having my own rabbits and never seen or experienced a fatality under GA (except when Bilbo had septicemia but that was because he had septicemia) I find the idea of it being almost inevitable a bit strange. A skilled vet who is experienced in small mammal anesthesia should not have any problems. I know my own vet would disagree with that statement. There is always a small risk with any patient including humans but its a risk worth taking if your bunny is having an abscess removed or is being spayed to prevent cancer.
 
I'd imagine the types of op he does regularly are longer and more complicated that the average op - which increases the risk factor (and he seemed quite dramatic about everything :lol: ). Neutering is very routine, rescues have hundreds of bunnies done a year.

Yes this is what I thought too, hes obviously only ever been involved in serious operations on rabbits rather than neutering.

Also, I have just bought your book as I saw the advert under your comment, Im really looking forward to getting it haha. :D
 
What concerned me was that he appeared to speaking generally and suggesting that giving a rabbit a GA was high risk in general. I hope there aren't less informed people out there cancelling routine spays because of it. That's the danger of making statements like that on TV.
 
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