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Will 'Rabbit Savvy Vets' Ever Become the Norm Rather Than the Exception............

They all claim to, but still there are so few who have anything but the basics about Rabbit Health, if that.

I realise it needs to be addressed in the actual syllabus for Vet Med Training, but it really is very frustrating when the situation does not seem to be getting much better. If a Practice lists Rabbits as Pets they care for then IMO the Practice has a duty of care to insure that the Vets all keep up to date with the advances in Rabbit Medicine. Otherwise be up front, dont take on Rabbits as clients and charge extortionate fees for sub standard care

Rant over :oops:
 
It is ridiculous I agree. I'm so lucky that the vets I usually go to with the cat/dogs (rubbish for exotics) has another branch within a few miles where I have found that both vets are extremely rabbit savvy, and they do their own out of hours too :thumb:
 
They all claim to, but still there are so few who have anything but the basics about Rabbit Health, if that.

I realise it needs to be addressed in the actual syllabus for Vet Med Training, but it really is very frustrating when the situation does not seem to be getting much better. If a Practice lists Rabbits as Pets they care for then IMO the Practice has a duty of care to insure that the Vets all keep up to date with the advances in Rabbit Medicine. Otherwise be up front, dont take on Rabbits as clients and charge extortionate fees for sub standard care
Rant over :oops:

Would you believe it's an even worse situation for Goats. The first farm vet I used for mine could have easily meant I lost one of mine, but I'll not start on that rant!
 
They all claim to, but still there are so few who have anything but the basics about Rabbit Health, if that.

I realise it needs to be addressed in the actual syllabus for Vet Med Training, but it really is very frustrating when the situation does not seem to be getting much better. If a Practice lists Rabbits as Pets they care for then IMO the Practice has a duty of care to insure that the Vets all keep up to date with the advances in Rabbit Medicine. Otherwise be up front, dont take on Rabbits as clients and charge extortionate fees for sub standard care

Rant over :oops:

I agree wholeheartedly. There's a vet very close to me who are good with rabbits, but their OOH is like playing Russian roulette so I now take a 1.5 hour round trip to get to an excellent rabbit vet with their own OOH and I'm sure Blackavar wouldn't be here anymore if it weren't for them this year :love:
 
Would you believe it's an even worse situation for Goats. The first farm vet I used for mine could have easily meant I lost one of mine, but I'll not start on that rant!

I never even thought of that! Again, you would think that a "farm vet " would cover goats as they're farm animals. Or they were the last I checked :roll::lol:
 
Totally agree with you

But think the vets are in a pretty tough position - as learning about bunnies isn't covered by their training, and most bunny owners keep their bunny in a bad environment with a bad diet and would probably rather euthanase than get an expensive MRI scan done. So not much point learning. Especially when you have long hours, intense job, family etc

So I think change can only come through pester power of owners. And hopefully a change in the syllabus at some point
 
Totally agree with you

But think the vets are in a pretty tough position - as learning about bunnies isn't covered by their training, and most bunny owners keep their bunny in a bad environment with a bad diet and would probably rather euthanase than get an expensive MRI scan done. So not much point learning. Especially when you have long hours, intense job, family etc

So I think change can only come through pester power of owners. And hopefully a change in the syllabus at some point

That's also a very good point. Even my own family told me to have Blackavar pts rather than pay for his dental surgeries & related issues :evil: I lost my temper & said I'd only have Blackavar pts when they were all pts for a bit of toothache first. That didn't go down too well especially as it was on the middle of my grandma's 80th birthday party!
 
Not unless veterinary education is changed no, they only get taught 1-2 weeks on rabbits for their 5 year degree! I understand that they can't learn everything about every animal and that a lot of focus is on farm animals not just pets, but you'd think the third most common pet in the uk would have a bit more emphasis! Or at the very least most vets should be good in the basics of rabbit care, which from here I get the feeling they aren't!
 
I have discussed this at length with the RCVS, and this is why I'm always wanting people to complain about any bad service, advice, experiences, people have had, because their response was with so few rabbit related complaints made, they can only assume the training provided to veterinary students must be sufficient, which obviously we all know that it isn't.

I think it is very much a case of if you don't complain to them, they believe that the vets are looking after rabbits appropriately.

However, they did advise me that if they were to start receiving complaints about veterinary treatment given or often not given, that would then prompt them to review the training given, and the areas the vets are falling down on.

So it really is a case of start logging complaints with them, because if you don't let people know there is a problem, they don't neccesarily think there is one.

Also, if changes were to be made in the training provided, there needs to have been x number of complaints received, before the relevant people will review and ammend training modules.
 
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I was about to post something very similar Jacks Jane - we seem to be getting nowhere with this from the evidence of some of the recent posts from people with sick rabbits and simply appalling vets. Why dont the vets just admit they know nothing about rabbits and send them to a vet that does? Rather than putting the rabbits at severe risk? Or are they really that stupid that they think 2 weeks training years ago qualifies them as a rabbit vet?

Surely just a quick look at some of the vet journals would convince them they know nothing?

It is so frustrating - and its the rabbits that are suffering - thousands of them.
 
I was about to post something very similar Jacks Jane - we seem to be getting nowhere with this from the evidence of some of the recent posts from people with sick rabbits and simply appalling vets. Why dont the vets just admit they know nothing about rabbits and send them to a vet that does? Rather than putting the rabbits at severe risk? Or are they really that stupid that they think 2 weeks training years ago qualifies them as a rabbit vet?

Surely just a quick look at some of the vet journals would convince them they know nothing?

It is so frustrating - and its the rabbits that are suffering - thousands of them.

Very good point there. The vet at my most local branch of a fairly big veterinary group is great with dogs and cats, but fairly mediocre at best with rabbits. But not once did he recommend I go to their other branch 3 miles away where both vets are extremely rabbit savvy. Thankfully I found that out myself :thumb:
 
It's so much better for rabbit medicine than guinea pigs, which are nearly as popular a pet as rabbits. :( Finding a decent guinea pig vet is near impossible.
 
I agree completely. I'm lucky to have a good vets but it wasn't the first practice we tried and we won't be going back to the other one it was awful! I got the feeling they thought that small animals weren't worth it.
 
Am I imagining it or was there not talk that the RWAF were having some conversations with the RCVS re possible changes to Vet Med Syllabus :? Or maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

But really it is just not acceptable that the third most popular Domestic Pet is all too often badly let down when it comes to Veterinary Care. There are of course some brilliant Rabbit Vets, but they are certainly a minority group. I just think that it is both morally wrong and professionally negligent to take on the care of a species of animal when you do not have the skills to treat him/her. This morning I was made aware of a situation whereby a Vet refused to prescribe any analgesia to a Rabbit in gut stasis as according to the Vet Rabbits do not tolerate analgesic drugs well and giving them would cause kidney failure. Thankfully the owner knew this was a load of tosh and promptly took the Rabbit to another Vet. Not before forking out almost £70.00 to the initial Vet- the charge for a consult and a shot of bloody baytril :censored:
 
I think it's the same with a lot of animals: my vet friend learnt most of her other-animal-specific stuff from doing it on the job, so to speak, and by reading around the subject. I think reptiles probably get ignored too, and veterinary care for fish was even worse than for rabbits in the late 90s.
 
It's even worse here. My OOH vet was researching ileus on the internet a good 15 minutes into my last visit to them! Had I not the guidance from forums like RU and my own experience and study Fiver might not have made it through a very serious stasis episode. I was prompting the nurses myself. :( When the vet finally walked in she pretty much just wrote his scripts and checked that everything the nurses did was correct.
Still fuming at having to pay $300+ for that visit. :evil: Not to mention the arguments I have with less savvy vets about pain relief for rabbits. It's like we're still working with stone knives and bear skins with some of them. :(
 
I was about to post something very similar Jacks Jane - we seem to be getting nowhere with this from the evidence of some of the recent posts from people with sick rabbits and simply appalling vets. Why dont the vets just admit they know nothing about rabbits and send them to a vet that does? Rather than putting the rabbits at severe risk? Or are they really that stupid that they think 2 weeks training years ago qualifies them as a rabbit vet?

Surely just a quick look at some of the vet journals would convince them they know nothing?

It is so frustrating - and its the rabbits that are suffering - thousands of them.

My vets actually do this, and it's one of the main reasons I have stuck with them. Not that they know nothing about rabbits of course! They have been great for all of the day to day stuff, and seem generally pretty clued up rabbit-wise, but twice they have referred me to the specialist. The first time for a dental which apparnelty would be better done with tools they didn't have, and the second because they didn't know what was wrong with Fudge, and they knew the specialist would get to the answer more quickly than they could. I really respect them not messing me around and trying to do things they weren't comfortable with. The vet also remembered several weeks later to ask about Fudge and what the verdict had been so I feel like they are genuinely interested and do care, which counts for a lot too.
 
My Vets will also consult Specialists if one of my Rabbits has a problem about which my Vets have limited experience or if they want a second opinion. I have absolutely no problem about that and I respect my Vets all the more for it. What I am referring to in this thread is the situation whereby a client is mislead into thinking that a Vet they consult has sufficient knowledge about Rabbits. Some Vets seem to feel unable to admit that they do not know something and as a result a Rabbit receives inadequate care. The Vet may not even know they dont know, IYSWIM !!

I go back to my previous comment, surely if you are stating that your Practice treats Rabbits, along with other Pets, then it is reasonable for a client to assume that the Vets at said Practice will be competent to do so. A client should not be expected to know if a Vet is 'Rabbit Savvy'. How many people take their Dog to a Vet and find that the Vet hasn't got a clue about Dogs !! I am not suggesting every Vet should be a 'Rabbit Specialist'. But to be able to see beyond a bottle of Baytril to treat every Rabbit illness would be useful.
 
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