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No food from 6pm ?

lenslady

lenslady

Alpha Buck
Have my big boys booked in for a castration tomorrow at 9.15am and I was told last week that they couldn't eat from 6pm this evening :evil:. So they are waiting patiently for their evening meal and not allowed anything.

The problem I have is, when I cleaned their hutches out this morning I put lots of meadow hay in and a large portion of timothy hay in the bedroom area. They also had fresh veggies about 4.30pm. Veggies went within 5 mins of me giving it to them but I have just put them to bed for the night and realised they have access to hay! Will this affect their op in the morning? :( xx
 
No rabbit should be starved before an operation! For heaven's sake give them food NOW!

I'm horrified that you were told this by your vet!

I strongly advise that you cancel the operation and find a rabbit savvy vet as the one you have is not good enough, sorry.

Rabbits should have 24/7 access to hay. Not to have access to hay for so long could make their digestive system go haywire, which could prove fatal.

If your vet does not know this, he/she shouldn't be allowed near rabbits.

Sorry.
 
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Rabbits don't need starving before ops. They can't vomit so there isn't a risk of them throwing up their breakfast.

Who told you to starve, vet or receptionist? If the vet, I wouldn't trust them operating on my rabbit. If the receptionist then they need to be told they're giving the wrong advice.
 
Angie B said:
No rabbit should be starved before an operation! For heaven's sake give them food NOW!

I'm horrified that you were told this by your vet!
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Really? I did query it but they said no, nothing, only water due to what they have to have, I know this is normal routine with a cat and dog but was shocked about the buns. they had their muesli this morning an usually have fresh about 4ish and burgess pellets at about 6-7pm, they always have hay of different kinds. But was told no food at all ? x
 
What Angie said, please don't starve them, that is awful your vet told you to do that as it's incredibly dangerous with rabbits because of the risk of statis.
Rabbits can't vomit so don't need to have meals stopped like cats and dogs, if it was your vet who told you that they needed starving I would be dubious of using them, if it was the vet receptionist or nurse I would definitely take it up with them as if they are giving that advice out to other rabbit owners it's only a matter of time before something serious happens :(

Edit- I'm a slow typer on my iPad so I've basically said what Steph said anyway! :)
 
Omg seriously and that was suggested by a vet?!?! Please please make sure they have plenty of food available, and don't go changing their routine. If anything I always feed mine slightly more before operations so they have a nice full belly & lots of energy for their operation!

You should never starve a rabbit, and food should always be available. Please don't let your rabbit get neutered if they don't even know about rabbits diet! That's just awful.. I'm sorry as I know you probably don't know but that is seriously worrying!! Xx
 
lenslady said:
It was the receptionist from vets4pets in Cornwall xx
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As already stated above, in that case you need to double-check with the vet that she is wrong (she is wrong but the vet may have told her to tell you this, in which case you need a different vet. If the receptionist has told you off her own back, then she rapidly needs correcting before any other bunnies are put in a potentially fatal position by her terrible and appalling advice.)

lenslady said:
Ok will give them their pellets now. Thank you for clearing this up x
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You're welcome :)

Make sure that your boy has hay at the surgery too, as he has to be eating before he leaves.

And make sure they give you enough pain relief for a few days to come home with. Well him, not you! haha
 
Sorry just seen your other post. like others have said, please do inform the vet as that is awful to hear and such incorrect information.
 
It wasn't the vet himself, it was the receptionist at a new vets a bit more local. My usual vet is about 20 mile away and they refused to do my rabbits castration odue to the stress of car journeys being over 20 mins long and they advised me on stress being a bad factor in rabbits going under. So I went to the new, nearer one who told me this on the phone, so no, it wasn't the surgeon but the lady taking bookings for surgery.

They have no where near starved today but I have cut out their evening meal because I was told this, they normally get fed 3 times a day, they have constant access to hay at all times.
I will take them in the morning and speak to the actual vet and explain what I was told, if i feel uneasy then I will just leave. Thanks for the advice x
 
Good to see you back, I haven't seen you around, I hope you are doing well :)

I would give the vets a ring in the morning and let them know your concerns about being told such poor advice and ask to speak to the vet who will be doing the castrations if possible, it may be the receptionist who has got mixed up/isn't knowledgeable about rabbits. If the vet agrees and says they should've been starved then would it be possible for you to find/get to another vets? I would be concerned about the vets knowledge and experience of rabbits and worry about whether the vet knows the importance about getting rabbits to eat again after the anaesthetic and the importance of pain relief.

ETA: Just seen the latest posts which have also said this, my apologies, best of luck to your boys tomorrow. I've only had two bunnies neutered but they were both acting like usual when they came home, bounced back :)
 
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I'm glad you've fed them as normal this evening now - I would definitely mention it to whoever books them in for the surgery tomorrow, they need to deal with that. I remember once many years ago a new receptionist at my then practice told me the same. When I got home I rang the vets and asked for the owner to ring me. I told her what had happened and she was horrified. She immediately arranged for the nurses to ring the owners of every rabbit booked in for surgery by that receptionist and to advise them to feed as normal...and about a fortnight later that receptionist left...

If the vet/nurses tomorrow insist that they should have been starved overnight, please just take your bunnies home with you and book them in somewhere else, as if that's the case they clearly don't know enough about bunnies. But if the nurse/vet knows that they shouldn't have been starved, they need to tackle this with the receptionist as the advice is clearly putting all the rabbits coming in for surgery - whether elective or serious - at risk.

Hope all goes well tomorrow x
 
When I took my boy to be castrated I was told by the receptionist not to feed him before the surgery however I quickly corrected her and another receptionist also told her that I was correct and that rabbits should never be starves. As others have said I would check that it was not the vets advice and if it was then I would cancel the operation and change vets.

Sent from my HTC Desire 620 using Tapatalk
 
I even said I would prefer to bring my own food in for after and she said no to that too. So I will take there own hay and pellets with me tomorrow. Thanks so much for the advice. I feel so bad now for missing their tea/supper time. xx
 
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I have 2 going under tomorrow ;(, Don't want to lose these 2, I would rather they live alone tbh if it risks their lives xx
 
When I had my bunnies spayed I was given a generic leaflet telling me to starve them. I just disregarded it as nonsense. Should have taken it up with the vet, of course, but never did!
 
Liz47 said:
Good to see you back, I haven't seen you around, I hope you are doing well :)

I would give the vets a ring in the morning and let them know your concerns about being told such poor advice and ask to speak to the vet who will be doing the castrations if possible, it may be the receptionist who has got mixed up/isn't knowledgeable about rabbits. If the vet agrees and says they should've been starved then would it be possible for you to find/get to another vets? I would be concerned about the vets knowledge and experience of rabbits and worry about whether the vet knows the importance about getting rabbits to eat again after the anaesthetic and the importance of pain relief.

ETA: Just seen the latest posts which have also said this, my apologies, best of luck to your boys tomorrow. I've only had two bunnies neutered but they were both acting like usual when they came home, bounced back :)
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Thank you Liz47 I will do just this. They come with good recommendations and are very new to the area, so I am hoping it was a mix up but Will definitely talk to the vet doing the procedures before I leave my babies with them.

All been fed now and covered in for the night. So fingers crossed they both get some rest for the day ahead tomorrow xx
 
lenslady said:
I even said I would prefer to bring my own food in for after and she said no to that too. So I will take there own hay and pellets with me tomorrow. Thanks so much for the advice. I feel so bad now for missing their tea/supper time. xx
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Don't feel bad, we like to think we can trust our vets so believe what they say. Feeding their supper a couple of hours later than usual won't have made a difference to them, particularly as they still had hay [emoji4]

(Though you might need to make it up to them tomorrow, especially as you're having their bits off too![emoji6] )
 
WillowAndBiscuit said:
Don't feel bad, we like to think we can trust our vets so believe what they say. Feeding their supper a couple of hours later than usual won't have made a difference to them, particularly as they still had hay [emoji4]

(Though you might need to make it up to them tomorrow, especially as you're having their bits off too![emoji6] )
Click to expand...

Thank You. I just hope it is all worth it and it all works out for them, otherwise it might be a new wife each instead :oops: xx
 
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