Hi, thought I'd put this in the welfare section rather than rabbit care because I feel this is ultimately a welfare issue.
As some of you know, Humphrey & Tilly have had to have some expensive dental treatment of late, and this is now ongoing. In a bid to protect my finances from any further dental treatment fees and at the advice of my vet, I thought I should look into insurance for Oli and Sylvia (until now, all 4 rabbits have been self-insured).
I kind of thought this might be the case, but it turns out that dental treatment, esp preventative cutting, filing and trimming, is not actually covered for rabbits. One leading insurer's website states under the section 'What we don't cover': "The trimming of rabbits' teeth".
I can kind of understand why they don't cover this, because it costs a hell of a lot of money and it's a repeated process once you start having it done. But doesn't this pose a rather big question for rabbit welfare? Because if you can't afford the treatment (which is costly), then you would either have to wait until your rabbit stops eating and is in terrible pain, or have them put down as a preventative measure - both of which are not really very good options for an otherwise healthy animal.
Also, as dental treatment in rabbits becomes more commonplace and more advanced, and vets become more savvy to checking and treating molar problems (I'm saying this because my previous vet never checked Sylvia or Oli's back teeth), then it's going to become a big problem for owners on the financial side, and making the decision to have your bunny put to sleep rather than paying astronomical costs for dental treatment must be very stressful and distressing.
Or are there other options? What does everyone think? b-m
As some of you know, Humphrey & Tilly have had to have some expensive dental treatment of late, and this is now ongoing. In a bid to protect my finances from any further dental treatment fees and at the advice of my vet, I thought I should look into insurance for Oli and Sylvia (until now, all 4 rabbits have been self-insured).
I kind of thought this might be the case, but it turns out that dental treatment, esp preventative cutting, filing and trimming, is not actually covered for rabbits. One leading insurer's website states under the section 'What we don't cover': "The trimming of rabbits' teeth".
I can kind of understand why they don't cover this, because it costs a hell of a lot of money and it's a repeated process once you start having it done. But doesn't this pose a rather big question for rabbit welfare? Because if you can't afford the treatment (which is costly), then you would either have to wait until your rabbit stops eating and is in terrible pain, or have them put down as a preventative measure - both of which are not really very good options for an otherwise healthy animal.
Also, as dental treatment in rabbits becomes more commonplace and more advanced, and vets become more savvy to checking and treating molar problems (I'm saying this because my previous vet never checked Sylvia or Oli's back teeth), then it's going to become a big problem for owners on the financial side, and making the decision to have your bunny put to sleep rather than paying astronomical costs for dental treatment must be very stressful and distressing.
Or are there other options? What does everyone think? b-m