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My Email to RWA Vet Re the Struggle Some of You Have Had..

Jack's-Jane

Wise Old Thumper
.......obtaining appropriate Veterinary treatment for your sick Bunnies over Christmas/New Year.

''I wonder if I could just run something by you re the standard of Veterinary Care for sick Rabbits over the Christmas/New Year period.

As you know I post on Rabbit Rehome. Over the holiday period there were several people who tried to obtain Veterinary Care for their sick Bun. I am really disappointed that in many of the cases the 'care' given fell well short of 'adequate'. Ranging from a shot of colvosone and 'see what happens' for a bun in GI stasis. Another being told, after a cursory examination that Bun (again in stasis) would just have to be PTS.
Obviously I know you cant comment on individual cases. But I dont think it unreasonable for us Rabbit owners to expect a certain standard of care for our Pets if they are taken ill 'out of hours'
Some people have been charged HUNDREDS of pounds just for the Bun to be given a shot of Baytril and a supply of probiotics!! And as for the prescribing of analgesia........WHY OH WHY DO SO MANY VETS THINK RABBITS DONT NEED PAIN RELIEF!!

So, is there a governing body to whom these concerns can be addressed? The RCVS I assume? If all the people who have had such a 'difficult' time getting appropriate treatment for their sick Rabbit were to write to the RCVS to whom should the letter be addressed?

Reading the despairing posts of Bunny carers who have had to fight tooth and nail to get treatment for a poorly Bun has been heartbreaking. It has also made me VERY ANGRY!!

Sorry for the rant, I just want sick Rabbits to ALL get the care they deserve and for it not to be such a lottery as to the standard of care.''

Janex
 
I agree with all you said there for sure!!!!! It really shouldn't be so hard. I can just imagine the amount of Rabbits which are lost because of poor services and owners which don't have the help by forums such as this!

My Rabbit is now doing really well and really wasn't a worthy cause of PTS!

GO JANE!!!!

(Edit: don't know who you would write to, but if someone gets me an address I will send one for sure!)
 
Lynette said:
I agree with all you said there for sure!!!!! It really shouldn't be so hard. I can just imagine the amount of Rabbits which are lost because of poor services and owners which don't have the help by forums such as this!

My Rabbit is now doing really well and really wasn't a worthy cause of PTS!

GO JANE!!!!

(Edit: don't know who you would write to, but if someone gets me an address I will send one for sure!)

Great to hear that Rusty is better :D :D

Janex
 
Well done Jane!!, this is what we need, the standard of care is not good enough and for some it's not just over the Christmas period it's all the time.

Why do some vets think that bunnies don't matter?

Good luck
 
That`s really good Jane & after what several people have been through over the christmas period definately necessary.
Do you think it would be a good idea if a few of us did one, to try and get more impact and get them to act?

Su.x
 
way to go jane!!!
i am very lucky with my vets, but people should not have to put up with being fobbed off because their bun is poorly over the holidays :evil:
neither should people have to rely on the advice of an online forum (amazing as it is, and has no doubt saved many lives so please no one take this the wrong way) because their vets have let them down :evil:
could you imagine the uproar if a dog had a torsion on christmas day and the owner was told, 'heres a shot see how you go' :shock: :shock:
why should buns be any different??
thank heavens for ru, its a shame that some vets are not as commited as many members of this forum to giving good helpful advise :roll:
 
Well done Jane! I've never understood why there's an out of hours thing with veterinary care - we can't choose when our pets get ill!! :roll:

That's a very good email. Those things need saying!! :)

AMETHYST
 
Very well said. SOmetimes I have doubted my vet, but at the end of the day thy were only closed for i think it was 2 or 3 days at xmas, and the same again at new year, with out of hours cover. Thy only charge up to £50 for an emergency call out, thn regular prices for drugs. Also, anytime I have phoned the out of hours service, thy have been more than helpful. For example, 1 sunday I ran out of Harly's Metacam and when I phones she said if I could get 2 a village 16miles away which is where the emergency vet was based, she would not charge me anything for going 2 the surgery and meeting me there, or she could arrange to meet me in Peterhead later in the day but then thr would be a dispensing charge as she would have to travel. Personally I thought ths was pretty reasonable, looks like I have it good compared 2 some of u.........
 
I have received a reply from Judith (RWA Vet) Basically she recommends addressing things on an individual basis with the Vet/practice with whom there is a problem. If there is not a satisfactory resolution then the next step is to go to the RCVS. I dont think I have managed to get across the fact that it is not really just one or two isolated incidents but more a general problem with the lack of Rabbit Savvy Vets :? The situation being exacerbated during 'out-of-hours'

Judith pointed out that there are Rabbit Courses Vets can attend. But they are obviously voluntary. Christobel (my Vet) says that these courses are often expensive and so many Vets feel they dont see enough Rabbits in their day to day work to make attending the courses worth-while :cry:
As the Vet Training still only has a few days covering 'Exotics' it appears to be very much down to the individual Vet as to whether they want to enhance their knowledge about Rabbit Medicine.

I dont know how or if we, Bunny carers, can improve things :? Going in all guns blazing and critical wont help I dont think :? But things do have to change and Rabbits need to be afforded the same degree of 'importance' as Cats and Dogs etc.

So, any of you clever lot got any thoughts as to how we can be a bit more pro-active in getting more consistently good Veterinary Care for our Buns.......

Janex
 
Christobel (my Vet) says that these courses are often expensive and so many Vets feel they dont see enough Rabbits in their day to day work to make attending the courses worth-while

My vet told me this too. It was actually when I was complaining about another vet from the same practice who had got in a little mood and accidently hurt Malibu trying to lift her without getting too close, because I took a rabbit in for vaccinations and he was allergic to rabbits :roll:

Anyway the vet I see now told me that he didnt like the way some other vets thought of rabbit care compared to cat/dog care and thinks its because they dont get many people bringing rabbits in for things like vacs.

Its really sad. Im lucky that I have a vet who is rabbit savvy. And I actually have his home number so I dont need to speak to a different vet who doesnt know my buns if I need to call in emergency hours.

But everyone should be able to see a vet who has as much knowledge on rabbit medicine as they do on cat and dog medicine :(

I cant think of any ideas. Other than ALL bunny owners taking their buns in for health checks and vacs, the vets wont feel like they need to take these courses. And with so many people thinking that pet rabbits arent as improtant as cats or dogs that probably isnt going to happen :? :(
 
I think vets need to realise that people will and do spend an awful lot of money on the 'smaller' pets. For a start people generally tend to stick to 1 or 2 dogs or cats, but rabbits, rats etc are often kept in much larger numbers.

The vet I use for my rats was recommended to me because one of the vets is very rat savvy and there's another vet in the practice that is more knowlegeable than most vets.
I've spent an absolute fortune with them and the person that recommened them to me comes all the way from Brighton to use this vet if they have a rat needing an operation or a long term illness that they're local vet isn't having much luck with.

People will recommend vets that are very good with a particular type of animal, people will travel further to use that vets and people will spend alot of money with them - when will vets realise that!?
 
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