Vet Visit ... horrible! Opinions please x

Not sure if any of you saw a post I made in a thread called vaccinations, but basically I got some very different quotes from the two vets in my area. One quoted £55 for the jabs and £72 for the castration, the other £24 and £46 respectively. And altough I knew that the more expensive vets were lovely (well they should be at that price!), my sister takes her cats there, I went to the cheaper one.

We went on Friday, it was horrible, very dark and dingy and when I saw the vet it felt like it was just so quick.... in, out, next! :?
He gave Bobbin a look over, quite roughly if you ask me, but then he doesn't like being picked up so I guess I was overly worried for him. He checked his coat and his ears and then gave him the myxi jab. I asked about the VHD jab and when to come back for it and he said that he didn't recommend having it :? He said that he has never seen a case of it in his whole career :?
That may be the case but is it beacuse everyone gets the vaccination so there are very little cases, or that he is mis-diagnosing it, or that it's such a fast killer that the vets don't get the chance to see a case? :?

What do you guys think??

Sorry this is going on now but I have another issue.

I changed Bobbin's bedding from wood flakes to Megazorb on Saturday... and I'm not sure about it beacuse a) I can't tell if he likes it, he seems to stay in the places where there isn't any! b) I don't like the smell! and c) I'm not sure if it's related but he has a watery eye. I noticed it for the first time yesterday. The tissue around the eye seemed a little pink, not overly red but pinker than normal and there was wet on his cheek. I tried to pick him up but he refused! But then he lay down so I could have a good look (what a good boy! ). Apart from being a bit watery and pink it seemed fine, there was no swelling. But i did feel his ears and they seemed a little warm. Today his eye seems less watery and his ears aren't as warm.

Do I need to worry about it, could it be that he just had something in it, could it be a side effect of the jab or the megazorb??

Greatful for all advice and opinions x

Your vet sounds a bit rubbish, i recently changed my vet to a more rabbit savvy one, same practice but brilliant vet who knows alot about rabbits and how to give a myxi vaccination properley. I would change your vet, see if there are any others in the area.

I think megazorb is fantastic stuff, i dont think it smells, wood shavings smell disgusting.. Keep and eye on buns eye and if you are worried take bun to the vet.

hello, sorry your've had vet problems. not sure about his eye sorry.

Can you try to get a recomendation about a vet? are their any rescues near you who ight be able to recommend a good one?

I think with the VHD, it probably is that it is a fast killer, and people don't really know what has killed their rabbits, so they don't make it to the vets.

With the Megazorb and the eye, that's really odd, as I had the opposite problem - when I first got the bunnies I had them on shavings for a week and Clover's eye was awful. Once I switched to Megazorb she was fine. It can be a bit dusty, but shouldn't really cause problems. I would just keep an 'eye' on it (so to speak! ) and go back to the vets if you need to.

My vet also said that he wouldn't recommend the VHD jab. He said that if money was an issue, he would recommend myxi twice a year rather than VHD and Myxi once a year. He also said that he has never in his career seen a VHD case.

I wouldn't change my vet because of THIS ALONE. I have had this vet for some time now, and he now knows that my rabbits are to get the best treatment, whatever the cost. Because of this forum an the rabbitong on magazine I do get the VHD vaccine (and myxi twice a year), so that isn't a problem, but I think that it takes time to build up an understanding with a vet so that they know that your rabbit is a precious animal that needs the best treatment. My vet is quite happy to consult a specialist vet for me, and I think that it is very valuable to have a vet nearby, rather than a super dooper vet too far away to get to in an emergency.

So I think if all else is equal, go to the most rabbit savvy vet. I WOULD worry about the rough handling of your bunny, but only you can judge that. You do have the back-up of this forum to help educate a not-overly-rabbit-savvy vet though, and as there aren't MILLIONS of rabbit-savvy vets around, and it may be impractical for you to get to one, this may be what you have to do. In this case I think it is important to have a vet who is happy to learn to become a rabbit-savvy vet.

Sorry to say this but those vets are idiots.

The reason they haven't seen VHD is because it's a silent killer - people will find their rabbit dead and nothing to show it was ill. Unless they have a PM done afterwards (few do) there is no way to tell if a rabbit died from VHD. It's quick and everything usually happens internally - unlike myxo where it's much more obvious with external symptoms over days or weeks.

VHD is passed on by biting insects just like myxo so is just as much of a risk.

Shocked that the vet talked about financial implications - anyone with financial troubles shouldn't be getting rabbits in the first place (am into 4 figures with one of mine after only 2 years). I find it awful that people would put money ahead of their pet's health.

I think if you're feeling uncomfortable with this vet then you should definitely look for an alternative. If you don't feel that you can trust their professional judgement then if something serious happens you're always going to wonder if things would have been different with another vet. I would start asking around and try somebody new. HTH x

Thank you everyone for your replies

I am uncomfortable with this vet and although the other alternative vet is much more expensive I will go with them in the future. I could not feel safe leaving Bobbin there for his castration and I suppose the extra £30 I will have to pay at the other vets is worth the peace of mind knowing that he is in safe hands.

Nix - Strangely the vet didn't talk about financial issues, he just said that he wouldn't bother. I think that £14 for the VHD jab is not alot to know that your bun is safe from the disease.

CrazyBun - You are right not to change vets for this reason alone, although it's the first time Bobbin's been to the vets so changing now can't do any harm The other one is about 5mins drive so it's not too far.

SarahP - I know, it's wierd, I thought Megazorb would be less irritating, it's probably not even connected with his watery eye. I will see how it goes and if I think it's the problem I may have to change back to the wood flakes. It could be that they'll be a spare half sack of Megazorb going free!

I think you're right about the money. My vet is ridiculously expensive - probably about twice the price of other vets I've seen. I mostly feel I get my money's worth though, in the advice that I'm getting.

Hi

I had reservations about my original vets too, but it took me a while to get a second opinion and move to another vets practice. I think it's to do with the fact that people are conditioned to be in awe of vets (and doctors!) and expect that all vets have the same level of understanding etc when it's really not the case! I eventually changed vets and have found my new vets (I've been with them since Feb) to be fantastic and worth paying a little extra for. I would always go with your gut feeling - if you don't like how they handled your bun and the advice they gave then look at going to another vets. I think there is a list of questions in the reference section and I used this when I went to my new vets (they knew all the answers )

This is a vet questionnaire too - you need courage to interrogate a professional though http://www.mybunny.org/info/vet_questionnaire.htm
My vets have 3 vets at the practise, but I'd only let one of them near my animals - the other 2 are awful, so it's worth checking with every vet at a practise, and checking who's on duty/doing surgery before you book.

If it's for neutering then I'd go to the best vet that seemed most rabbit savvy, never mind the cost, as he'll only be neutered once in his life

I moved my 2 from there previous vets to a bunny savvy one, They cost about twice as much but they know what they are doing and the place is always spick and span

Always go with a vet you feel comfortable with. I'm on my third practice in 3 years The practice I'm with now is quite cheap, and I only ever deal with 2 of the vets. They don't do the VHD jab either, but I go to a different vet for this (who I trust to give a jab, but not much else!)

I am also looking to change vets after a bad visit about a week ago for a myxi vaccination. The vet was rough when she checked his teeth (how would she like something metal being stuck in her mouth when she didn't know it was coming or what it was for?!) and got cross when he tried to get away. When she asked if he was well in himself I said yes, no sneezing and that he had had scabs from a baytril burn (from when he was neutered) but that they had now pretty much gone. Her reply was 'Maybe he did it to himself' :shock: And then she didn't give the vaccine how it is supposed to be (isn't some given in a different place to the rest?). I don't understand why people are vets when they seem not to like animals I'm not sure if you have seen it but there is a thread in the rabbit care reference section called 'looking for a vet?' which might be helpful. My current vets is on there, but I am changing anyway.
Does anyone know whether the vaccine being given in this way might mean it doesn't work as well? I'm quite worried as there seem to be a lot of reports of myxi at the moment

Here you go.

About a tenth of the dose has to be given intradermally - into the layers of the skin - for adequate immunity to be achieved. Some vets give it into the thicker skin at the base of the ear; others on the way in or out of the skin at the scruff of the neck. Although fiddly, the intradermal part of the injection is absolutely vital to stimulate an immune response in the skin, which is where the myxomatosis virus usually gains entry to the rabbit.

Thank you for that Kylie541 I'm guessing that she must have done the intradermal bit as she was taking the needle out... I really hope so :?

Thanks to those of you who posted about the vet questionares. I had seen these before and when I called up both vets I asked a few questions; do you specialise in exotics, how many rabbits do you see a week and how many neuters do you perform.

It was actually the most expensive vets that answered badly in my opinion. They said that they did not specialise in exotics and that they couldn't tell me how many rabbits they saw or neutered... :? But I guess that may just have been the receptionist not having the info. That's why I originally went to the cheaper one. They said they did at least one neuter a week, but after my experience I still don't like them! :lol:

I think when I go again (to the new expensive place) I will ask the vet the same questions and see what the answers are, there's no point it judging by the receptionist answers I guess.