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What do people think

abbymarysmokey said:
The rabbit used in the TV show was perfectly healthy according to Raven Rexes, who said she knew the rabbit. Why are people getting annoyed about a vet not treating a healthy rabbit?
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If the vet didn't carry out diagnostics then how would the vet know the rabbit was perfectly healthy if the owner informed him it was anorexic. I think that is the point the programme supposedly missed.

The programme was aimed at finding out if owners were charged for unnecessary vet bills, and diagnostic testing was lumped in with that because the rabbit was *healthy* but IMO it is not unnecessary if the vet was led to believe the rabbit was not 100% and needed to find out why.

I think the conclusions drawn could therefor potentially dangerous.
 
Why? because it had a palpable stomach? could be a foreign body or a tumour. Because you can "feel" faeces, Sure it hasnt got lymphadenopathy and Yersinia. Because you can hear gut sounds? could have a caeco-caeco intusseption?. and so on and so on. The point again is that I as a vet consider anorexia in a rabbit to be abnormal, even in the abscence of other signs and act on it and will continue to do so. btw interresting referral case, may post it
 
rodneyvet said:
Why? because it had a palpable stomach? could be a foreign body or a tumour. Because you can "feel" faeces, Sure it hasnt got lymphadenopathy and Yersinia. Because you can hear gut sounds? could have a caeco-caeco intusseption?. and so on and so on. The point again is that I as a vet consider anorexia in a rabbit to be abnormal, even in the abscence of other signs and act on it and will continue to do so. btw interresting referral case, may post it
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You are being patronizing again...you know as well as I do that the rabbit would appear unwell...to suggest otherwise shows that you have very little experience of rabbit behaviour. I have never seen a properly anorexic rabbit who behaved totally as normal...it just doesn't happen.
 
Sorry if I sound patronizing. I would suggest respectfully that I see a few more anorexic rabbits than you. the reason people refer to me is because thay are unable to identify medical problems in rabbits for various reasons. I would like to cite a study on pain relief at Edinburgh University where speyed rabbits with no anlagesia were monitored for signs of pain over the first 24 hrs by cctv, none were seen (some were anorexic however). But I do not agree that there are always other symptoms. sure there are many times when there are other symptoms or a history to suggest a reason but In my experience that is not always the case and I feel vets may leave themselves open to negligance claims or be slated on a forum if they sent away an anorexic rabbit which then went on to develop lets say hepatic lipidosis as a result of the anorexia.
 
I saw the show and my immediate reaction was that I would have gone with the vet that wanted to keep the bunny in and charge £130 if my rabbit wasn't eating. They also said they wanted to gove it a series of injections over night and do the dental int he morning. They didn't specify what the injections were but maybe if they were gut stimulants etc and the bunny had picked up they might not have considered the dental necessary.

Liquorice had a dental last week as I suspected spurs even though she wasn't off her food or showing any real symptoms, I just had a feeling. Under GA they found the most awful spurs that were causing damage to her tounge. I'm glad the vet was happy to go with my gut instinct.

TBH I generally have the opposite problem with my vet, I am normally the one pushing them to do more :)
 
rodneyvet said:
Sorry if I sound patronizing. I would suggest respectfully that I see a few more anorexic rabbits than you.
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And respectfully, I would suggest that I see a few more healthy rabbits than you. Unless you are a rabbit owner yourself, I'm not sure you are in a position to comment on rabbit behaviour


rodneyvet said:
I would like to cite a study on pain relief at Edinburgh University where speyed rabbits with no anlagesia were monitored for signs of pain over the first 24 hrs by cctv, none were seen (some were anorexic however). .
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If this study was done away from the rabbits normal environment, then I would suggest that it was pointless. A stressed rabbit often behaves in a similar way to a rabbit who is in pain.

I didn't see the TV programme, so maybe the vet didn't give the rabbit a thorough check...there are definitely plenty of vets out there without proper knowledge of rabbits, so it wouldn't surprise me...the investigations of the TV programme makers still seem a little dubious to me though
 
I have seen Rabbits present with no other symptom than anorexia. All but 1 were found to have Dental problems which only became apparent under GA.
The other one was found to have a middle ear infection which only came to light after an Xray. This Bun did not 'act ill' she just refused to eat. There were no other clues at all to suggest a middle ear full of pus was the cause.
 
abbymarysmokey said:
You are being patronizing again...you know as well as I do that the rabbit would appear unwell...to suggest otherwise shows that you have very little experience of rabbit behaviour. I have never seen a properly anorexic rabbit who behaved totally as normal...it just doesn't happen.
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I missed program but you sound very good to me! A vet who is honest enough to not know the reason but to do tests to find out whats wrong sounds excatly what we need.
When I first got angel she was very healthy (considering) she came with us and after 2 days I rang vet to ask what I should do as she wasnt eating (little cabbage a day and perhaps 2 nuggets) he didnt exmaine her but siad it was prob a lot to soon (what she had been through) 4 weeks later angel still wasnt eating about 2 nuggets a day id been back and forth to vet (same man) this time it was a lady who said their was no examination on computer etc she weighed angel and said she was seriously underweight and was rushed in for good knock out examination! Angel never had any signs etc apart from not eating she seemed happy bun.
They never found any thing majour but it made me feel better knowing this lady tried/listened. As for the man vet we end up seeing him again (no-one else available) he told me rabbits be sick! when flushing her eye he had 3 people pin her head down because he kept missing hole and shouted at me saying I wasn't putting drops in!
Turns out Angel has mouth disease which is cause of her eye problem. And again although angel is hoppy cheeky and pigging out on what she can she again is losing a lot of weight which our vet is monitoring she does not understand why she is losing the weight? But its comforting to have avet that goes out their way to help/listen and investigate. So well done you sound very rabbit friendly.
 
I think it's really interesting that most of the people that are posting on this thread haven't actually seen the programme in question :?
 
I have no doubt you have seen more healthy rabbits than me, I do know a little about rabbit behaviour though probably not as much as you. My point in this thread i think is best summed up by FHB in her book." The anorexic rabbit requires prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment, Chance medication with antibiotic, vitamin or corticosteroid injections is unlikley to be effective and wastes valuable time"

abbymarysmokey said:
And respectfully, I would suggest that I see a few more healthy rabbits than you. Unless you are a rabbit owner yourself, I'm not sure you are in a position to comment on rabbit behaviour




If this study was done away from the rabbits normal environment, then I would suggest that it was pointless. A stressed rabbit often behaves in a similar way to a rabbit who is in pain.

I didn't see the TV programme, so maybe the vet didn't give the rabbit a thorough check...there are definitely plenty of vets out there without proper knowledge of rabbits, so it wouldn't surprise me...the investigations of the TV programme makers still seem a little dubious to me though
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I didn't see the programme, but from what I have read I am glad I didn't.

If I took my rabbit Marley to the vet because he was anorexic but was acting normally and they sent me away with no treatment I would be furious with the vet.

Is it not too risky for a vet to send a rabbit home who isn't eating without at least a gut stimulant and pain relief incase of stasis etc? And as Rodneyve has said you have to trust the owners..how can you be sure that a rabbit is healthy if the owner is saying otherwise without carrying out any diagnostics?

I just hope this programme doesn't put people off going to the vet! There are lots of people who don't take pets to the vet without this programme telling you to watch out for 'cowboy' vets. And to a person who doesn't know that much about rabbits...I hope this programme doesn't give them the wrong idea that a bun not eating isn't a big problem.
 
I also think any vet who is rude to people who either question them or don't completely agree with their view , will put people off asking for their advice:?

I thought the programme could have been alot better..very superficial and really didn't prove anything:?
 
We are still waiting to be filmed! We got call to say they'd be here last month but when they rang back asking if they could come film on the bus and asked if I kept rabbit stuff on my bus. I said No its a service bus. They seemed disappointed? Im kinda glad now that I wasnt.
 
If people want to raise the awareness of the differences in rabbit physiology and its medical implications, I think it would be a better thing to highlight those places that dont recognise that there may be something more sinister going on. BTW I really am sorry if I come across as rude abrupt or patronising. I dont mean to be. I know more than anyone it`s not my way or the highway. My practice revolves around client awareness of their animals issues and sometimes my bullet points come across as a bit abrasive when they are in text form and not face to face in a consult room :)
 
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