Sable’s first vet visit

[Anita Stark]

Okay, Sable had his first visit with the vet this morning, and I don’t like to brag (except about him of course) but he was such a good boy!  I couldn’t believe it, he even let the assistant take his temperature rectally without so much as flinching.

Now, I have a few questions for comparison:
1.  The vet thought his heart rate was unusually low at 180 bpm.  She wants to check it again in a few weeks.  How does this compare to other bunnies out there?  I said he was just a laid back kind of bunny and I’m thinking that maybe the other buns she sees are so frightened that their hearts race. 
She did comment that he was exceptionally well socialized compared with the others she gets to see.

2.  It took the vet a fairly long time to listen to his heart as she said she was having trouble hearing it.  Is this normal? 

Results of the visit overall:

1.  We’re sure he’s a boy.

2.  Dh wasn’t all that comfortable with this vet (sort of a personality conflict) though I thought she seemed okay.  Now I’m stuck deciding to stick with this vet or keep looking for one he can get along with. 

Thanks

[ea hurse]

I think you both need to be confident in the vet, it sounds like Dh is really loving being Sable’s co-parent since he’s taking such an interest! the problem is cost i guess, i was lucky in that the first vet i saw has rabbits of her own and Lollo fell in love with her anyway. i was lucky in that i got to speak to the vet, maybe worth getting Dh to phone a few and see if they’re on the same wave-length??

as for the other stuff i can’t give you any comparison. the feed back i got about everything was “gosh, what a good heartbeat/ lovely teeth/ strong legs”… etc! (i too love to brag about m’baby!!!!!) but i really hope that all is well- surely at least its good the heart beat wasn’t racing or skipping beats… thinking about it maybe you could get a second opinion to put you’re mind at rest?

[Anita Stark]

Thanks Loopy Lop.  I was thinking I might make an appointment with another vet for a second opinion.  I am going to call our previous vet again and ask for a specific recommendation since they don’t deal with bunnies at all.  I think that might be the biggest problem for dh, he likes the tried and true i.e. the vet we used for our cat.  He’s trying to guage anyone new by that standard, though if I remember correctly he wasn’t exactly thrilled with them the first time either.

As for Sable, he seemed to get along okay with the vet we saw today.  She said that he looks great and she didn’t hear anything wrong with his heart beat except for the unusually slow rate.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Thanks!

[Gravehearted]

I wish I knew more about the slow heart rate – looking online I didn’t even find much information. I will ask around to see if I can find out more information to share with you. One website suggested that heart rate can vary from 130-325 beats per minute.

I’d agree that you and your husband both need to feel confident with the vet you’re seeing. It’s really a good idea to make the change now, rather than waiting for an emergency and trying to find a new vet.

I’d highly recommed checking out this HRS site for your area as it includes other area vets:

http://www.ontariorabbits.org/
http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/Vet_CA-ON.html (another list of local rabbit vets too)

[Anita Stark]

Thanks Gravehearted.  I used the first link to find the vet we just tried.  Fyi, dh called Dr. House who appears on the other link but they said they no longer treat bunnies. I might try calling again in case there was someone filling in that day and the info was incorrect.   ** Updated info – I called and must have gotten a different person than dh because Dr House is still there and does treat bunnies, though he’s on vacation at the moment. **   I did contact a vet in another town this morning and gave dh their info so he can check them out before we go any further.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.

[Gravehearted]

you might want to give a call over to the local HRS – which is that first link. They likely can’t make specific recommendations on the website, but if you call they might be able to better steer you.

There are *so* many vets on the list that it’s hard to know who occassionally see bunnies vs. the ones who really are experts.
I really think it’s worthwhile to pick a vet who really keeps updated on rabbit heath issues and sees many bunnies.

good luck!

[BinkyBunny]

EDITED:  I am sleepy!  And I read your post wrong. I thought you said that the vet wasn’t sure if Sable was a boy.  Well, then I said, if the vet doesn’t know then the vet isn’t rabbit savvy enough.  SORRY.  It’s getting late, and my eyes are booglyboggly.

Good Luck with the search!

I’ll keep my eyes peeled for update info from you.

I’m also looking into the heart rate question.

[Anita Stark]

Boy, do I understand about sleepy!  Lately it’s like I can’t sleep enough.

I have told dh that it’s his turn now to pre-screen the other 2 vets I have called.  In the last round, each of us called a few but we didn’t get the idea to have both of us try.  Though I’m not sure it would have helped.  I think she was savvy enough, it was really a personality thing between her and dh. 

This time, I have also suggested that he pay a personal visit to the clinics so that he can get a feel for them.  He’s retired so he can do this during the day while I’m at work.  I do have to agree that there was one thing about the first clinic that put me off:  they have a large dog and a cat that are there all the time and roam the office area.  I’m not sure that would give most bunnies a feeling of safety.

They did call us yesterday to say that Sable’s lab tests came back all negative.  So that’s something positive out of the first visit.

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