Vet Appointment

[Max2021]

Hello!

Max is 9 months.  We’ve had this bundle of joy for a little over a month now.    About a week after he came to live with us, I took him to the vet for a checkup & to cut his nails (which were really long).  I was not satisfied with our experience at the vet’s office. I overheard the vet’s tech call Max ‘bad’.  The vet corrected her saying that he hadn’t been ‘handled’ as a baby. The tech told me Max didn’t need his nails trimmed but I think Max was just so squirmy that she didn’t want to deal with him.  ETC…  Anyways, I found another exotic vet in town & made an appointment for next month. There are no present issues, I just want to be proactive & find a good vet sooner rather than later.

1. I’m really inexperienced with rabbits, Max is my first.  So, how can I tell if the vet is really knowledgeable about rabbits (during the actual appointment)? -Should the vet ask me questions about Max before he starts the check up?  -When I ask questions, should I expect specific answers? For example, Max is an unknown mixed breed, should the vet be able to tell me how much he should weigh?
2. What are the things the vet should do without me prompting him to do it and what exactly should the vet be looking for? Ears, teeth…
3. What questions should I ask the vet?

Any other points you’d like to share or think I should know would be greatly appreciated!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bam]

Congratulations on being Max’s human!

I think you’ll notice if the vet feels comfortable handling rabbits. You can help Max by bringing a fleece blanket or terry cloth towel to put on the examination table. Exam tables are slippery and scary for rabbits-they need to have a hard, smooth surface for cleaning purposes, but rabbits find such surfaces scary.

If you are let into the exam room to wait for the vet, you can let Max out on the floor so he can get a sense of his environment. This is very de-stressing for a rabbit, and a good rabbit-savvy vet shouldn’t mind. Its a good way for a vet to asses Max’s body stance and how he moves. You can offer Max a small pile of herbs, the presence of fragrant food is calming for a bun.

The vet should first of all look at Max to assess his general appearance – how his fur looks, if his eyes are clear, his nose and nostrils snot-free, etc. They should ask if you’ve noticed any problems and what his diet is like. They should stress the importance of grass hay and a rabbit appropriate pellet with a high fiber content. They should weigh him and make a note of his weight in his chart.

Then they should feel Max over. Check through his fur for obvious signs of mites or other external parasites. Regardless of Max’s breed, the vet should be able to determine if he is a good weight or if he needs to gain or lose some weight. They will feel over the ribs and spine and hip for assessment of body fat and muscle. They will feel his tummy, and it should be soft.

The vet should listen to Max’s heart and lungs and lift his lips to see his incisor teeth. They might move his lower jaw from side to side and feel/listen so the teeth surfaces on the upper and lowe jaw slide smoothly against each other. They will probably not look at the molars with an otoscope, unless Max has an eating problem.

They should check his ears. If he is a lop they should use an otoscope, because lops can have very narrow ear canals, and if the ear canals are very narrow, you should be advised to get his ears checked every 6 months to a year in order to catch any troubles early.

This exam can be very quick. After the exam, its best if Max is let back down on the floor for a bit while you talk to the vet. The vet might tell you stuff you already know, but it’s still nice, because it means they are interested in informing rabbit owners about proper rabbit care.

You should ask the vet any and all questions you feel you want to ask. Its good if you make up a little list of questions beforehand andbring the list with you, because in “the heat of the moment”  we tend to forget what we wanted to ask.

A really good rabbit vet will have a separate waiting room for rabbits, or at least separate waiting rooms for cats and dogs. You should choose a cat waiting room over a dog waiting room, because cat tend to be less vocal and they’re as a rule in carriers. Dogs bark and pant and jump around a lot more.

 

 

 

[Max2021]

Bam, thank you SOOO much for taking the time to respond with such detail! This is MY first pet so, I don’t have much experience with vet appointments (much less those dealing with buns).  The information & tips  you provided are extremely helpful! I’m really grateful!

[LBJ10]

Most vets don’t ask a lot of questions. At least not in my experience. They will just ask if you have noticed any problems or if there is something you are concerned about. Then they will do an exam more or less as Bam described. You can certainly ask questions, like what they recommend diet-wise, etc. This will give you a better idea of their knowledge. I wouldn’t worry too much though. It should become apparent right away whether or not they are comfortable. They should have no problems handling a rabbit and they should be confident in doing their exam.

RE: Being “bad”… yeah, well, let’s just say my vet tends to get bitten… every single time. 🙄  It isn’t “bad” behavior. Bunnies don’t like to be held, especially at the vet office. This is normal. Some are basically scared stiff, while others will try their best to get the vet to stop doing whatever it is they are doing to them. It doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with being handled as a baby.

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