Rabbit-Friendly Vets

The smells and noises of other animals can be stressful for a rabbit, which is naturally a prey animal. It lowers stress if your vet has a separate room, area or even different appointment times just for rabbits.

Being hospitalised alongside a natural predator is pretty stressful for a rabbit. It may even hinder recovery. If there aren’t separate rooms, some vets allocate small animal days where dogs aren’t admitted for operations.

This is a biggie. Bonded pairs should be kept together even if only one needs surgery. Small groups should all go if your vet will accommodate them. Why? Because it’s easier to introduce a rabbit back into the group or pair after a vet visit. And a poorly rabbit will also recover better with its buddy.

Sometimes you do have to keep them apart. For instance, if one has an infectious disease like Myxomatosis, or if you need to monitor one rabbit’s diet or droppings.

Look for a vet with lots of experience and a good track record in this procedure. Don’t be frightened to ask how safe it is and when they last lost a rabbit under anaesthetic.

Firstly, avoid a vet nervous about anaesthetising rabbits. Secondly, some anaesthetic combinations are considered safer than others. Both injectable anaesthetic regimes on their own or used with inhaled anaesthetic are good choices. Make sure your vet is happy to discuss pain relief options, and dispense it on the day and afterwards for as long as your bunny needs it. They should also be able to spot the signs of a rabbit in pain easily.

This is inserting a breathing tube while your rabbit is under anaesthetic. It’s important and recommended as standard practice.

Incisors (front teeth) should never ever be clipped, but should be trimmed using a burr or disc, it is important that you know that they will never be clipped as this is painful and causes further damage.

It is also important that cheek teeth (molars) are never trimmed whilst the rabbits are awake (conscious) so make sure that you make sure that this is only ever done under anaesthetic.

There’s often one vet who favours rabbits. This is great because it nurtures interest and encourages others to learn. Remember the vet’s name and make sure that’s whom you see. They’re usually very happy to speak to new clients, and it’s also your chance to ask if they’ve finished any specific rabbit CPD or Continuing Professional Development lately.

Lots of practices have bunny-loving vet nurses. This is brilliant as it’s usually the same nurses who manage anaesthesia and provide the aftercare.

There are usually three options:

• A vet hospital. The animals are kept there overnight, and staff are on-site to look after them.
• A vet practice with an out-of-hours provider. Here animals are admitted directly to the out-of-hours provider or transported there at the end of the working day for overnight care. The standard of care may differ from the vet’s practice. It’s important to ask where your rabbit will be, for example, ‘Will he/she be moved back and forth at both ends of the day?’.
• A vet practice with no out-of-hours care. Here the animals are left overnight with no staff looking after them.