My rabbit was not eating by herself, her poo was smaller than normal and she was grinding her teeth in pain. She had been seeing vets where she was registered, but they had refused to provide her with... Read More
My rabbit was not eating by herself, her poo was smaller than normal and she was grinding her teeth in pain. She had been seeing vets where she was registered, but they had refused to provide her with an appointment, 'because we only saw her yesterday didn't we'. The vet at Rase spent most of the appointment with her head in a textbook- I got the impression that she was unfamiliar with rabbits, so why did the receptionist make the appointment with her? The vet gave the rabbit a wormer and told me to get some baby food and yogurt- I took a rabbit to her, not a baby. She failed to: X-ray to check for a blockage, provide pain relief and gut stimulants. It was awful seeing a rabbit hunched up grinding her teeth in pain and being unable to obtain pain relief for her. The vet told me that she would 'phone me the next day, but she did not. Days later, the vet 'phoned to tell me that my, now dead, rabbit needed to go into hospital. The vet didn't ask how the rabbit's bereaved, bonded partner was doing. A month later, I had to chase the insurance claim, as Rase's admin staff still had not sent it off.
There was no need for my rabbit to have died in pain with an intestinal blockage- she was let down by their vet. In my experience, specialist exotics vets don't send rabbits home to die in pain whilst they are investigating the cause of GI Stasis. Indeed, recently that rabbit's sister stopped eating (she had some Willow twig stuck in her mouth) and the specialist vet took X-rays, bloods and admitted the rabbit for four days- the first two were for intensive care. The rabbit's bonded partner was allowed to stay with her and she came home with gut stimulants and pain relief.
A small animal vet behaving in a professional manner would have recognised that she was out of her depth and sought the advice of a vet more knowledgeable in exotics or made a referral, in accordance with the Code of Professional Conduct for veterinary Surgeons; she wouldn't have sent a very poorly rabbit home to die in pain. Always take an exotic pet to a specialist exotics vet; don't believe receptionists or small animal vets that they can deal with exotics. Check the RCVS list. The advice of the House Rabbit Society applies to the UK too, in my experience with Rase's vet (and the vets at the practice that the rabbit was registered with), 'veterinarians not trained in rabbit medicine should be responsible enough to refer you to another veterinarian. Instead many just see the green of your money and say to themselves, "sure I'm a vet, I can see your pet, after all it's only a rabbit."’
Further evidence that the staff at Rase are unfamiliar with rabbits is that, according to the Rase website, they are still using separate Myxomatosis and VHD1 vaccines- are they using out of date stock because I don't think that those vaccines have been licensed in the UK for years. The vet at Grimsby has decided not to offer VHD2 vaccine, currently recommended by the RWAF and required by my rabbits' insurance company, nor does she stock drugs commonly used by rabbits, such as liquid Ranitidine. I can understand why people reach the conclusion not to bother to insure their rabbits and take them to the vet- what's the point when uncaring/ incompetent vets behave unprofessionally and send them home to die in pain? Read Less