What Tests/Meds. for a Stray Bun?

[Jenk]

My new guy will visit the vet for a wellness check-up in the next few days'. He was found as a stray; so I'm wondering if he should be automatically dewormed and if there should be any other automatic treatment(s) without question? We don't know his background, only that he was found wandering outside.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Leaf]

Is it this bunny?

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=39410&forum_id=48

It sounds like he's with a rescue or something, so... I'd find out what all has already been done and then go from there.

:clover:

 

[Jenk]

Leaf wrote:

Is it this bunny?

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=39410&forum_id=48

It sounds like he's with a rescue or something, so... I'd find out what all has already been done and then go from there.

Yeah, he's the guy that we brought home last night.

He was at a kill-shelter, though HRS people looked after him.

To my knowledge, he's only been neutered--nothing else. But I'll double check.

 

[Maureen Las]

I thought HRS automatically did a wellness check but maybe I'm wrong. if they did not the vet could test stools sample for parasites..he would also examine the skin, coat for any type of skin problem, check the ears , eyes etc. if he saw anything off might want baseline blood work

Many of my pet rabbits have been strays and I have really never had an issue. if he was already fostered things like fleas ticks etc would already have been treated
Congrats on rescuing a bun

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

I thought HRS automatically did a wellness check but maybe I'm wrong. if they did not the vet could test stools sample for parasites..he would also examine the skin, coat for any type of skin problem, check the ears , eyes etc. if he saw anything off might want baseline blood work.

HRS people worked with him, but he was fostered; rather, he was housed at a (kill) shelter. He was neutered but wasn't treated for anything else (parasite, fleas, etc.).

Many of my pet rabbits have been strays and I have really never had an issue.

I'm already envisioning a fecal float (unless the vet says that his mushy poops were likely brought on by stress) and possibly a culture of some sort due to the occasional raspy breathing that I hear. :? I just don't want to test for truly unnecessary things (since I've gone to vets in the past who've done just that).

Congrats onrescuing a bun.

Thank you. It feels pretty good. :biggrin2:

 

[Maureen Las]

The raspy breathing would be a concern....

 

[Jenk]

angieluv wrote:

The raspy breathing would be a concern....

I spent two hours with him at the shelter this past weekend; I heard not a peep in terms of his breathing. Yesterday, he was on my husband's lap for a good 30 min. before we drove him home. Nothing. All last night, no noise with his breathing. Around 11 am today, I became aware of his breathing sounds whenever he was lying on his stomach. (It's not a constant issue, though.)

At 6 am, he flipped out in his cage. I suspect that our cat came up to sniff/inspect him and wound up spooking him. (This boy and our cat showed friendly interest toward one anotherearlier in the evening. And with a bright night-light in the room, we'd thought that things would be okay. Perhaps our cat will be sequestered in our room tonight, just to have a "safe" evening for everyone.)

 

[tonyshuman]

they won't be able to do a culture unless there's some mucus coming out of his nose. Tony had boogers and funny breathing one day, and when I took him in to the vet the next day there wasn't any mucus for them to swab and thus no way to culture. Depending on how long he was stray, he may be in the same condition as he was when he was kept as a pet (inside or out). I wouldn't treat him any differently than a surrendered bunny, except that you don't have any health history. With my bunnies, I always do bloodwork along with with the physical exam.

 

[Jenk]

tonyshuman wrote:

With my bunnies, I always do bloodwork along with with the physical exam.

I'm not entirelyanti-bloodwork, but I've had a bad experience with those tests. We've paid hundreds of dollars on them for our two girls; everything always came back "normal."

Then I talked with someone who's had bunnies for decades and who told me that she no longer spends the money on blood work for rabbits. She once had a bun that had several "normal" blood work readings, only to die of kidney failure very shortly thereafter.

It just doesn't seem that blood work can pinpoint things as definitively for a rabbit as it can for a cat/dog. But, we'll see. Perhaps the vet will say something today that will move me to get blood work done. Who knows?