which vet would you choose???

[maomaochiu]

Good morning,

I've been posting here about finding a vet to do a neutering on mybunny maomaochiu. Now i have two choices.

One that has done about 20+ bunnies and have not lost one, $100, norequirement for overnight stay, but she does not seem to know thatrabbit cannot vomit because she asked me to restrain food and watersince they can 'ooze out' during surgery. i told her aboutthe no vomit thing, and she said fine.

The other has done about 100 and has lost 2, $150, but she requires 2overnight stay of my bun at her facility both before and after thesurgery. she seems to know that rabbit cannot vomit, but i donot want my bun to stay there either night.

if you were me, which one would you choose??

thanks!

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Hmmm, that's a hard one. I'd use the second choice, she seems more experienced and it looks like she knows more about rabbits.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

It is a really hard choice... when Ilooked for a vet, I made sure to find one that would not requirean overnight stay. Why? Because Zoey is a very easily scared bunny andI was afraid leaving her in a strange place after a spay would be morestressful and hard on her. But if it had been my boys, I would have letthem stay over night simply because they are not as bad about strangeplaces and stress is not a big problem with them. So it does depend onthe rabbit.

As for the losing 2/100 rabbits, that's not bad at all. It's not eventhat vets fault necessarily because it could have been simply that therabbit didn't handle the gas well or the rabbit was more prone tostressing out. But one question, did you ask what kind of gas they use?As far as I'm aware, only Isoflourine is safe.

 

[Pipp]

He's a boy, isn't he? Neuterscertainly shouldn't require overnight stays at all. Most boysbounce right back. It's a much simpler operation than spayinga female. The main concern (as with any operation) is beingunder anesthetic, period,but boys are rarely anorexicorhavemuch in the way of post-op complications,especially complicationsthat can't bemonitored fromhome.

And I have heard that if the bunny eats a couple ofhoursbefore the surgery and the food hasn't made it's way to the stomach (orsomething), it can 'ooze'. It's not avomit action,probably more like gravity.

I'd be inclined totell vet #2 you'd ratherpay themthe $100 and forego the overnight stays and see what theysay. (At least the post-op one. Rabbits should havea pre-op exam, so if they want to do that the night before the surgery,not so bad. So $125 is reasonable).

My :twocents

sas

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Oops! I assumed a girl. :?But Pipp isright, a boy should definitely not need to stay over night. It's a verysimple procedure and fast on a boy and since it's not invasive, theyshould definitely not need to keep him over night.

I was advised by my local vet that with holding food before a surgerycan cause Ileus and to never do it. Some vets say with hold food for 2or 3 hours before the surgery which is ok but I prefer to make suremine have food at all times.

But I was also told that food stays in their systems for days, it wouldtake 3 days for their system to completely empty and by that time theywould be on their last leg of life so fasting is pointless.

 

[Kathy]

Good to know about the No Food thing! Romeo isbooked for his neuter this coming Friday and I was told when I made theappointment that he shouldn't have any other type of food besides fromhay and water after 8pm the previous night. Does that sound right toyou? And an overnight stay is required but maybe I could talk them outof it when I drop him off that morning.

 

[Pipp]

hmmm... Kathy, what vet did you end upwith again? Have you already been to see him/her with Romeofor a pre-op check up?

sas

 

[naturestee]

How long did the first vet want you to removefood for? I can see an hour or two because then they're surethat there's nothing in the throat. Theoretically a rabbitcan choke on a piece of food that didn't make it all the way to thestomach and then works it's way back into the lungs duringanesthesia. My vet just holds them for that long to make surethey have enough time to do blood tests and another pre-op checkup, sothe rabbits are allowed to eat right up until they are dropped off atthe clinic.

I would not leave my rabbits overnight unless they were actually sickor hurt. Rabbits stress easily and would probably be lesslikely to eat if they're in a strange place, are sore from surgery, andare surrounded by strange people that don't know their exact foodpreferences or personality quirks. I know when Fey was hurtand stayed overnight at the emergency clinic she was givenhay. But they weren't sure if she nibbled any at all and shewas absolutely ravenous when she got home. My girls mostlyonly ate food that I was holding for them after their spays.If it was in a bowl it wasn't good enough for them. But Ireally can't see a poorly Mocha taking lettuce from the hand of a vettech.

 

[Kathy]

Pipp wrote:

hmmm... Kathy, what vet did you end up withagain? Have you already been to see him/her with Romeo for apre-op check up?

sas

I ended up booking his appointment with Dr. Prus in Surrey. Iactually just looked at the note I wrote for myself again and they toldme no food (except hay) after 7am in the morning so that should be okaysince his neuter is at 9. I haven't brought him in for the check-up yetas they told me it'd be done on the same day and they wouldn't put arabbit through surgery if he/she wasn't physically fit to go throughsomething like that.

 

[maomaochiu]

Thank you all very much for yourreplies! i will take maomaochiu to the 2nd vet for a pre-opcheckup this afternoon, and will try to talk her out of the overnightstay issue. if she insisits, then i will just go to the firstvet that does not require overnight stay.

will keep you posted, and,... MAN!!!! i'm gettingnervous! poor little maomaochiu, does not know what is goingto happen to him! if he could only understand english and notto pee everywhere, then we would all save this and be happy!!!!

 

[maomaochiu]

O.k., a little update. i went to the2nd vet (2/200 one) this afternoon for a pre-surgery checkup.maomaochiu is in excellent health!!! but he was stressed outin the vet's office (as usual). the vet agreed not to keephim overnight, so that was great, and just as everything went well, shesuddenly brought up the question:

"do you want to declaw your bunny's nails?"

"oh, MY GOD!" my heart sank, i didn't know what to say, so i said "no, no, no..."

she said: "just a thought, coz if you do it now, itwill costyou less, since he will be asleep anyway, my cats all have it done, andit is fine, bluh, bluh, bluh........"

Gosh, i don't know now, i thought she is good, but don't know why shethinks declawing a rabbit is nothing, is that because she is a toughwoman and thinks little about it or is that because sheknowslittle about rabbits? i am a little hesitantto take maomaochiu to her tomorrow though the appointment is alreadymade. i feel like chicken out, any advice??please......please......

 

[FlopsnWills]

yikes! i definitely wouldn't go there!!declawing is scary enough with cats, but bunnies become deformed fromthe operation.. she should not be a vet :X

how far away are you from chicago? there's tons of well known rabbit savvy vets in chicago and around the chicago area.

 

[Pipp]

Sure she meant 'declaw' and not 'clip'? Can't imagine why she'd think a bunny would need declawing.

I'd ask what happened to the two she lost (males or females, and whatwere the complications), and I'd ask both vets what kind of anesthetic(and pain killer) they use.

Also, there's two methods of neutering, one I think just involvescutting into the testical, the other somehow goes through the tummy orgroin area (I have to look that up).

But really, as long asshe knows what she's doing with theanesthetic, etc,neutering a boy isn't that big of arisk. A lot of breeders out there do it themselves.

sas

 

[maomaochiu]

FlopsnWills wrote:

yikes! i definitely wouldn't go there!! declawing is scaryenough with cats, but bunnies become deformed from the operation.. sheshould not be a vet :X

how far away are you from chicago? there's tons of well known rabbit savvy vets in chicago and around the chicago area.

I know, that is what i feel!!! but i am too far away fromchicago. i am on the southern tip of illinois, so it is a5-hour drive to chicago with no rest and 5+ on top of the speedlimit. chicago is good but out of the question ;-(

i found myself going back and forth whether to take maomaochiu to her,she did sound like she knows rabbits. she even mentionedusing papaya tablets for hairballs etc, but... declawing?!why did she say that???????

 

[maomaochiu]

Pipp wrote:

Sureshe meant 'declaw' and not 'clip'? Can't imagine why she'dthink a bunny would need declawing.

I'd ask what happened to the two she lost (males or females, and whatwere the complications), and I'd ask both vets what kind of anesthetic(and pain killer) they use.

Also, there's two methods of neutering, one I think just involvescutting into the testical, the other somehow goes through the tummy orgroin area (I have to look that up).

But really, as long asshe knows what she's doing with theanesthetic, etc,neutering a boy isn't that big of arisk. A lot of breeders out there do it themselves.

sas

yeah, she did mean declawing......

she said one died because it had heart problem beforehand, the other died because it was weak to start with......

she said she will use isophiline for anethetisc (sorry for the wrongspelling), as far as pain medicine, i did not ask but willask. she said she would give maomaochiu some antibiotics for7-10 days also.

and i don't know which method she is going to use. she showsme where she would make the incision, and it isa little bitabove the middle ofthe two testicles.

i am FREAKING nervous tonight, poor maomaochiu, don;t even know what is going to happen to him tomorrow

 

[naturestee]

Antibiotics? They shouldn't benecessary for a routine operation, especially since boys barely get cutat all during a neuter.

And yes, a few vets do actually declaw rabbits. It'shorrible. I've seen articles from bunny foster parents abouthow their declawed abandoned rabbits are in constant pain and can'tjump much because of how their feet have been deformed. Andthose were "successful" surgeries. Maybe you should print outsome info for this vet. Or ask her how well she'd walk withall of her toes cut off.:X

I can't remember the name at the moment, but was the anesthetic agas? That's what the safest one is. Hmm, isofloranemaybe?

 

[maomaochiu]

naturestee wrote:

Antibiotics? They shouldn't be necessary for aroutine operation, especially since boys barely get cut at all during aneuter.

And yes, a few vets do actually declaw rabbits. It'shorrible. I've seen articles from bunny foster parents abouthow their declawed abandoned rabbits are in constant pain and can'tjump much because of how their feet have been deformed. Andthose were "successful" surgeries. Maybe you should print outsome info for this vet. Or ask her how well she'd walk withall of her toes cut off.:X

I can't remember the name at the moment, but was the anesthetic agas? That's what the safest one is. Hmm, isofloranemaybe?

yeah, the anethetic is a gas, and she said she would use isoflorance.

maomaochiu is in surgery now. fingers crossed...... my poor littlebabe, until this morning, he still did not know what was going tohappen to him. i just hope he does not hate me.

i will definitely print out some info. regarding rabbit declawing tothe vet. she needs to be educated. anyone has somegood articles to recommend? thanks!

 

[naturestee]

http://rabbit.org/care/declawing.html
http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Declawing Rabbits.htm

 

[JimD]

maomaochiu wrote:

i will definitely print out some info. regarding rabbitdeclawing to the vet. she needs to be educated.anyone has some good articles to recommend? thanks!

First, prayers and good thoughts sent for a successful surgery!!



Secondly,

A rabbits nail/claw is actually the last bone on their foot. Not at alllike a cats nail. A cat can retract it's claw and uses it's pad tobalance.
Rabbits use their claws/nails for balance and by removing them you'reactually taking away their ability to do so. A declawed rabbit could beseverely handicapped because of it.

 

[Haley]

oh..I just saw this. I hope he pulls through. ray:

I really hope you set that vet straight about declawing..yikes.

Sending prayers for your baby. All three of my boys were up and at it the same day after their neuters.