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  • Vet woes

    So. I was home with the flu yesterday. I noticed our house-rabbit wasn't well--no interest in his morning greens, not running around the house as usual, his breathing was fast, and he couldn't seem to get comfortable.

    Husband's out of town for work, training, I have the afore-mentioned flu, the road is a sheet of ice....what to do? Call the vet and take him in, of course. So, I call our vet's office. "Oh! Oh, we don't do bunnies anymore, just dogs and cats!" Now, I'd last had him in for a check-up about two months ago and no mention was made then of switching to just cats and dogs. No point in shooting the messenger, but I did express that it would've been nice to send out a notification to their established patients' owners to give them a heads-up. " Well, the website says just dogs and cats! " was the somewhat snippy reply. I checked this morning and yes, yes it does--about three pages into the website. Most people that have used this vet before are only going to see the first page while getting the phone number. Oh, and you might want to update your enormous logo on every page. The one with silhouettes of a dog, a cat, and (wait for it) a rabbit. Great.

    Google is my friend. Find another vet, about twice as far away as our old vet. Take old office's sage advice and dig through the new site to verify they care for rabbits. Eureka! Call new vet. "Tee-hee! We keep forgetting to update the website, but our vet that did rabbits left. You could try her new clinic in town 25-miles-away." I mentioned the ice-sheet roads, yes? Not happening. I don't care about my car, but I'm not chancing my rabbit.

    Find another vet advertising rabbit care. I call... "Of course! What's wrong? Can you bring him in X time?" I can. I do. A little soft food syringed into his mouth with a little pain killer and he's fine, now. And I have a new vet. And I may or may not have had a stiff drink after returning home from that drive.

    Tl;dr: it would be nice if vets, like other doctors (mostly), had the common decency to alert their patients when they're discontinuing a practice so you can plan ahead for emergencies. Where's my damned Theraflu?

  • #2
    Oh lord, I'm so sorry you had such a hard time finding a vet for your bunny! They aren't exactly thick on the ground here, either. Rabbits are considered "exotic" pets. WTF? I only know of one vet in town that treats rabbits, and if you don't have a car, you can't get out to the 'burbs where supposedly another one is.

    So glad your bun was able to be seen and is better!
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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    • #3
      How scary! I don't have bunnies, but if one of our cats refused their morning gooshy fud and wasn't acting right, I'd have done the same thing in your place, icy roads be damned!!!

      I'm glad you found a new vet and that bunny is doing well. I agree that if your vet was going to stop seeing bunnies, they should have attempted to contact their bunny clients to let them know.

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      • #4
        Slave, when we were owned by McGriff we made a mad dash to the vet one Christmas Eve during a snowstorm when he had a heart attack.

        So glad bunny is doing better; what was the issue? Boo on the vet(s) for not keeping their sites updated or notifying owners.
        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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        • #5
          Rabbits are "exotic" animals? That is a WTF, as they breed like...well, rabbits.

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          • #6
            Thank you both! The little critter scared the crap out of me, for sure. And MoonCat, I don't know why that is, either. Bunnies are the fourth most popular pet in the U.S. Why there aren't more vets for them...*shakes head*

            STTP, I miss having cats, so give yours a snuggle from me. DH is horribly allergic, so no cats, but housebuns are very catlike (and even more disapproving).

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            • #7
              Rabbits as "exotic"? My exotic ass! The domestic breeds are fully domestic, and their physiology is well-understood as whoa, (thanks to their use in science and medicine).

              I suspect some vets may not want to deal with them, just because (AIUI) even the larger breeds are functionally "small animals", with short natural lifespans. (My own lasted 6 years. Died comfy in his sleep -- I found him stretched out in resting position in his cage.)

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              • #8
                Quoth Havering View Post
                " Well, the website says just dogs and cats! " was the somewhat snippy reply.
                And how many people regularly check the website of a company they've been using for years? Obviously I'm not talking about companies with online ordering.

                I agree -- they should have notified their regular customers.
                Sometimes life is altered.
                Break from the ropes your hands are tied.
                Uneasy with confrontation.
                Won't turn out right. Can't turn out right

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                • #9
                  Where I live, rabbits are classified as "vermin". We are not allowed to keep them as pets, even desexed.

                  According to the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland (DPIFQ), the maximum penalty for keeping a rabbit as a domestic pet is now $30,000.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth gerund View Post
                    Where I live, rabbits are classified as "vermin". We are not allowed to keep them as pets, even desexed.
                    Which is entirely understandable, considering the ecological chaos they've caused.
                    "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

                    Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

                    The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth gerund View Post
                      Where I live, rabbits are classified as "vermin". We are not allowed to keep them as pets, even desexed.

                      According to the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland (DPIFQ), the maximum penalty for keeping a rabbit as a domestic pet is now $30,000.
                      And when plants, no matter how lovely, spring up where you don't want them, they become weeds. When His Fur-ness is flopped on the couch, snuggling into his favorite skull and crossbones blanket, I can assure you that he is not "vermin".

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                      • #12
                        ...rabbit, in a skull & crossbones motif... and someone said the V-word...
                        OHSHIT it's BUN-BUN
                        Quick, get the 151, some Alfalfa Daiquiris, and the box set of "Bay Watch" and we might just survive this.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth gerund View Post
                          Where I live, rabbits are classified as "vermin". We are not allowed to keep them as pets, even desexed.
                          No pet rabbits? How about pet cane toads?

                          Maybe you could train them to eat each other.

                          ETA: One of the first videos my wife gave me was a documentury on cane toads: Cane Toads An Unnatural History 1988
                          Last edited by Ironclad Alibi; 02-07-2019, 04:03 PM. Reason: Added video link.
                          "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                          • #14
                            Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
                            No pet rabbits? How about pet cane toads?
                            Cane toads were introduced in 1935 just south of Gordonvale. in 1965, 30 years later they were in plague proportions 1600 Kms south of there in the town were I was living.

                            I am currently living 94 Kms further south and do not see cane toads here. In 1965 they used to cluster around our screen doors and street lights, catching the insects that were attracted to the lights. Now I don't see any.

                            It's very strange.

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                            • #15
                              Quoth Havering View Post
                              "Oh! Oh, we don't do bunnies anymore, just dogs and cats!"
                              That's pretty horrible. I got a call when the practice we have our cats at had a vet leave (she was the one who mostly saw our cats). We'd had other vets see our cats, so it was no big deal for us, but nice that they called.

                              Stopping seeing a species is WAY up there on the 'call the customers NOW' list of things to do.

                              Here's to your new vet!
                              Life: Reality TV for deities. - dalesys

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