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BUNNY 911 – If your rabbit hasn’t eaten or pooped in 12-24 hours, call a vet immediately!  Don’t have a vet? Check out VET RESOURCES 

The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum THE LOUNGE Dog Vet Questions

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    • Mocha
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      509 posts Send Private Message

        Hi everyone! Only about 1 more week to go until I get my new furry(s)! I am sooo excited!

        The dog will be from a local shelter. There are many sick dogs there, so probably every dog there has mange, kennel cough, or something else. I don’t want something little to turn into something big, so that’s why i’m going to be really serious about the vet.

        My questions are,

        1) How soon should I take the new dog to the vet, for it’s first real checkup? I can go right after I get the dog (or is that too stressful). I can’t go the day after, but I can go basically any time after that.  

        They do a quick check over the dog before they let you have it , but there’ “shelter vet” isn’t the best. They also give you a medicine for mange, and kennel cough.

        2) What should I bring to the vet? A poop sample, his current vaccinations?

        3) What vaccinations do you think the dog has to HAVE, and what are optional? What vaccinations does your dog have? It’s summer here, my neighbor has a pool and there are several fountains around my backyard, so there are LOTS of mosquitos. We have a zapper, but it doesn’t kill all of the evil bugs and it attracts them first. We might get 2 dogs, so they will be in contact with each other along with other neighborhood dogs.

        4) I already have the vet I plan on using, but does anyone know of any great vets in the los angeles area?

        5) How far away do you think the vet should be from your house? There’s one near my house (5 minutes), but she’s not really good and she charges a lot of money ($30 just to trim a rabbits nails)!

        Thanks in advance for reading all of this and maybe taking the time to answer these questions! I really appreciate it!


      • MoxieMeadows
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        5375 posts Send Private Message

          1) I would say as soon as you can. I’m very suprised that they are allowing people to adopt the dogs in the condition you have described, so I would bring them in as soon as possible, you don’t know what they could have.

          2) Yes, bring a poop sample (They normally call it a stool sample). If your vets are good, they should check the poop to make sure the dog(s) don’t have any worms/parasites. (Make sure you know who’s poo is whos if you get more than 1 dog)

          3) Rabies, distemper shot, and there’s another one I’m forgetting… but I’ll tell you when I think of it, and heart worm.

          4) Nope, don’t live around there.

          5) A good vet for a once a year vet vet check and shots could be about anywhere(I would say under and hour preferably) , but you should have some close ones in the case of an emergency.

          Note: These are all my personal preferences, some peoples opinions will vary.


        • MoxieMeadows
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            Note about the heart worm meds—
            The medicine to PREVENT heart worms (caused by mosquitos) is a once a month chewy meat tablet thing. If your dog gets bit by a mosquito and infected, because he isn’t on meds that prevent them, he could die, because heart worms are REALLY BAD!

            If you adopt an older dog, they may want to test him for the worms before giving the meds, which can be costly, but if you think about what could happen if they get heart worm (Highly possible death, and costly medications), I say it’s worth it. (The meds to prevent the worms are pretty cheap)


          • Mocha
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            509 posts Send Private Message

              Thanks MoxieMeadows! How often do you take your dog to the vet? Once a year, or twice a year?
              I’m interested in dogs between the ages of 1 and 5 so not too old.
              The shelter (I also got my bunnies there ) has AMAZING volunteers, but the people that actually work there aren’t so great. They don’t really care about the animals, just their pay. They tell you what illness the animal has usually after you have your heart set on it. They inspect the animal for free there, but you have to know already know that and ask them.
              I want to make sure the dog is healthy, so I’ll defiantly do the heartworm test, and any other thing the vet wants.

              I’m looking for a larger dog, but on their petfinder page, we saw an adorable 9 year old bulldog, and if she’s friendly we might also adopt her for my younger brother (he loves bulldogs )


            • MoxieMeadows
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                It takes a 6 month incubation for the eggs of the heart worm(or something like that) so they normally like to test dogs over 6 months before they give the meds. That’s at least what my vets told me.

                I personally think once a year is good unless you have any concerns. (Strange lumps, strange behavior, suddenly not being potty trained, not eating, losing weight etc.)


              • BigJudeBunny
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                  That’s awesome you’re adopting a dog!!! I take my dog to the vet for her shots and general checkups twice a year. Here, it is mandatory for them to have a rabies and distemper shot, but the rules could be different in different areas. I only vaccinate for kennel cough if I intend to send them to the kennel or daycare for any period of time. The shot doesn’t mean that they can never get kennel cough, but it helps to prevent some of the more difficult types of cough. Kennel cough is actually something that can be managed fairly easily (in most cases) through antibiotics anyways. I have been using the same vet for the last 29 years so they’ve seen many of my dogs come through, but just find someone that makes you both feel comfortable. I would take your dog for a check-up fairly soon after picking him/her up from the shelter. They’ll already be slightly stressed from moving away from and being in the shelter so once it’s all over and done with, you can go home and just relax and get to know each other. Don’t be too upset if the dog doesn’t seem interested in you at first. I find it can take up to a week to start getting on track. I have the vet give my dogs the heartworm pill when they go for their checkups as well. I would warn you about the bulldog though (not to throw you off of adopting it)- they can be plagued with a lot of health defects, especially when they get older, so make sure you have the financial ability for that down the road. Although, if the dog is doing well at 9, that’s a pretty good sign!!! I’ve never actually treated any of my dogs for fleas ( I know a lot of people do) but none of them have ever gotten them all these years and they practically live at the dog park!!! Be careful about giving the flea medication, which can be picked up at pet stores, if your dog is a puppy- I believe there are different types etc. And I’ve been told to stay away from the flea collars because they can damage the skin. Anyways, let your vet know all your concerns and you should be good to go! Ps. the vets anywhere around here are always trying to push the vet recommended food, but in my opinion, there are far better foods available for a cheaper price and as long as you’re keeping your dog fit, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue! My dogs eat Acana (which is made here in Alberta- so that doesn’t help you) but Blue Buffalo is a good one as well as Fromms (which is available in the States, I think) Good luck and I hope everything goes well!!!! Congrats!


                • JackRabbit
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                  5451 posts Send Private Message

                    We do the kennel cough vaccine anyway — used to be that we did it in case we needed to board her with little notice. Since our dog is 12 1/2 now, I doubt we will ever board her again (she gets too sad at the leaving part). We’ve continued yo do it because there are alot of dogs in our neighborhood and she has as much free run of our fenced in yard as she wants when it’s not too hot.

                    She goes to the vet annually for a check up, and back if anything comes up (twice I’ve paid for biopsies of what turned out to be “love handles”!). At 12 1/2, we’ve finally learned to read her better than we have the bunnies!


                  • Stickerbunny
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                    4128 posts Send Private Message

                      Shots that should be given are usually for : rabies, distemper, parvo I believe. And heart worm medication, which is a pill or chewable that you give them. Be sure to have it tested for heart worms if it hasn’t though before you give it heart worm medication, or it can be dangerous. I wouldn’t call any of them optional. And many vets won’t even see a dog unless they are either up to date on their vaccinations, or you let them give them the shots. There are just too many things that they can pick up just going outside if they aren’t vaccinated. And heart worms can be gotten from any mosquito, even if one just flies into the house and the animal never even goes outside. If the heart worm test returns positive, there are treatments. And you don’t want to wait too long to get it treated, if they progress to the point there are symptoms, then the dog is often too weak to survive the treatment.

                      If the dogs are sick, I would take him in ASAP. Also, certain bacteria and such can be transmitted from dog to rabbit, so QUARANTINE (wash hands/change clothes before you handle them after handling the dog) from your bunnies until you know the health condition of the dog. You don’t want to be dealing with sick bunnies and a sick dog. Your bunny vet should be able to tell you if anything the dog has is transmittable after you get the dog diagnosed.

                      If the dog has mange, that can be cured pretty easily with medicated washes and such. Kennel cough is an antibiotic situation.

                      My vet likes to see dogs once a year, at least. For a booster shot and checkups. My vet for the bunnies is about 40m-1 hour away by car. You want to have an emergency vet you trust as well, so find a vet you like and then ask them for a recommendation for an emergency clinic. Bring along a copy of the vaccination records (should have a tag if he/she is up to date), poop samples they usually get from inserting a little thing inside the dog’s butt whenever they needed one from my dogs, cause they need it fresh.

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                  Forum THE LOUNGE Dog Vet Questions