should I trust this vet?

[cainan]

First of all, there are surprisingly few vets up here in VT that will see rabbits… which kind of surprised me…

But at any rate, I took the kids to the vet last night for the first time since I moved up here.  Merry has a history of molar spurs and hasn’t been consistently eating her pellets, so I wanted to have her teeth checked out.  After poking around Merry’s mouth a little bit with what looked like a human sized inner ear viewer (I think you know what I mean) the new vet said that the only way she could be sure if there were any issues with Merry’s teeth was to put her under anesthesia!  My vet in NJ (I LOVED her) used a different contraption that opened up the mouth so that she could see inside and was able to see the most minute changes in her back teeth.

She was also surprised when I brought up an abscess that was forming on one of Banner’s toes (he’s a mini rex and prone to them – he had a reputation at the NJ vet because of how much he hated having them lanced – Little monster ! ).  “Wait, you expect me to lance it?” (Typical of Banner – the thing took care of itself before we got there so there was nothing to do)

I think I’ve answered my own question here…. so I guess the real question is – if the other vet nearby is just as bad as this one, to whom should I trust my rabbits’ care?  I will NOT put Merry under just to check if her teeth have points!

 

Thanks, mini rant.   Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Radhika]

Who was their previous vet? I would give them a call and ask if they can liaise with your new vet and give them some history (and hopefully some education…) about how to deal with Merry and Banner’s conditions.

How far is it to a competent rabbit vet? The trip might be worth the added bunny stress if you have peace of mind and they have great care

[cainan]

Hi Radhika,

The new vet had all of their records from the former vet – which had all of the details on how to take care of them.

And that’s the thing – I don’t know how far it is to a competent vet! I used to drive almost an hour and would gladly do so again…. if I can just find a good vet!

[Radhika]

This is a list of rabbit vets in Vermont (I’m assuming VT is Vermont? )

http://www.rabbit.org/vets/vets_vermont.html

Are those the two you have tried?

[LBJ10]

This vet was listed as a rabbit vet? Or did you call them and ask if they saw rabbits? I suppose it isn’t terribly uncommon to anesthetize a rabbit to look at their back teeth. I mean, I could see a vet doing that. However, we have not had any teeth problems as of yet so I don’t have much experience with that sort of thing. It’s just that some rabbits would obviously not want to hold still for that. I haven’t heard of them using the ear thingie to look in there though.

[lindsay715]

I would try a different vet if you feel that this one does not seem comfortable/experienced around rabbits.  I also have an excellent vet for my bunnies in NJ – they aren’t listed on the website that was posted though.  I found them by calling different veterinary offices that were listed in my area and asking if they have an exotics vet, how many rabbits they see, etc.  

I’m not sure about the anesthesia issue – Wesley had teeth problems when he was younger but it was always the incisors, not the molars.  

[kinggoblin]

It’s not uncommon for them to have to put a rabbit under to check for molar spurs, mine had to do it once when his tooth problems began and she is a very good vet. She did his incisor extractions, neuter and had been clipping his teeth for the last ~8ish months ( till they got removed ).

[cainan]

Interesting… My former vet never had to put Merry out to check her teeth.

[Sarita]

It’s not at all uncommon to put a rabbit under to really check their teeth – sometimes it’s very difficult to see those points in the far back and it also gives the vet a better chance of doing an exam and checking with their fingers for teeth ridging, etc…so me, this would not concern me at all.

[Monkeybun]

Agreed, sounds normal to me.

[Malp_15]

The scope that you were talking about is also very common. It is also used for the ears, but has many different attachments for differnt uses.

[cainan]

Hm, guess I just had a super high tech vet in NJ

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Yeah it sounds all fine to me. If you are prone to teeth issues and the vet says they aren’t comfortable with dental work then yes, try another vet. But otherwise sounds fine. Why don’t you contact your old vet and find out what the device was, and ask your new vet if the clinic will consider buying it? If they treat a lot of rabbits they may consider it.

[RabbitPam]

I think it’s the right time to try different vets to see who you want to use regularly, if there’s something making you uncomfortable about this one. Check out the pinned Thread in Q&A for the vets resources to see how many vets pop up near your zip code that are rabbit savvy. You want to call Exotics vets (some list in the phone book). Also, you can call a few larger dog/cat hospitals to ask if they have a rabbit specialist on their staff. Sometimes one is part of a group practice, and is there for the exotics coverage.

I just learned from my own vet that the use of anesthesia varies widely. She said she knows some practices use it for nearly all procedures just to make an exam easier, and some rarely use it. What gave me pause is questioning lancing. On the other hand, maybe your NJ vet was doing more than was truly necessary.

My bottom line would be to find a vet that you believe is doing what’s right for your furbabies, and that you can get to in a Vermont winter if you have an emergency. Getting a rec. from your former vet is a good idea to find a colleague of hers that may be in VT, or may be there to ask about another VT referral. Even your local cat/dog vet might have a different name to recommend for exotics.

[Beka27]

It looks like this has been confirmed already, but yes, it is common for a rabbit to be put under to check the back teeth thoroughly. Some vets are more comfortable doing dental treatments than others, so it’s possible that your prior vet was just one who had lots of clinical experience with dentals, and for her it wasn’t necessary. If you’re still questioning this vet, I’d recommend looking for an alternative. Have you contacted rabbit rescues in VT to see who they would refer to?

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