Taking Lulu to the vet tomorrow

I have had my girl Lulu for almost two weeks, she has been settling in okay. She is a 6 month old dwarf lop but her ears haven't lopped (I haven't really introduced her yet... so that is some basic info).

I want to get her desexed soon, because I want to start bonding her with Lopsy! I have just rung my local vet and asked some questions about desexing. I have booked her in for a check up and vaccination tomorrow, from there I will probably book her in to be desexed providing I feel confident with him tomorrow. So I will go tomorrow morning for the check up and I can ask him some more questions...

The vet sounds reasonably young but he said he has been a vet for 14 years, and he worked over in the UK for 7 years where he saw a lot of rabbits. He said he is confident to do the surgery and that he wouldn't say that if he wasn't. He seems to know what he's talking about, and sounds like a very nice guy.

Do you guys think this is enough experience? I'm not sure what other questions I have for you, I just wanted to tell some rabbit loving people because my family will probably tell me I'm wasting my money.

My only question would be how many rabbits has he done in recent years. He could have worked in the UK 7 years ago and hasn't done many since. That would be my only concern. I would want to make sure he has done the surgery recently so that I would know he knows the most up to date way of doing things, they are constantly changing.

Very good point, thanks for that! I will suss that out tomorrow morning...

Another question I thought of is how many days after the surgery will I need to have free so I can keep a close eye on her? I have one week of uni classes left but then I have heaps of essays still to do... so after next week I can be home most of the day really. What have people's experiences been? I'm guessing I shouldn't plan to go out for all of the day after the surgery? and maybe for a few days after?

Well I got back from the vet about half an hour ago...

The start of the appointment was eventful because Lulu didn't like the vet tryign to lift her out of her carrier. she flew out of the carrier onto the table and onto the floor... she sure can move fast. I hope she didn't get hurt :S

Anyway before too long the vet managed to get her in a towel. once she was contained she was okay. he said she is a bit fiesty, but I don't blame her considering it was a new strange place and a man she hasn't met before. and she sat still with a towel over her while she had a vaccination. he checked her ears, teeth, eyes umm lungs and stomach and she is definitely a girl haha.

So I'm pretty sure now that I do feel comfortable with him desexing her. he was gentle but firm enough to hold her without her getting away and he really seems to know what he's talking about. he did seem a bit evasive in answering how many rabbits he has done this surgery on recently in that vet but I think maybe I didn't ask it in the most sensitive way or something. he said they have about 20 clients with rabbits... which may not sound like many but I think that's more to do with the area than his ability. in answer to the question brought up above, he got back from the UK about 4 years ago and he's been at that vet for about 3.

the vet explained to my mum the benefits of having a rabbit desexed... I think she might understand more now.

anyway... do you guys think I am doing the right thing if I book her in to be desexed with this vet?

It is very scary to have your bun have surgery. I desexed both of my rabbits. I felt the risk of cancer was to high for me. So if I was you and I felt comfortable with my vet I would have it done. It sounds like you do feel comfortable with this vet and that is a good thing.

I am sure when you asked him how many rabbits he has done it probably caught him a little off guard. He probably had to stop and think for a second but I think it was good that you asked that quesiton.

Did the vet talk to you about the surgery? Like did he tell you to withhold food before bringing her in? Some vets say that and it is a sign they are not very rabbit savvy. A rabbits food should not be taken away before surgery. What about pain meds when she comes home? I think it is important to have those after surgery, she is going to be in pain.

I stayed home the first day with my buns and then the second day I would leave to maybe run to the store for 30 minutes but nothing more then that so I could watch them. Mine just laid around the first few days but I think it is good to have someone there to make sure they are eating and drinking and not having any problems.

Hi there,

I don't know if you have seen this link i'm about to post...it's a link for rabbit savvy vet's in Australia,and i have heard that there are quite a few good one's in Melbourne....i don't know myself cause i live in Adelaide...but i have heard other people mention it on Australian companionrabbit..and there is one vet in Melbourne that only sees bunnies...her name is Narelle Walter....i have even seen her on tv doing an interview on her surgery...she loves the bunnies so very much.....so if you go into the link and scroll down you will see her name.

I also don't know if any of the vet's listed are close by to you or not

http://members.shaw.ca/cocoasun/AustralianRabbitVets.htm

Cheryl

Thanks Amy for responding. You might be right, I might have caught him off guard. I didn't really ask him for a number as such, just a rough idea... but he didn't really answer. he says he is confident to do it though so I believe him.

He said to bring in food and water, to which I replied "good" or something along those lines... and he said that they will keep an eye on her and put her food in a little while after she was woken up. I haven't asked specifically about pain meds... I will do that when I ring up before I make the appointment. thanks for reminding me!

Yes, as I expected, I will book her in for a day when I have the next few days at home. next week is my last week of uni for this semester so I will book her in for the week after when I will be at home writing essays!

Thanks Cheryl for the link... I have seen similar lists in other places. a lot of them are pretty far from me, including narelle walter. The only one that is reasonably close to me (dr brendan carmel) was about a $100 more than my local guy because they charge more for bunnies that are over 6 months old.

If I didn't feel comfortable with my local vet then I would go further away, but he seems very knowledge on rabbits so the 3 min drive is just a bonus! And I'll be good to know a local vet if I have any emergencies or concerns.

Thanks very much again for the responses, I appreciate it

I'll keep you updated...

Sounds like you have everything in order, that is great. It is really good that you will have an established vet if you need them in the future and they are close to your house. Good luck and keep us updated.

He sounds like a good vet, but make sure he doesn't want you to withhold food before the surgery and will send home pain medicine for you to give her in the days following the surgery. Just keep her confined for a week--you will only have to watch her closely for 1-2 days after surgery unless she starts chewing on the incision. Also, the vet should use dissolvable surgical glue or stitches instead of fabric ones.

My thoughts exactly Amy, I don't want to have an emergency and have to find a close vet that may or may not know about rabbits... or even just any kind of concern, it doesn't have to be an emergency.

Sorry, I forgot to say that he said not to withhold food... so that's all good. I will find out about the pain killers for at home. and I'll ask about glue/stitches. I think he mentioned one of those, I just can't remember which one.

Thanks Amy and Claire