Rabbit Illness tests/bloodwork - Yes/No?

[Cocoa]

When you take your bun to the vet for something and they suggest all kinds of scans, bloodwork, etc (running in to hundreds or thousands of dollars) do you do it or do you go with a simpler less expensive trial and error approach?

Just curious. When we last took Cocoa, she wanted to run hundreds of dollars of tests. We just don't have the budget for that. And not to be harsh at all, we love our bunny. But she was $15.00. I spend WAY more on her health than I do my own children (thank's to insurance).

I'm just curious how other bunny parents handle all those crazy expenses. If you have a sickly bun, do you keep treating and treating or???? Well, what do you do?

 

[Cocoa]

Can I add that I'd like to know what "YOU" do and not what you think others on the forum want to hear that you do. Can this be a no judgement zone? Please! Everyone has different circumstances, finances, resources, and feelings. Rushing to judgement doesn't help anyone but it does prevent people from being honest because they fear being attacked. So, that's my request. Please share....

Off to call the vet for my bunny that is peeing glue...

 

[woahlookitsme]

There are certain things we use the vet for. If an illness is life threatening then we will make an appointment. I probably don't have the most correct answers because I am a breeder but I certainly care for my rabbits and cry when they get sick just like everyone else. I am smaller only having 20 or so bunnies but we know every one of them.
Things we have taken our bunnies to the vet for: broken leg, EC symptoms, hydrocephalus, completely lateral and not eating, loosing weight, and seizures (or so what we thought were seizures but still aren't sure). We will spend a good hundred or two on vet care per visit but if it's more than that we haven't had to make that decision yet thankfully. We have performed bloodwork, x-rays, and necropsies on previous bunnies before. We also have had some humanely euthanized before as well.

Luckily just breeding for overall health we have been able to avoid many common issues seen in pet rabbits like teeth, GI issues, and upper respiratory issues. They seem to happen much more often in pets than I have ever seen in the 6 years I have raised bunnies. For us we always get the weird and uncommon illnesses and diseases. Our vet knows if we are on the appointment list that day then it's time to review their textbooks Lol! For the most part me being a vet tech/aspiring vet we have many resources for information and I'm able to give medications or injections if needed.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I wanted to add: I guess it just depends on what is going on. Because I have a history and the vet is able to talk with me more technically I can usually figure out what's absolutely necessary

 

[stevesmum]

I spent $600 once on an abdominal ultrasound, that never gave us the answers we were looking for anyway. But I don't regret it a bit. I just think of it as "is this test reasonable? Will I regret it down the line if I did nothing?" That being said, I know for a fact that veterinarians are in the business of making money even as they do try to help animals. So there's no easy answer to your question, you have to do what feels right to you, and minimizes any suffering for your rabbit.

 

[hamsterdance]

I go to an incredibly rabbit savvy vet and have never been offered extensive tests... Not saying anything is wrong with your vet I've just never heard of testing for things that aren't suspected due to symptoms. That being said my vet does check their teeth, ears, etc and I have gotten X-rays, culture and sensitivity tests, and stool tests done if something was suspected and I have no issues putting the money out when it's needed. I just couldn't see myself putting out that much on a healthy bun!

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Having a vet that you completely trust is quite frankly priceless. I am fortunate that the vet doesn't do a lot of unnecessary procedures and when they tell me that something needs to be done, I trust that it needs to.

Unfortunately, most people discover quite quickly that the initial cost of purchasing an animal is the least amount you will ever spend on them. Pets are expensive. You only paid $15 for your rabbit but in my opinion they are worth so much more. Everyone has their financial limit. I personally went into debt to save my cat at one point and I couldn't even tell you how many thousands of dollars I've spent. One week in emergency cost me almost $8000.

I realise that this isn't realistic for a lot of people but I see my pets as my children and I'd literally do anything for them as long as they weren't going to be suffering. You have to decide what you are willing to do for yourself. The only piece of advice I would offer is that paying the money to euthanise your pet would be more humane than letting it die on its own.

I personally think that the biggest waste of money is when a vet tells you they suspect your pet has cancer but they want to run all the tests to confirm. I feel that knowing your pet has cancer just for the sake of knowing and then doing nothing about it is pointless. My cat died of cancer. The vet knew it, I knew it, no biopsy needed. There was no way I was going to put her through the horrors of chemo or radiation so we have herbs and kept her as comfortable as possible until that wasn't possible anymore.

If you're questioning the truthfulness of your vet, it might be time to try a new one.

Good luck

 

[missyscove]

As a caveat, I'm a 3rd year veterinary student so 1) I think good veterinary care is really important 2) I'm on a budget and 3) I sometimes have access to discounted services (but probably not as much as you think; at our school clinic my physical exam is free but most other services are full price).

My rabbits get annual physical exams from a rabbit savvy veterinarian. I have a good supply of critical care and advantage (imidacloprid) that I got at a discount/free, but personally prefer revolution which I pay full price for and apply several times a year (especially if I feel that I've been exposed to more parasites than usual or if one is found on any of the cats or dogs in my household).

If I'm taking one of my rabbits in for an illness, typically I'm willing to spend $500 initially (this is what I write on our school's drop off form and what I tell petsitters) and am willing to go up from there depending on prognosis. For me, quality of life is much more important than quantity. For example, Cricket had surgery on an abscess twice. Each surgery cost ~$400 when you factor in anesthesia, take home meds, etc. She's also a chronic sneezer. I did a culture, radiographs and months of antibiotics and she still sneezes (but doesn't have significant discharge). From here the next diagnostic step would likely be an MRI, but I think she has a good enough quality of life with her occasional sneezing that I'm not going to spend ~$1000+ on an MRI.

If you have a budget, it's important to be upfront with your veterinarian. Typically we can offer a best case scenario plan as well as some lower cost but not as great options. Ideally we'd like to have a pretty definitive diagnosis before we treat and it's standard of care to rule out other conditions, but it's okay for the owners to decline diagnostics too. It's not good for anyone if we spend all of your money diagnosing the problem and there's absolutely no budget left to treat. If you're wondering why your veterinarian is recommending certain tests, be sure to ask about them.

 

[Bville]

The one time I had to take one of my rabbits to the vet for an illness I was going to tell her that I only could afford to spend $200, but her initial estimate was close to that so I just went with the treatment she recommended. I needed to take my bunny back because he wasn't getting better, and by the time he was completely better, the costs added up to around $500 for office visits, x-rays, consultations, medications, Critical Care, etc. and I just ended up putting it on a credit card. I wish it hadn't cost that much and that I didn't have to go into debt to save my bunny Smokey, but going through the process, I just couldn't say no to what he needed. I think it's hard when you are in the situation and want to do what's best for your bunny, but also have to think about what is realistic to spend on vet care. I don't even know what I would do if any of my bunnies got sick again. I think you can plan and even set aside a budget for vet care, but when you love and care about your pets, all sense of reason can go out the window when they are sick.

 

[squidpop]

Sometimes even for may own medical things I think trial and error is ok. I have something wrong with my stomach so I've been trailing drugs trying to cure it without a test. With my rabbits, It depends on what it is. Sometimes tests and X-rays are inconclusive. If I had a rabbit sneezing, with white discharge, I probably would not get a culture done and would just want to go straight to antibiotics. Their nasal cavities are so tiny and go so far back that some believe the test may not show the true bacteria causing the infection- and also you have to wait too long for the culture- so in some cases I'd rather just go straight to the drugs. But its not really a money thing for me- I want what will solve the problem the fastest.