trip to the vet

[coco]

Hi,

I have a appointment to take my bunny a netherland dwarf female rabbit (Coco) to my vet for a checkup before I make a appointment for her spay.

She doesn't like to be picked up anymore & I was wondering how am I going to take her to the vet if I can't pick her up & also when I do get her into her travel carrier how is the vet going to handle her without getting bit?

I was thinking of maybe putting her travel carrier in her cage & put one of her favorite treats in the carrier so that she will jump in the carrier & I can close the carrier & take her to the vet, but what really concerns me is once coco is at the vet I know she is going to bite him.

I use to be able to hold her, clip her nails etc but now she bites, I can still brush her & pet her when she is ontop of her cage but holding her to put her in her carrier is out of the question. (thats one of the reasons I am getting her spayed)

Also does anyone else here have a female netherland dwarf rabbit? And after she was spayed did it make her less nippy??



Thank you in advance

JP

 

[naturestee]

Spaying will help. A lot. I was counting the days to Mocha's spay because she was so messy and aggressive. She's a Polish, which is somewhat like a Netherland Dwarf. I also have two spayed Dwarf Hotots. Fey was already calm before her spay, but spaying did help her sister Sprite be less aggressive.

You could use treats to get her in the carrier. It also helps if she's seen it before. I often leave a carrier out on the floor for the buns to play in. That way it seems like home and not "The Monster That Takes You To The Vet!"

For my one hand-hater bun, I've found that the easiest way to pick her up is to gently lay a towel over her and then scoop her up. For some reason it keeps her somewhat calm.

You're vet is probably (hopefully) skilled in handling rabbits and will be able to take care of him/herself. It's also not unusual for rabbits to be intimidated into relatively good behavior at the vet's. It's really important that you tell them that she tends to bite before you open the carrier, and it helps if you have a carrier that can be taken apart or that opens from the top.

 

[coco]

Hi naturestee,

Thank you for your reply.

I think that may work what you said about using a towel for Coco because she seems to like to be somewhat covered it seems to calm her because I have a jacket harness that came with a leash, I never used it but I have put just the jacket on Coco & she seems to love wearing the jacket & it seems to calm her down. I put the jacket on her when she is resting on top of her cage, plus she looks adorable wearing a jacket! LOL!!!!

I have a week before I take her to the vet so I will take your advice & start getting her use to going in her carrier on her own, maybe put some Oxbow papaya treats in there she loves those & a small slice of a banana.

Thanks again,

JP & Coco