rabbits..

Re: rabbits..

Ian Mostyn — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:43:57 GMT

Our two biggest private clients are rabbit owners. The treatments and medications exist to enable us to treat them the same as a cat or dog so why not? They deserve the same standard of welfare and if the owner is prepared to pay for the care then fair enough. I see people attached to all kinds of creatures far odder than a rabbit and if it is a pet to them, it doesn't matter what it is. I find dog breeders far harder to work with.

Ian

Re: rabbits..

Utlendigur — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 18:06:24 GMT

[quote user="alison howell"]

I agree with the OP that some rabbit owners seem very intense - not that there aren't plenty of dog and cat owners like that as well - but rabbit owners just seem different!

[/quote]

I remember a few years ago, a very demanding rabbit owner moved to our area and decided to register with us. When the nurse phoned the previous practice for the clinical notes, she said the line went very quiet for a couple of seconds before there was a huge cheer audible in the background...

Re: rabbits..

vs0u — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:46:10 GMT

I agree with the OP that some rabbit owners seem very intense - not that there aren't plenty of dog and cat owners like that as well - but rabbit owners just seem different!

Re: rabbits..

james herriot lied — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:20:20 GMT

[quote user="An On MRCVS"]

But I still can't think of them on the same level as cats and dogs

[/quote]

I think this may be partly the root of the problem. I'm still - after twenty years - allergic to them, but I'm all for the wave of research and improvement in clinical standards that continues to sweep over us.

There's no objective reason NOT to view them in the same way as one does dogs or cats; that said, I wouldn't keep a dog alive in severe torticollis without diagnosis and avenues of treatment (and the whole paralysis thing would be a different debate in its own right). But I'm not sure it's a rabbit owner thing per se - we get plenty of selfish numpties in dog and cat medicine too.

Do you think the perseverance is down to ignorance of suffering - rabbits not being the most demonstrative of creatures - or expectations which exceed possible treatment?