April 2011 Blog from RabbitHouses.net aka A Better Rabbit House
We are lucky that there are veterinarians who care enough to get the training to be able to do the important job of helping our small animal friends. It pays to have vet contact info close at hand; it can be lifesaving to know where to find a good vet before being faced with an emergency situation.
Our bunny family at A Better Rabbit House
Recently while seeking a new builder for our house rabbit furniture business, RabbitHouses.net, we spoke with LaConner, WA cabinetmaker and finish carpenter Dean and his wife Angela, whose family has a beloved eight year old house rabbit. As the only bunny in the house, she wasn't neutered when she was young. After some time she became very ill and they called the vet who had treated the rabbit before. He frankly said that he didn't know enough about rabbits to help her in this case and referred them to the Bird & Exotic Animal Hospital of Bothell, a veterinary practice which specializes in small and exotic animals. The bunny was quickly diagnosed with breast cancer and a large uterine tumor, both related to not being neutered in her youth. After two surgeries, excellent care and clear instructions from the staff, she went home with special rabbit-friendly pain medicine to help keep stress low for the first week of recovery. Before long she was back to her happy & hoppy self, much to the delight and relief of her human companions.
The bunny's new doctor strongly recommends spaying or neutering rabbits, which is much easier on the bunny than going through the pain and stress of an event like cancer and surgery to correct it. The youngest family member was even inspired by this whole experience to explore becoming a veterinarian specializing in small animals. His mother remarked that it seemed too narrow of a field to focus on, and the attending vet spoke up to point out that small & exotic animal veterinary care is a fast growing field in these days of smaller families and more city dwellers.
Adolf K Maas, DVM, owner of
BEAM - Bird & Exotic Animal Medicine in Bothell, Washington The vets who helped save our new builder's bunny. We are thankful that there are folks who care enough to get the training to do the important job of helping our small animal friends. And it's important to have contact info on hand because it can be lifesaving to know where to find a good vet before being faced with an emergency situation.
Rabbit Health Resources from our favorite information source;
The House Rabbit Society www.rabbit.org , where they say:
"Before placing your rabbit under the care of any veterinarian, be sure to ask the appropriate questions to be sure your rabbit is in competent hands! Do not assume that because one veterinarian at an animal hospital is experienced with rabbits, all of the associates are, as well. If you call for an appointment, and are offered an appointment with an associate you do not know, insist on seeing the vet you asked for. When calling, please indicate (if) you received their veterinary listing from the House Rabbit Society."
House Rabbit Society Veterinarian Index
HRS FAQ: How to Find a Good Rabbit Vet
HRS Index of Rabbit Health Resources
When we adopted our rabbit from the local animal rescue, we didn't take Ricky to the vet right away. We were told he was male, about six months old. We didn't look too closely. He was active, curious and fit well into our household. When Stuart, a neighbor's tame domestic rabbit hopped into our yard, he hopped around with Ricky for a minute before going back to munching clover, and we soon returned Stuart to his grateful family. Before too long though, we were facing seven small warm consequences of our ignorance:
Not by magic: we hadn't visited the vet yet...
With so many lives suddenly depending on us, we started doing our research about bunny birth control. When our clan got a few months old we started saving up for all those upcoming operations. We were strongly motivated by doing a little math! Also we had read that having rabbits "fixed" prevents or cures serious health problems, too. In addition to living longer, happier, and healthier lives, spayed and neutered rabbits do not contribute to the tragic overpopulation problem. Our local vet hospital handled the operations well.
Ricky and some of the kids.Like finding a good vet, finding a good builder is an important task! We're happy to have found Dean to build our custom house rabbit furniture and other RabbitHouses products. His work is meticulous and beautiful, carefully inspected for quality assurance and clean finishes. Now that we have our new builder, having Dean on the team means we're designing some new better pet houses for other types of house pets; chinchillas, ferrets, guinea pigs, lizards, chickens, etc. We'd love to hear your suggestions, questions and comments our better pet houses. What features would you like to see on a RabbitHouse? What do you think your small pet craves in a new home?
Email us at rabbit@RabbitHouses.net
Our cats enjoying their custom furniture.
We'd love to hear your suggestions, questions and comments about pet houses. What features would you like to see on a RabbitHouse? What does your small pet crave in a new home? Email us at rabbit@RabbitHouses.net
To see our home website blog and for lots more info about living with house rabbits, and our Rabbit Super-Hero Links page, visit our website at RabbitHouses.net
Thank you for visiting our Quest For A Better Rabbit House Blog! Next time we'll be blogging about Leafy Greens: a SuperFood vital to good health of bunnies, humans & other Earthlings. Happy Hopping till then!
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