Best book for Rabbit medicine

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Patrick O

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Hello all,
I am longtime user of SDN and a pathologist (human) by trade. My wife and I have 2 house rabbits and I am looking to purchase the best vet text for rabbit medicine that is out there. After having rabbits as pets for at least 10 years now, I can personally attest to how complex it can be to care for rabbits. Most of the vets in my area won't even consider looking at exotics and we either have to go to Tufts or Angell Memorial (I live in MA). I would like to become better educated on general rabbit medicine.....Does any of you (practicing vets or students) have any good suggestions?

I did come across this text from the UK... not sure how good it is though.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=0750640022

Thanks in advance.
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I'm interested the see the replies because I'm also a lifelong rabbit owner and it is definitely hard to get a good rabbit vet where I live too. One of my goals is to be confident seeing rabbits as well as cats and dogs when I'm a vet.

Anyway, you could try asking the local House Rabbit Society if they have any ideas. They also keep lists of local vets that see rabbits, which might help you locate one closer to home.
 
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😕 I continue to be baffled by these forums...

Glad you are educating yourself on rabbit medicine and by all means get the books, but for all problems you encounter and for the care of your rabbit you should (and please do) consult your primary vet regardless of your expertise in human medicine--even if it means travelling to and/or consulting with Tufts/Angell Memorial.
 
I recommend Quesenberry as well... I started using it myself many years ago when no vets in the area could answer any of my questions about my ferrets
 
Hello all. I am not sure if this is the correct forum, but I am a medical student and I just lost my rabbit. He was just over 7 years old and was always happy, healthy and playful with a voracious appetite. He was neutered and lived with his biological mother (7.75 years old). I could not bring them with me when I moved to Boston so they lived with my parents in Northern California. Two nights ago, my father noticed that HB (that was his name...stood for Hunny Bunny) was lying on his side and had his neck cocked at a funny angle so he rushed him to the emergency vet. The vet said that he had an inner ear infection and was dehydrated. He received a shot of an antibiotic and IV fluids. They sent him home. The next morning (yesterday) when my dad went up to check on him, all he said was that "he looked worse". He rushed him to the regular vet where he was then euthanized. The vet said that he was in so much pain and that it "was his time". I could not be there for any of this and my dad didn't really have an explanation for me other than saying it was an inner ear infection. HB literally went from fine to gone in less than 12 hours.

Can anyone provide some light on what happened or provide a suggestion as to where I can find some answers? Are there concerns that I need to address immediately for the safety of the second bunny that was living with him?

A few retrospective facts that may be important: his mother (the second bunny) has chronic rhinitis and constantly has nasal discharge (for this reason she was not spayed because they said she couldn't handle the sedation); HB had intermittent eye discharge (clear to cloudy white) but it was not alarming to me; I did notice him shaking his head a couple of times but I thought maybe his ear itched so I looked for fleas - no fleas. He had a great appetite but, since living with my parents, developed a kind of diarrhea that would clump to his backside and required manual cleaning (the vet said it was because he was too portly to clean himself). He was a small rabbit with pointy ears and weighed about 7 lbs.

Thank you very much for your attention and any replies.
 
gr8fulMD said:
Hello all. I am not sure if this is the correct forum, but I am a medical student and I just lost my rabbit. He was just over 7 years old and was always happy, healthy and playful with a voracious appetite. He was neutered and lived with his biological mother (7.75 years old). I could not bring them with me when I moved to Boston so they lived with my parents in Northern California. Two nights ago, my father noticed that HB (that was his name...stood for Hunny Bunny) was lying on his side and had his neck cocked at a funny angle so he rushed him to the emergency vet. The vet said that he had an inner ear infection and was dehydrated. He received a shot of an antibiotic and IV fluids. They sent him home. The next morning (yesterday) when my dad went up to check on him, all he said was that "he looked worse". He rushed him to the regular vet where he was then euthanized. The vet said that he was in so much pain and that it "was his time". I could not be there for any of this and my dad didn't really have an explanation for me other than saying it was an inner ear infection. HB literally went from fine to gone in less than 12 hours.

Can anyone provide some light on what happened or provide a suggestion as to where I can find some answers? Are there concerns that I need to address immediately for the safety of the second bunny that was living with him?

A few retrospective facts that may be important: his mother (the second bunny) has chronic rhinitis and constantly has nasal discharge (for this reason she was not spayed because they said she couldn't handle the sedation); HB had intermittent eye discharge (clear to cloudy white) but it was not alarming to me; I did notice him shaking his head a couple of times but I thought maybe his ear itched so I looked for fleas - no fleas. He had a great appetite but, since living with my parents, developed a kind of diarrhea that would clump to his backside and required manual cleaning (the vet said it was because he was too portly to clean himself). He was a small rabbit with pointy ears and weighed about 7 lbs.

Thank you very much for your attention and any replies.
Click to expand...
We cannot help you other than what your veterinarian has already told you. Legally a veterinarian cannot diagnose a problem without actually examining the patient.

What I can say is that if your bunny had an inner (or middle) ear infection which gave him a "head tilt" he likely could not eat/drink properly and was also likely vestibular (which leads to nausea). It does not take very long for a bunny who is not drinking/eating to go down hill. sorry 🙁
 
I appreciate your response and understand the legal issues restricting more detailed commentary. I am just so shocked and devastated and stuck on the other side of the country. I am now focused on helping my parents take care of my remaining bunny and keeping her from contracting whatever infection that led to HB's death. Thank you again.
 
Sorry to hear about your bunny. 🙁

The best person to ask would be the veterinarian who actually saw your bunny. Perhaps you could get their phone number from your parents.

Presumably your parents told the veterinarian that there was another bunny in the same habitat. So, if the vet didn't mention something about precautions to take with the mother, then chances are it'll be fine.

If it'll make you feel better, though, the best thing is just to leave a message for the veterinarian who treated HB and have him/her give you a ring.

There's no way any of us can help you remotely--either legally or accurately.
 
5/6 vets I work with each have their own copy of the Quesenberry book, and swear by it.
 
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