You love your pet rabbit and know that bunnies need special care and attention at home and from veterinary professionals to stay healthy and happy. But how often should you be bringing your bunny in to see your veterinarian? Here, our Torrance vets explain.
Rabbits can be incredibly loving, cute and rewarding companion animals. But, just like any pet, bunnies require routinely scheduled veterinary attention and diligent at-home care to ensure they remain comfortable, healthy and happy all throughout their lives. Rabbits can live up to 10-12 years, and attentive healthcare is key to helping them reach that age with comfort and good health.
Knowing that, how often should pet owners be bringing the bunnies to the vet for a checkup? And, what is involved in your rabbit's routine vet care?
Routine Rabbit Veterinary Care
Like with dogs, cats, or any other pet, rabbits received various kinds of veterinary attention at their routine checkups depending on their needs when visiting your veterinarian's office. These include comprehensive physical checkups, fecal tests, urinalysis, bloodwork, vaccinations, and further, more specific, diagnostics.
When you first get your rabbit, you should bring them in to see your vet by the time they are about 5 weeks old. At this preliminary rabbit checkup, your baby bunny will undergo a total physical assessment, a fecal test, and a number of other diagnostics to ensure that your new cute and cuddly companion doesn't have any health conditions that require immediate attention. Your vet will then administer any required and recommended vaccinations to your bunny to help prevent any potential health issues from arising in the future.
At each following appointment, your veterinarian will ask you about any changes in behavior or health issues you have noticed in your bunny, conduct a physical assessment and check to make sure your rabbit doesn't require boosters of any vaccinations they have previously received.
How Often Should I Take My Rabbit To The Vet?
As a general rule, you should be bringing your pet rabbit to your veterinarian's office for a checkup once each year. This gives your vet a chance to identify health issues as they emerge (when they are most treatable) and ensure your bunny stays up-to-date on their vaccinations to protect them from contagious and serious diseases.
Very young or older rabbits may need to visit a veterinarian more often than that, though. Vets will often recommend that you bring young bunnies and senior rabbits in for routine examinations twice each year. While your pet is in these stages of their life, they are more susceptible to illness and injury and, as a result, more veterinary attention will help to ensure their health and comfort.
Of course, between these routinely scheduled appointments, you may need to bring your bunny in for additional appointments if you notice changes in their eating habits, bowel movements and behaviors for a checkup. Since rabbits instinctively hide their illness or discomfort, it can be difficult to detect when your companion is feeling unwell.
Because of this, if you notice changes in your bunny's routine or behavior, bring them in to see your vet for an assessment, it may be that your rabbit is feeling unwell and require medical attention.
What Is The Cost Of A Vet Visit For My Rabbit?
The cost of your rabbit's veterinary appointment will depend on a number of factors. Whether they require any vaccinations, parasite testing, care for an illness, or further and more advanced diagnostics will all play a factor in the cost of the visit.
If all your rabbit needs is a physical checkup with no issues detected, your appointment will end up costing less than one that involves vaccine boosters, bloodwork and urinalysis.