Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Mark Rowland — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:14:43 GMT

Hello Just to add that you should always be giving warmed sc fluids to these guys to improve your success with rabbit anaesthesia. All the routines get it and if they are potentially unwell for any reason they need fluid support. Sc if not Iv. Goodluck

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Rebecca Lindsay — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 18:40:24 GMT

I work a lot with exotics and therefore see a lot of rabbits.

We use Dom at 0.15ml/kg and Ketamine at 0.05ml/kg, we top up with Torb at 0.05ml/kg if needed. All given IM. We reverse with IV Antisedan at 0.05ml/kg

Routine Neuters get Dog Metacam at 0.2ml/kg and Engermyicin at 0.3ml/kg both s/c

Older rabbits get 0.2ml/kg midazolam and then we use Sevo.

Home dose for oral metacam (dog) in rabbits we use 0.7ml/kg for 3 days then reduce to 0.5ml/kg for 2 days and then reduce for a further 2 days

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amanda — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:51:46 GMT

Thankyou very much for all the info and advise! its a rabbit thats been referred to us with a bad leg but poss could be due to a pelvic/ lumbar spine problem?? We dont really deal with rabbits usually because people cant afford the treatment but this one is insured hence being referred and wanting further diagnostics. At a guess we will prob xray affected limb, pelvis and maybe lumbar spine?? Owners have been questioning MRI which will be very interesting!!

Yes they can suffer from arthritis, funny to think it tho. I guess you never really hear of it as not many get xrayed!?

But again thankyou very much for the advise! Wish us luck! I shall keep you posted with the results! x

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

ginny — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:14:29 GMT

Which bit of the rabbit are you xraying?

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Emily Hibbs — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:28:33 GMT

Forgot to mention baytril and metacam post op and reverse i/v with atipam. Don't usually give metoclop or similar.

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Emily Hibbs — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 16:26:12 GMT

We do a reasonable amount of rabbit ga's (have a vet with certificate in exotics). Usually use dom/torb/ket triple combo (sorry I can't remember dose rates!) i/v (ear vein). Sometimes have to top up with iso and 02 (haven't been very successful intubating!). Sometimes also use hypnovel (midazolam) and then gas for old bunnies.

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 12:14:04 GMT

[quote user="amy homer"]we do a fair amount of rabbits, and it seems to work for us. i guess you get used to what you get used to lol! im just saying that this is our protocol and it works well for us x[/quote]

I'm not criticising at all - sorry if it appeared that way.

We see a lot of rabbits referred to us that have been given almost homeopathic doses of metacam - lots of vets don't realise just how much metacam a bunny needs, especially if they are using cat metcam doses. For example, with oral metacam for continued analgesia, you should be giving dog metacam at 5x the dog dose - ie a 2kg rabbit should be getting 10kg on the syringe! Some vets seem very frightened to give these doses. IMHO a lot of post op problems with rabbits guts are more due to insufficient analgesia than anything else.

As rabbit care is getting better, and they are therefore living longer, we see a lot af arthritis. Probably a combination of obesity, lack of exercise and cramped living conditions.

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 09:14:15 GMT

ps what are you xraying out of interest? we had a rabbit in the other day for xrays of abdo, and because we had to get a bit of a rabbitogram! we noticed it had really bad arthritis! never really think bunnies would suffer with that!

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 09:14:12 GMT

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 09:12:24 GMT

we do a fair amount of rabbits, and it seems to work for us. i guess you get used to what you get used to lol! im just saying that this is our protocol and it works well for us x

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 22:12:11 GMT

Not sure what you mean by small volumes - even a 1kg rabbit at the low end of the metacam dose range (0.5mg/ml) would have 0.1ml of the dog product rather than 0.25ml of the cat product. Not difficult to be accurate at those doses really. We usually use a higher dose than that, and most rabbits are heavier than 1kg, so accuracy shouldn't be a problem.

I know the difference may only be a few pence, but if you do a lot of rabbit work it is worth thinking of the cost. If you don't do a lot I can see it would be irrelevant really.

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

vanessa — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 22:12:08 GMT

Our vets sedate with xylazine and then top up with Ketamine. Other than that similar to amy. Dose rates are at work but they are from the BSAVA rabbit book and a BSAVA formulary from a few years ago did a whole exotic dose appendix

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:58:51 GMT

not really sure re mvits but our vets like to use. we always use cat metacam as can be a bit more accurate with smaller bunnies, as they need so little of the dog one, so i think for the few pence more its worth it x it doesnt cause an issue for us really.

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Gillian Mostyn — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:52:53 GMT

[quote user="amy homer"] multivits (0.25ml/kg)[/quote]

why?

[quote user="amy homer"]metacam 0.5MG/kg cat or dog one [/quote]

I would suggest the dog product to keep your costs down - you would need a pretty large volume of the cat one! Also remember that you can go up to 1mg/kg and for good pain relief you need to give it BID

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:30:53 GMT

also we always give metoclop (0.1ml/kg), multivits (0.25ml/kg) an if painful then metacam 0.5MG/kg cat or dog one

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Amy Homer. RVN. NCert A&CC — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:29:51 GMT

we use triples at present , doses are medetomidine 0.08ml/kg, butorphanol 0.05ml/kg, ketamine 0.17ml/kg (all given im) usually take 5-10 minutes to work, then we intubate them, and maintain on o2, maybe a smidge of iso if needed. reverse with atipamazole (of the top of my head i think we give 0.08ml/kg but double check this). we always put a iv cath in the ear vein, eith a yellow or purple one. and give iv fluid bolus's before during and after, bunnies have a higher fluid req than dogs and cats i think its about 100/ml/kg/day. the most important thing is to keep them warm, and monitor until they are properly awake. use lubrithal in the eyes because of the ketamine. they are usually ok to ga , just monitor carefully, hope this helps. x

Re: Rabbit Sedation...Help required!!

Julie-Anne Wilson — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:27:05 GMT

We use Hypnorm and Iso for rabbits, all other small furries just get Iso.