A Carlisle vets practice is celebrating winning national recognition for its treatment of rabbits.
Paragon Veterinary Group has been awarded silver level rabbit-friendly status by the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund.
It means they are added to a nationwide list of Rabbit Friendly Vets and can call on advice from a specialist vet at the association.
Ruth Simmons, a veterinary surgeon with Paragon’s small animals team, said they had been considering applying for silver status for some time.
It involved providing evidence of the ways they care for rabbits, a specific anaesthetic protocol, and growing a “rabbit garden” to tempt any unwell rabbits to start eating again.
Ruth said: “We have to have a separate area for rabbits to wait because they can get very stressed, as you can imagine, in a waiting room full of dogs and cats. It’s not a good start for them if they’ve got to come into an environment like that.
“We’ve changed one of the consultation rooms and made it into a waiting room so they are completely out of the way until the vet’s ready to see them.
“Along those same lines, we’ve got separate kenneling for them so that they are not near their predators. They are separated and it really helps with a stressful situation.”
With rabbits, it’s essential to get them eating quickly after an operation. To that end, Paragon has created a garden to grow the food they prefer.
Ruth said: “Basically, it’s an area in our garden where we’re growing plants that we know that rabbits like to eat, so we’ve got herbs like basil and parsley and mint.
“We have dandelions which are growing in the grass anyway and rabbits like to eat those. It really helps to get them eating again, having the stuff that we know they really like.”
Under anesthetic, rabbits, as a small animal, are prone to lose body heat much faster than a cat or dog.
“There are various things that we’ve had to submit showing the drugs that we use, what doses we use and also things like how we keep them nice and warm during the anaesthetic,” said Ruth.
“One of the nurses even knitted little warmers for them so they don’t lose heat through their ears and feet.”
Paragon works closely with Kilngate Small Animal Sanctuary near Carlisle which takes rescue rabbits and rehomes them.
Ruth urges anyone thinking of having a rabbit as a pet to consider a rescue one, and for current owners to get their animals vaccinated against myxomatosis and viral haemorrhagic disease.
“It’s nice to know we are giving the best care for the rabbits,” she added. “We hope this status will encourage more clients with rabbits through our doors.”
