RWA VET QUESTIONNAIRE
Fields marked with a * are required
Named practice contact for rabbit advocate(s):
Please give the details of your practice Rabbit Advocate(s), maximum 2 people. They may be any member of
staff, who will be responsible for submitting the information, co-ordinating the process, and passing on
information from RWAF to the practice. If this member of staff leaves, or passes the role on to another staff
member subsequently, please let us know. They should have the seniority within the practice to carry out the
role, such as a senior vet, vet nurse or practice manager, but do not need to be the head of the practice or its
exotics department.
Title
* Forename
* Surname
* Email Address
Title (2)
Forename (2)
Surname (2)
Email Address (2 )
* Named Advocate
Practice Details
* Practice Name and Address
Telephone
Fax
Membership No (if known)
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Please list all veterinary nurse(s) with an interest in rabbit medicine and surgery, listing their full names
and qualifications.
Veterinary Nurse(s)
Please list all veterinary surgeon(s) with an interest in rabbit medicine and surgery, listing their full
names and qualifications.
If this is all members of the practice, please list them individually, rather than all vets are keen to see rabbits. We
want to ensure that people are keen to be involved in rabbit care, and we do not assume that that is automatically
the case.
* Veterinary Surgeon(s)
2
General Care Questions
Do you advise all clients to vaccinate rabbits regularly annually?
Yes
No
Do you advise all clients to neuter their rabbits?
Yes
No
Approximately how many male rabbits do you neuter? eg per week/month?
And at what age range do you recommend doing so?
Approximately how many female rabbits do you neuter? eg per week/month?
And at what age range do you recommend doing so?
What is your practice policy on fasting pre-surgery?
What is your practice policy for post-neutering analgesia?
3
Do you carry a range of foods for hospitalised rabbits?
Which brands of commercial recovery diets do you keep/use at your practice?
Any home-made recovery diet options?
What fresh foods are available?
Do you have an area of outdoor space available for rabbits to forage, or to obtain forage from?
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Do you ask owners to bring in familiar foods, bowls, bottles or other items?
What bedding and hides are available to rabbits in your hospitalisation facilities?
What is your practice policy on admitting companions of rabbits under treatment?
What steps are taken to avoid disease transmission between rabbit patients at your practice?
Does your practice carry out new pet checks, puppy/kitten checks, MOTs for rabbits, or Rabbit Awareness Week
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Rabbit checks
Do you provide client education handouts for rabbit owners? If so, please feel free to include copies of these, or
let us know what topics are covered
.
Do you advise routine worming of rabbits? What protocol do you recommend and how frequently?
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Rabbit anaethesia and analgesia.
What is your practice policy on the use of gut motility drugs as part of procedures performed under anaesthetic,
and if you use these, which products do you use?
What methods of keeping rabbits normothermic during procedures are used? what equipment is available for this
purpose?
What injectable anaesthetic agents are used, and at what doses and routes? If you use different regimes for
different scenarios, please list all
What gaseous anaesthetic agents are used?
Do you intubate rabbits under GA, and if so, under what situations do you choose to intubate or not?
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What intubation techniques are used in the practice?
What type of ET tubes are used for rabbits within the practice?
Do you stock V-gel supraglottic airway devices for rabbits, and if so, in what sizes?
Do you prefer the routine use V-gel instead of ET tubes?
What are your practice protocols for analgesia of rabbits for different procedures, including agents, doses,
frequency and duration?
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Does your practice carry out pain scoring in rabbits?
How and/or which anaesthetic monitoring devices (e.g. capnograph, Doppler, pulse oximeter, ECG or simply
stethoscope and visual assessment of respiratory movements) do you routinely use during a rabbit anaesthetic?
Do you routinely place IV catheters in rabbits undergoing sedation or anaesthesia?
What fluid therapy methods do you employ for routine and non-routine procedures?
9
Rabbit dentistry
What is your practice protocol on dental examination of rabbits at routine checks: eg is this performed at each
visit, how is it performed(e.g. visual assessment of incisors only, otoscope, videotoscope etc.)?
What equipment do you use to shorten incisor teeth in rabbits?
Is this performed under anaesthesia, sedation, or conscious?
What equipment do you use to shorten cheek teeth in rabbits?
Is this performed under anaesthesia, sedation, or conscious?
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Do you carry out incisor extractions in rabbits?
Do you carry out cheek tooth extractions in rabbits? Under what circumstances?
Do you carry out cheek tooth pulpectomies in rabbits?
Do you routinely advise radiography of rabbits with dental disease, facial abscesses or ear disease, including ear
based abscessation?
11
Rabbit gastrointestinal disorders
Briefly describe your practice approach to inappetant rabbits?
What is your practice protocol for post op feeding and discharge of rabbits?
12
Practice environment
Do you have separate waiting areas for rabbits? If not, please describe any methods used to prevent stress in
waiting rabbits
.
Please illustrate this by attaching or pasting in at least one image of the waiting area.
Do you have separate kennelling facilities for rabbits? If not, please describe any methods used to prevent stress
in hospitalised rabbits
Do you carry foods, including supportive care diets for rabbits for sale at your practice?If yes, which one(s)
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Practice equipment
Do you have a table top stand for rabbit dentals?
What lighting and magnification options do you have for rabbit dentistry?
Do you have rigid endoscopy and is it used at your practice for oral examination of rabbits?
Do you have ultrasound equipment suitable for rabbit patients? What frequency probes are available?
Do you have facilities for horizontal beam radiography?
14
Do you have CT or MRI on site, and use it for rabbits, or would you discuss referral of rabbit cases that you felt
would benefit from these imaging modalities?
15
Knowledge and resources
What textbooks covering rabbit medicine do you have within the practice?
What journals covering rabbit medicine does the practice or its staff subscribe to?
What other sources of rabbit information does the practice have access to?
What CPD covering rabbit medicine have practice staff been to in the past 2 years?
Do any veterinary surgeons or veterinary nurses have, or are enrolled on, further qualifications in areas covering
rabbit medicine?
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Are there any areas of rabbit CPD that you would like to see covered in the future?
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Finally
We hereby confirm that the information provided above is accurate. We agree to notify the RWAF if there is any
significant change to our practice eg change of practice ownership or significant staffing changes.
* Signed
Standards for Silver Level Practices
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Premises of a good clinical standard with appropriate equipment
Staff who have a gentle, caring and empathetic approach to handling rabbits
Staff who are knowledgeable about and understand rabbits
A Rabbit Advocate to co-ordinate rabbit policies, of sufficient seniority to address specific issues within
the practice
A rabbit friendly waiting room
Ability to hospitalise rabbits in a low-stress environment, with suitable food and bedding
Gold Level practices must achieve all the criteria above but have additional exceptional rabbit-friendly
features including:
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A hospital ward dedicated to rabbits, or rabbits and other prey/herbivorous species
At least one member of staff with an appropriate further qualification in the field including rabbit medicine
eg RCVS Cert; RCVS or European diploma in Zoological Medicine or Small Mammals, GPCert, MSc,
RCVS Advanced practitioner or Specialist status in Zoological Medicine (Mammals), or Rabbits
Larger areas for increased mobility in long stay patients.
Additional facilities, equipment and knowledge
Please tick which standard you are applying for.
Silver
Gold
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