We didn’t go to our usual vet because they couldn’t fit us in. I needed to take the little ones to the vet before I left to go to my sister’s again.

The vet was a young, maybe a 23 year old, who had no idea what she was doing. She had a contraption that she checked their teeth with, which made the ordeal less stressful for the bunnies. They didn’t like it at all.

The vet checked their sexes, Lunar is a girl, but Maple, well, the vet wasn’t sure and concluded that he was a she.

She weighed Lunar, by putting her in a cardboard box on the scales. Then she attempted Maple. Maple didn’t like it at all. Maple cracked the shits. As soon as she picked Maple up, Maple didn’t want to play ball. The vet popped her in the cardboard box and Maple thumped loudly. After the weighing, Maple went into the carry box and thumped about 5 times. We put Lunar in there with him/her and Maple thumped again.

I patted Maple and Lunar in the box, but Maple wasn’t happy. He/she liked me patting him/her, and stopped thumping for a little while.

We got back in the car and on the journey home Maple thumped another few times. He/she settled down in the carry box and by the time we got home he/she was laying down and eating.

I think the vet, because she was young and inexperienced, didn’t respect Maple’s boundaries as a bunny and Maple felt embarrassed and tortured. Lunar didn’t get the same treatment as Maple did, the vet was more gentle with her.

Boy? Girl?

Who knows what they are. Boys or girls… It doesn’t really matter.

But what does matter is the way Maple was checked. The vet picked one of Maple’s back legs up, like they would a dog, and poked around her private area to check her sex. I wasn’t sure if it hurt her or not, because after all, her spine is totally different to a dog.

I did question the vet, and because she thought I was a know-it-all, she just gave me a dirty look. I’m sick of vets who assume the owner is proving a point. I wasn’t trying to do anything, I was just wanting more information and figured out pretty quickly that she didn’t know anything and had clearly just came out of training – which was online due to COVID lockdowns. I forgave her for that, good on her for completing a hands-on course online. But really?

Vets have to learn to not assume that the owner is a know-it-all.

My list against vets is getting progressively longer, now it includes attitude re-adjustment.

Sorry to the good vets and vet nurses out there reading this, but if you have done anything like that you have to rethink some things, or listen to the owner, or even consider that a rabbit is different to a dog, cat, ferret, snake, worm, lizard, bird… or maybe you are wrong.

I know that if I come across another vet who does things I don’t like or I think is cruel, I’m going to pack the animals up and leave without paying the bill. Stuff you and your stupid bills. You damage my animal, you don’t deserve my money.