Questions in relation to the administration of a drug to a rabbit 

Steve Clegg

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with a special thought

and in honor of my first rabbit Ginger

1. What is this for ?

a. If it is a different drug than what was used in the past for the same thing, what is the difference between the two?

2. How does it work ?

a. You may not need the chemistry details, but I had a rabbit temporarily in my care who got sick, the owner took her to her own vet and cisapride was prescribed for gut motility.  When I asked that vet why that instead of metoclopromide , I was told they both do the same thing.  After a few screw ups by her vet, I insisted on using mine.

He prescribed metoclopromide, when I asked him the difference he explained that cisapride actually causes muscle contractions to get the gut moving and might be harmful if there was a blockage.  Now I had one more reason to trust my vet.

3. What is the maximum dosage allowed for this rabbit ?

a. Especially if this is a pain med, it allows you some wiggle room if you think your bun is in pain when your vet is unavailable.

4. What are the side effects ?

a. Some drugs can cause a reduction of appetite during a few days.

5. What if I give too much ?

6. Has this drug interactions with others that are given to my rabbit ? What are these interactions ? Can they bring harm to my rabbit ?

7. What if I miss a dosage - or if during the medication struggle not all of it gets in ?

When we're ready to go and I have all the prescriptions in hand, I read them back to him, including dosages and any other meds my bun may already be on. We all like to believe our animal is the only problem our vet is working on, but in reality a good vet is a busy vet, mistakes can be made, communication can get garbled between you, him, whoever is typing up the instructions and whoever is mixing the medications.

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