Anaesthesia, Analgesia & Critical Care for Rabbits
A four week online tutored CPD course with Claire Speight
Following completion of the tutored course, you now have unlimited lifetime access to the learning resources. These are provided for future reference only, and no further CPD hours may be claimed for reviewing the materials.
Week 1
Making Rabbit Anaesthesia Safer
- Pre-op advice for clients
- ASA grading – what increases the risk?
- Monitoring under general anaesthesia
- Post-operative care
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Recap rabbit anaesthesia and how you can help build up your confidence, including pre op, intra op and post op care
- Identify signs to be monitoring under anaesthesia – including CO2, SPO2, reflexes, HR, RR and BP readings
- Use the ASA grading system, to look at why rabbits may be at a higher risk, compared with dogs and cats when placed under GA
- Understand the options for intubation and maintaining an airway
Week 2
Analgesia – Taking the Pain Away
- The signs of pain
- Causes of pain
- Knock on effects of uncontrolled pain
- Analgesia options
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Identify the signs that rabbits show when in pain – these can be easily missed!
- Learn how to use with the ‘Rabbit Grimace Scale’ in conjunction with clinical signs
- Appreciate the secondary problems that pain can lead to, when it is not managed correctly
- Know what analgesia options can be used in rabbits
Week 3
Preparing for an Emergency
- Preparation at the practice
- Triaging rabbits
- Obtaining a capsule history
- Assessment
- Managing owner expectations
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Appreciate that when the phone rings it is important to be prepared for the emergency rabbit case. Know what to do and what equipment to set up to be ready
- Understand how to triage rabbits and when continuing to do so may be detrimental
- Obtain a quick and useful history from the owner to enable treatment to commence
- Conduct a full assessment of the rabbit – from head to toe
- Communicate with clients, managing their expectations and keeping them informed
Week 4
Critical Care - Keeping them Alive!
- What is and what isn’t an emergency
- What to do when faced with a rabbit emergency
- Stabilisation and oxygen therapy
Learning objectives:
By the end of this week, delegates should be able to:
- Identify rabbit emergencies – they are not always obvious, and knowing what is and what isn’t an emergency is important
- Understand the health conditions which are emergencies in rabbits, including gastrointestinal stasis/blockages, flystrike, liver lobe torsion and respiratory distress
- Achieve the important goal of keeping stress to a minimum
- Identify the signs of improvement and deterioration
CPD Course Content
Anaesthesia, Analgesia & Critical Care for Rabbits
Course progress
Online CPD for Vet Nurses
Excel CPD specialises in providing online CPD for veterinary nurses and technicians all over the globe. Our courses are also fully approved by AVNAT for our nursing colleagues in Australia and New Zealand.