The Core History a New Vet Needs First
Start with identity: your rabbit's name, breed, sex and whether neutered, age or best estimate, and colouring, followed by your own contact details and the previous practice's name and number so the clinics can speak directly. Then the clinical spine of the record — every illness, procedure, and significant finding with dates, in order. For a Flemish Giant, weight history deserves its own prominence: a series of dated weights shows growth in a young Giant or loss in an older one far better than a single figure on the day. Include vaccination or parasite-control history where your previous practice recorded it, without reconstructing anything from memory you are unsure of — mark estimates as estimates.
Giant-Specific Threads: Feet, Teeth, Gut, and Frame
Flag the breed-relevant history explicitly. Sore hocks matter in a rabbit carrying this much weight, so hand over any episodes, the flooring and bedding management used, and the current state of the feet as last checked. Dental findings and any molar work should be listed with dates, alongside a note of how this rabbit signals mouth discomfort — selective eating or dropping food, in your experience. Gut history is equally valuable: previous slowdowns, what preceded them, and how quickly hay interest returned. Add musculoskeletal notes too, such as stiffness on rising in an older Giant or splay on slippery floors, because a new vet planning handling and examination for a very large rabbit benefits from knowing before lifting.
Diet, Housing, and Handling Notes Only You Can Give
Write down the current diet in practical terms: hay type and how much is actually eaten, pellet amount, the greens in regular rotation, and any foods that have disagreed with this rabbit. Describe housing — indoor pen, free range of a room, flooring surfaces — since environment explains feet, weight, and behaviour findings. Then the handling brief a new team genuinely needs for a Flemish Giant: this rabbit's temperament with strangers, how it prefers to be lifted with full hindquarter support, whether it kicks when startled, and any trick that keeps it calm, such as a familiar blanket in the carrier. Note the carrier size used, so the practice knows what will arrive through the door.
What to Bring to the First Appointment Itself
On the day, bring the handover packet, your log book or its printout, a note of the hay brand and pellet type if packaging will not be to hand, and a short list of your own questions — for a Giant, sensible ones cover weight targets for its frame, hock prevention on your flooring, and dental check intervals. Note the carrier and vehicle plan too, since a practice that knows a Flemish Giant arrives in an oversized carrier can have a suitable table and enough hands ready. Ask the new vet to record a baseline weight and foot check at that first visit, so the transferred history and the new file join up without a gap.
What Is Ongoing, and Why You Are Moving
Close the handover with the live list: anything currently being monitored, the recheck interval your previous vet set, and what change should bring the rabbit in sooner. If a current problem prompted the move to a new vet, say so plainly with its timeline — when signs began, what has been tried, and what the previous practice found — because a second-opinion visit works best when it is honestly framed. Bring the log book or printout rather than a summary from memory. Presenting the Giant's identity, dated history, diet, and handling notes through KinsLe in Pet Passport gives the new practice one complete packet to work from at the first appointment.