My Netherland Dwarf Wick has had 14 molar spur grindings at this point — all of which he made through fine, as you can imagine (he’s sleeping right next to me right now, haha). The first dozen all happened before he hit 2yo, so he was very young, and very small; however, I fully trusted our vet and she was very explicit in explaining exactly what would happen, how long it would probably take, how anesthesia would be incorporated, and what she would expect recovery to be like.  Wick’s latest molar spur grindings have been with a different vet since we moved. His anesthesia protocol is heavier (valid though, due to safety reasons; Wick’s first vet was a very small, rural-ish practice so much less standardized, though nothing illegal or anything of course), so Wick took a little longer to recovery from the procedure, but still ended up fine!

At the end of the day, there may be some discomfort and worry, but if it means your baby can eat care-free again, it may very well be worth it 🙂 It’s great that you got a second opinion. I highly recommend having an engaging conversation with this new vet to understand her approach and help ease your concerns. The more you learn, the more certain you can be in what the most plausible outcome will be. So many rabbits are affected by dental issues, so the success of molar grindings are typically quite high with an experienced vet.

My Yohio had 3 burrs during his life. No problems whatsoever. He passed away of sth completely unrelated. My current bun Vilde has had 2 burrs so far, he was 7 for both.. No problems with anaesthesia, and he was in a *really* bad way for his first burr. He was practically dying, but the burr turned things around. Like Theo, he was wrongly diagnosed at first by an experienced vet who failed to identify his  grave dental problems.

Dental burrs are pretty much standard procedure for buns these days. The bite changes with age as the bones of the skull becomes less dense. I’d sat 5 years is the typical age when dental issues start to manifest.

How is Theo?

My Moose had to have several dental procedures (which ended up being molar extractions… he had some serious issues), and bounced back immediately after. He started eating basically as soon as he was awake, I think because his mouth felt so much better. The fact that Theo takes CC readily is great, so hopefully he will eat that as soon as he wakes up. 🙂