It does sound like it could be his teeth. It’s quite, quite possible to do everything right and the bun still develops molar spurs when it gets old. It’s great that he’s still eating hay!

I’d say go to the vet sooner rather than later, and preferably before he stops eating (which a rabbit is highly likely to do if it has dental pain -it doesnt even have to be “bad” dental pain). If it is his teeth, you want to stop it from getting worse. If you nip it in the bud chances are good a simple burr could set things straight again. As you are fully aware, overgrown teeth can cause really bad problems down the line.

If he’s in good shape, sedation shouldnt be a big issue for him even if he is a senior. Rabbit vets have special protocols for sedating buns +5 years. They must of course always caution the bun owner about the risk,  because full anesthesia can never be 100% risk free. But a simple dental burr doesn’t take a long time, so the bun will only be under for a v short time, which minimizes the risk of hypothermia.

Stock up on some Critical Care and ask the vet for a prescription for meloxicam to give him for a cpl of days when he comes back home.

I know what you mean about being a nervous wreck about having to have your bun put under. I feel it too with mine. I honestly think most dedicated bun caretakers do. They’re such fragile little creatures and we love them so much.

I agree that going sooner would be best. He is still eating and there are no obvious signs of significant decline, so I’d encourage you to remind yourself of that as you sit in worry — he’s not in any sort of immediate danger.

In the future (or now?), you can also try giving CC in lieu of investing in a bag of different pellets– CC is nutritionally balanced, in addition to having the needed fiber, so it is a nice quality alternative if there are concerns about lack of nutrition/fiber in a less enthusiastic rabbit. You can also bake CC in cookies too.

The refocusing to non-food chew objects also is encouraging of a vet visit. Perhaps there’s a mild discomfort somewhere, unrelated to dental. A general exam, and potentially x ray may be helpful in case there may be some early arthritic discomfort expressing as less enthusiasm in general.

Can you try offering him pellet mash? Or critical care or some other recovery food? If his mouth is hurting but he’s still hungry he will likely eat it on his own and it will help keep his strength up.

It’s not uncommon for buns to need a dental burring at some point as they age as their bone density shifts a bit. Usually the procedure is quite quick and I agree that 8 isn’t so old that I would be worried.

((((Good dental vibes))))

Twilight anesthesia sounds like a great option!

I have cut up hay in a kitchen bowl with normal scissors. Don’t use your best scissors, hay and grass ruin scissor blades. You can also soften hay with some water or steam to make it easier to chew.

Happy to hear he’s back home with you! Thank you for the update!

It can take a couple of days for him to get back to eating properly again, the antibiotics might also temporarily subdue his appetite.

I’d say you should see improvement over the next few days. How kong it takes  depends not only on the severity of the problem but also on how long there has been a problem. One of my buns went 4 weeks before my vets decided he probably needed a burr although his spurs were super tiny. It then took him 5 days to get back to normal eating. I think he couldve been afraid that eating certain things would hurt. After 5 days he was as good as new though!

Anyway, if your bun isnt eating like he should, you will need to syringe him CC a cpl times/day, so he doesnt run out of energy or falls into stasis because of an empty GI tract.

Its great that you have a follow-up appt booked! By early next week he should have perked up considerably.

It’s great that he has the energy and enthusiasm to chew a chew toy! Chewing a chew toy is indeed a front teeth thing, its hay eating that requires the sideways motion and necessary grinding of the molars. The squeaky sound probably means there’s still some uneveness, but I know from experience  that minor uneveness can be ground down if the bun eats more hay and/or grass. My bun Bam had minor molar uneveness that his rabbit vet thought was fixable by upping the amount of fresh grass he got (he mostly refused hay all his life). A few months later, his teeth were x-rayed again and deemed fine 🙂

It’s very good of course that he fights you. It’s inconvenient for you, but a feisty bun is a strong bun.

As for the tongue sore, your vet will take a look at it again on your follow up visit. Most tongue sores will heal fast and well once the spurs are removed, but theres always a slight possibility that complications occur.

It sounds like a wise thing to do, esp since the weekend is coming up. He might need some sub q fluids, a bit higher dose pain meds and perhaps a motility drug (for example metoclopramide). There’s an appetite-stimulating med called  Mirtazapin (originally a human anti-depressant that is now also used to stimulate appetite in pets).

Hoping for news that he’s doing better. (((get-well-soon-bun)))

Oh, great that he wasn’t in actual stasis! And that he found the carrot just too delicious to resist 😃 Wonderful that there were no squeeky chewing sounds!

Rabbits do need their rest, my rabbit vet always says not to do syringe feeding during the night for this reason. The amount of CC a rabbit needs per day can definitely seem staggering at first. I had a tiny bun (1.5 kilos) who for a while relied totally on CC, he needed about 90-100 ml per day, divided up into 5 or 6 feedings. A rabbit stomach holds about 20 ml. The first time I was told to give him a full 20 ml syringe with CC I was like 😱

Fingers crossed he’ll keep improving!

Is he still on pain meds?

Sometimes they are good indicator as to whether it’s ongoing tooth pain or something else. If you see an improvement with the pain meds, then my guess would be his teeth are still sensitive. If not, then maybe he’s dealing with some GI issues from all the stress or something else. (of course pain meds can help with pain from other conditions too though).

What strenght metacam and how much does he weigh? This is relevant because dosage of meloxicam (active substance in metacam) is calculated in mg per kilo body weight. Medirabbit (trusted source) says 0.3-06 mg per kilo body weight per 24 hours for mild to moderate pain (see picture). Rabbits metabolize meloxicam quickly, so a 2 kilo bun needs at least as much as a 10 kilo dog per 24 hours.

http://www.medirabbit.com/Safe_medication/Analgesics/safe_analgesics.htm

It does seem he’s a tad under-dosed. Here”s a metacam calculator: http://vgr1.com/metacam/calc1/detailcalc.php

It’s often beneficial to divide the daily dose up in 2 instead of one big dose per 24 hours. Rabbits metabolize meloxicam quickly. Their small inestine is comparatively short (most drugs sre taken up inte small intestine). My bun Vilde was in severe dental pain for a while, and needed 1.2 mg/kilo body weight twice daily for quite some time, as per my rabbit vet’s advice. As Medirabbit says, meloxicam is well tolerated by buns even for prolonged use.  (Its pretty much like ibuprofen for humans).

ETA: I didnt know either about not doing feedings during the night until my rabbit vet explicitly told me not to.

Strenght and steadiness is actually great. Grooming himself is also great. The anorexua could be due to the antibiotics.

There are other pain meds than meloxicam nowadays. There’s one called maropitant thats increasly being used in buns just these last cpl of years. There’s also metamizole (brand name Novalgin) that my Vilde got. They can be combined with meloxicam.

Pain management is extremely important f buns, they are pain sensitive as a species.