It’s great that he is eating. There could be some sort of malabsorption that stops him from gaining, in which case support formula would be a good idea. These formulas are made for easy uptake, so the body doesnt have to work so hard to get to the good stuff.

Your bun is a big breed bun, my great rabbit vet says big breed buns can’t sustain themselves on hay only or near-hay only. There simply aren’t enough hours in a day for a big bun to eat all the hay needed to meet the caloric requirements. Dental disease is also very common in the big breeds, making it even harder for them.

Complete cheek teeth extraction is not an option where I am either. There is an ethical aspect. Pulling a rotten tooth or two or even removing the incisors in cases of really bad malocclusion is done here, but not extraction of all the teeth.

In March this year I listened to a vet webbinar on rabbit teeth, it was an event arranged by our national rabbit wellfare society. The vet said it’s extremely important to catch dental disease early (just like you have done), but even so, many buns can’t be “cured”, just managed. Owners have to tweak the bun’s diet and keep on top of things i e maintain a regimen of oral check-ups to catch spurs early and any signs of infection, teeth coming loose etc, and if we do that the bun can live a great quality life.

I had a bun that was found to have horrible teeth. He was 6 when I adopted him. Long story so I’ll spare you, but he never got any infections in his gums or around his tooth roots, the teeth had stopped growing so they never grew into his eye sockets or down through his lower jawbone. There was some hope that the body would just slowly resorb the teeth (this can happen). Anyway, he was put on antiinflammatory meds (meloxicam) for life and I gave him a big meal of Critical Care every evening of every day.  He never ate it from a plate but he willingly took it from the syringe. When he heard me getting his CC ready in the kitchen, he came hopping and sat himself down and waited for it, which was the sweetest thing. I weighed him every couple of days to make sure he kept around his target weight (he was a tiny bun, 1500 grams).

I hope you’ll be able to manage your buns health challenges, with the help of your vet. It is so very important to have a good vet that knows your bun.