BUNNY INCISOR REMOVAL

[Nyla]

IMG_5533 IMG_5531Hi recently I noticed my bunny, bubbles, wasn’t able to close her mouth. I took her to a vet but unfortunately they “didn’t know what to do” and prescribed us unnecessary medication. Thankfully, i came across a vet on tiktok who works with exotic animals including bunnies. I reached out to him and he told me she has something called prognathism. Her jaw is unaligned which developed and underbite causing her teeth to grow due to not being able to grind or chew things. Therefore I was told it’s best to extract her incisors and they do best without them anyways. With that being said, We have an appointment at a new vet tomorrow🤞 Is there anything I should know before getting there. I am afraid they may charge me for unnecessary test, medications.. etc. (Due to my prior experience)  Please let me know what is required so I know I am not getting robbed and we are getting the help we need!

[DanaNM]

When a bun has really severe malocclusion (tooth misalignment), incisor removal is often the way to go, otherwise they need constant dental trims. I do know of several buns who had their incisors extracted and they got along just fine. All we had to do was chop their salads up into smaller pieces so it was easier for them to handle. If the vet is experienced with dental surgery then I suspect it will go really well! You should ask the vet how many dentals they do.

For dental work, the vet may want to take their own x-rays prior to the procedure if you don’t have recent x-rays from your previous vet. Alternatively, they may opt to just book him for the procedure. Some vets/owners like to do blood work prior to anesthesia, but this depends a bit on the bun and the owner. Usually it’s only necessary if the bun is very ill and may not handle surgery well.

Other costs would be the procedure itself, which will vary in price mostly depending on how long the bun is under anesthesia. Then there will be pain meds and possibly some antibiotics for afterwards. The vet should give you an estimate of all of these costs prior to the surgery.

A good test to see how rabbit savvy the vet is is to ask the vet what the pre- and post-opp instructions are. They should not tell you to fast the bun completely, and should plan to send you home with pain meds and supplies for syringe feeding. Sometimes the reception is not as informed as the vet, so ask the vet directly when you are in the appointment.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Nyla]

My vet is telling me they may need to do surgery on her jaw because of the alignment. However I figured it was best to remove the incisors as well as a vet I spoke to online. Im worried the surgery may not be necessary and they are just doing more to get money. Please if anyone else was in the situation where their bunny had misaligned jaw please reply!! Does my bunny NEED surgery or is the extraction fine on its own ?!

[DanaNM]

We cannot really say what the bun needs because we are not vets, but the best thing to do would be to get a second opinion from an exotics vet with dental experience. I’m not familiar with jar surgeries to correct alignment in rabbits.

Also to clarify, tooth extraction does count as surgery… there could be a concern that the molars are also misaligned as well.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

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