Dental Problem *UPDATE*

[Nara mk]

Hi everyone, it seems that Hazel has a dental problem in her lower incisors. The gum is white right where it meets her teeth and the left one turned to a yellowish almost translucent color, there’s also some white stuff on the tooths base that moves around.

She’s been eating slowly for the past week but she stopped eating hard food and hay completely since yesterday, unless I chop the veggies to a small size where she can chew on it with her molars. Same goes for the hay.

I’ll post some pictures because maybe someone has seen this before? I have two rabbits and only Hazel is struggling with this, the other one has pearly white teeth that are sharp as razors. The hay brand I haven’t changed in months and I rarely give them any treats. Although I did stop giving the pellets for  over two months now, could it be Calcium deficiency?

Here are the pictures:

 

[Sirius&Luna]

If she’s stopped eating it sounds like it’s causing her pain. I would get her to a vet as soon as possible so that they can have a look at it, and prescribe her some pain killers.

In my non-expert opinion, it looks like that tooth has somehow died.

[Nara mk]

Posted By Sirius&Luna on 10/13/2017 8:16 AM

If she’s stopped eating it sound[-s like it’s/ causing her pain. I would get her to a vet as soon as possible so that they can have a look at it, and prescribe her some pain killers.

In my non-expert opinion, it looks like that tooth has somehow died.

I will be taking her to the vet tomorrow because they’re closed today. She is eating all her normal food in smaller sizes without having to use her incisors.

I don’t know about it being dead, the base looks good to me ?

[Wick & Fable]

I think there’s an infection or malady within the tooth which has spread because it hasn’t been treated. Rabbit teeth never stop growing, so if that’s the case and the malady hasn’t penetrated the tooth root, it can be killed with antibiotics and the tooth will naturally grow-out the dead malady part, leaving the rest to be healthy and continue to grow healthy.

If it has affected the root, a tooth extraction is necessary.

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.

[Fluffykins]

Wow that looks like a really bad infection. Please keep us updated on what the vets say.

[Nara mk]

So the very next day she was acting normal and pulling at my clothes which I found weird since she couldn’t bite on hard food, I checked her mouth to find the tooth gone.

I took her to the vet and after looking at the pictures he said it’s caused by lack of calcium and sunlight, he said it’s common in indoor rabbits and that there’s nothing we can do other than wait for the tooth to grow back. He said her gum looks healthy and there are no wounds or infection whatsoever.

Then I saw last night that the upper incisor has gotten too long and soon would hurt her lower lip so I used a nail file to rasp it as gently as possible, it worked and Hazel didn’t mind but I’m not sure if it’s safe? I want to do it weekly so that way we wouldn’t have to visit the vet for a trim that might do more harm than good. What do you guys think? She doesn’t like to chew on anything either, so her wooden toys aren’t helping.

[Wick & Fable]

While owners clipping their own rabbits incisors was a common practice in the past, it’s no longer recommended. An owner doing it without a proper grinding tool, which vets have, may cause a lateral crack down the tooth, opening way for bacteria to enter and infect the tooth.

I suggest speaking with your vet and consulting about who should do it and the best tool.

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.

[joea64]

I’m planning to take my buns in for their first (since moving in with me) semiannual checkup in the next month. I’ll have to consult with the vet about proper tooth maintenance; I’m pretty sure they get enough sunlight at this time, but it may be a problem as winter comes up. As for calcium, they appear to be getting enough from their diet; at any rate, I haven’t noticed anything out of order with their urine when I empty and replace the litter.

[Bam]

Rabbits have a peculiar way of metabolizing calcium, and it’s more common for them to get too much calcium than too little. Calcium levels in the rabbit are only affected by sunlight (UVB rays, so sun through a window doesn’t count) and vitamin D if the diet is deficient in calcium. In humans and dogs and most other mammals, calcium uptake is dependent on vitamin D, but this is not true for rabbits. Rabbits absorb every last bit of calcium they eat and excrete what their body doesn’t need via the kidneys. Frances Harcourt Brown has written a good deal about this.

You might be able to get a vet or vet tech to show you how to manage her incisors. For some buns, complete extraction is a better approach.

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