Does my bun have a dental problem?

[Mowglimum]

A few weeks ago my 7 year old dwarf Rex house rabbit went off his food. He was nibbling a few things, but not his usual voracious appetite. I took him to a vet who checked him over gave him a pain killer injection, and buprenorphine and cisapride to take home.  He got worse, so I started syringe feeding and took him back a few days later. The vet checked him again and could find nothing obvious. She said a couple of teeth looked a bit sharp, but she wouldn’t be worrying about them if I had just brought him in for a check up. She  gave him another analgesic injection  and told me to bring him back after the bank holiday weekend if he was no better and they would do a blood test,  then bring him back for dental work once they had the results and we would see if that helped.

He actually really perked up a few days later once when the injection was out of his system and we had run out of cisapride. For the last couple of weeks he has seemed quite happy. He comes out runs around, sunbathes, binkies, gets into mischief, totally relaxes and enjoys a stroke, and doesn’t seem in pain at all. He is eating more, but not back to his usual volume, it takes him a couple of goes to finish his nuggets, but he won’t touch hay.
He eats a variety of food, nuggets, fruit, veg, grass, herbs, hawthorn, muesli, so it’s not like he is only choosing soft things. He is not dribbling, or dropping food out of his mouth. Poops are coming out, but slightly smaller than usual.

 

He has had stasis and EC in the past, and this is nothing like either of those where he has looked ill.

 

He gets so stressed going to the vets, and I am unsure whether to put him through a visit for a blood test, then another visit and general anaesthetic for dental work if we are not even sure this is the problem. As an old guy, we probably wouldn’t put him through further invasive tests and treatment if something more serious is going on.

Should we just keep him at home, spoil him rotten and enjoy every second, until he looks like he is suffering, or do you think it could be a dental problem that we can easily fix? Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DanaNM]

This does sound like it very well could be a dental problem. The fact that she saw some sharp looking teeth AND he isn’t wanting his hay suggests that the points very well could be bothering him. Hay requires the most side to side chewing and is usually the first thing to go when a bun has molar spurs. It’s not uncommon for buns to need a trim around ages 6-7 as bone density shifts a bit as they age and can lead to some molar spurs forming. The fact that he is showing symptoms already indicates pain. Remember that rabbits hide their pain very well, and often there is only a subtle symptom of an underlying problem. The other thing is that it’s very hard to see the back molars without anesthesia, so the fact that the vet could see some points just from looking during the normal exam suggests that there could be more going on in the back of the mouth.

7 is not too old, and the molar burring is a very fast procedure and a very easy fix. I would not write this off as something serious and incurable when there is clear evidence that it could be his teeth. There are cases here on the forum of buns having a tiny molar spur that was annoying them enough to send them into stasis.

Some vets are not very confident with dentals, so if you get that impression I would seek out a more confident vet. Not all vets require blood work prior to dentals as well because it typically only requires very light anesthesia.

Edit: if you want more information before doing the dental, you could request x-rays first.

. . . 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.  

[Mowglimum]

Thank you so much for the advice. Mowgli had his treatment today, and they did find a few spurs, so hopefully that was the problem and he will be back to full appetite soon.

[DanaNM]

I’m happy to hear he got treatment! I’m sure he will feel much better soon!

. . . 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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