Molar spurs

[Alfiesmom]

So my poor Alfie has gone through quite a bit in his 7 months so far. He has dealt with GI stasis way too many times and our first vet believed that he was dealing with megacolon as everything else checked out regarding his check up minus the odd shaped poops. Fast forward to beginning of January, Alfie started showing symptoms of teeth problems such as sticking his tongue out and kind of moving his lower jaw as if it’s uncomfortable as well as the stasis reoccuring. He would also have a wet chin and some fur loss as well as mild diarrhea. My gut kept thinking this was regarding his teeth, but the first vet would look into his mouth and say everything looked great. I ended up finding a second vet for another opinion through the HRS site and within the first appointment, he confirmed that Alfie has a molar spur on the lower jaw far back in his mouth. He wanted to try administering pain and anti-inflammatory medication first to see if Alfie would start using that side of his mouth on his own and file the tooth down to avoid any more stress. It did appear to work because his symptoms stopped and he was eating way more hay than I’ve ever seen. 5 weeks later and now today, the symptoms have reappeared and I intend to book an appointment asap to prevent Alfie going into stasis and having to deal with this for much longer. I just wanted to hear some opinions or experiences with anyone whose bun had chronic dental issues. If the pain medication (Metacam) worked the first time to help Alfie chew properly, could this be a possible treatment method that can continue for a longer period of time? I know in most cases, people go the route of filing the spurs down, but the vet is concerned that with him being such a small rabbit, it would be very difficult to properly file the teeth down, especially when the molar spur is way far back in the mouth. I just want the best for him and I’m willing to do anything that will keep him healthy and happy. 

[Wick & Fable]

I’m glad to hear Alfie’s making it through and his teeth are getting addressed! My viewpoint, while biased from my experiences, I think can offer you with something to chew on. I’ve never seen dental grindings as being a risky endeavor because Wick’s vet never expressed it as being such. It’s very routine — we go in, confirm dental discomfort, and they take Wick away for 15 minutes to have it done while I wait in the lobby.

If you find a vet who’s experienced in molar spur grindings, Alfie’s size should not be too much of an issue. Alfie has been through some endeavors, but if he goes in healthy as can be for the grinding, it should be relatively simple if the vet is experienced with doing dentals. Wick had his first grinding at 5 months old, and he was quite tiny and in the middle of oral/shot antibiotic treatment for his URI. He’s less than 1kg now at 1 year + 3 months old, so you can imagine he was quite small at 5 months old. Wick’s had seven grindings to date, and he’s bounced back after every single one within 1-2 hours after it’s done.

To an extent, spurs can be taken care of through hay eating (getting to your question about metacam management); however, if it’s a genetic predisposition (commonly found in netherland dwarves and small breeds), hay consumption will not be enough to prevent the spurs. Wick has an underbite and a crooked jaw, so he grows spurs on his top molars which do not bother him too much, but once a spur comes up on his bottom right, that’s when we need to go in because he shows signs of discomfort. His mouth anatomy makes it literally impossible for him to grind down those spurs effectively as they grow. He’s now on a regimen on a teeth grinding every 5 weeks. We also get his bottom incisors ground down as low as possible because they grind to become slanted, due to his irregular chewing movement.

It’s your decision based on what you observe about Alfie and his bounce-back. Wick is very resilient consistently through anesthesia and medical treatments, so I know just having him get it done is not a health risk, but I know that’s not the case for other rabbits. It may be worth getting it done once now and observing whether the spurs come back in months down the road, making them more prominently as spurs which need human-intervention to be dealt with. Once every 5 weeks is a very accelerated regimen. A lot of owners with chronic dentals go in once every few months or once a year more typically. Wick’s just needy.

Feel free to ask any additional questions!

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.

[Alfiesmom]

Thank you so much for your input! It seems that Alfie has the reoccurence every 5 weeks as well, we just didn’t realize that was the issue until we sought the 2nd vet. Alfie has been under anesthesia a couple times and has never had any issues so I’ll definitely look at the route of filing. I have a suspicion that Alfie may have a misaligned jaw as well because when I check the front teeth, the bottom is not exactly aligned with the top and the spurs appear on the bottom right side of his jaw. He is a Holland lop, so I suspected that dental issues would likely pop up with his breed. I think my vet may just be uncomfortable with Alfie’s size (he’s 2.4 lbs) as their usual rabbit patients are larger breeds, so I’ll have him refer to another vet to do the filings if that’s what is needed. Was Wick ever given pain medication after each file? I assume that if Alfie’s jaw is in fact misaligned, then he’s only grinding the tooth down as far as it can go without medical intervention, thus causing the spur to come back rather quickly? 

[Wick & Fable]

Wick typically gets one dose after the procedure while at the vets and doesn’t need anymore after that. Wick’s vet always asks as a platitude if I need more Metacam, but we never do. The only time we had to get additional follow up was after Wick’s 4th grinding I think, where I had to set an actual appointment to Wick’s vet’s shock. It ended up that the grinding irritated a tooth infection, so Wick was not feeling so hot after the grinding. That was resolved once identified though with antibiotics. It’s not a common occurrence.

Yes, if Alfie’s jaw is misaligned, it’s possible he can only grind it so far without medical intervention. Wick’s crooked jaw is apparent by misaligned front/bottom incisors, so that is a good indicator that genes could cause this to be reoccurring.

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.

[Alfiesmom]

Thank you so much, this was really informative. I’m glad that we have at least discovered what the issue is now, considering we have gone for months just dealing with the symptoms only with the 1st vet. We have a holiday here in Canada today, so I will be calling my vet tomorrow and hopefully getting Alfie in the same day if possible.

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