Molar Trims

[Dasher]

Dasher had some teeth trimmed yesterday so I was wondering how often they will need to be trimmed again. She is 3.5 years old and this is the first time she has had any teeth issues so how long can I expect to go until she needs her teeth trimmed again?

[Dee]

My vet said that many rabbits don’t need their teeth done again, so you might get lucky. My rabbit, Luke, just had his molars done at about age 3-1/2 too! Unfortunately, 3 months later, we just had to do it again ?. I don’t get how their teeth can not cause issues for all that time, and then suddenly need to be trimmed, especially on a regular basis. However, I think the fact that your rabbit made it this far without a trim is a good indicator that maybe it won’t be a frequent problem.

Did Dasher stop eating or act unwell? And did any vets ever notice the possibility of spurs in the future? Luke kept getting what I thought was GI issues due to chewing on weird stuff throughout the house- turned out the chewing was in response to tooth pain and GI issue resolved after he healed from his molar trim. Also, 2 vets had commented on his teeth looking like they might give him trouble eventually. Now I am taking Luke into the vet every 8-10 weeks to be checked- I’m going to avoid him ending up in pain because I don’t catch it until he shows symptoms.

How is Dasher healing? Luke took a while to start eating normally after the 1st time- this time he was eating everything in 3 days- until something- no idea what- hurt him and now he’s back to not eating anything but bananas. So stressful. I hope Dasher recovers quickly and doesn’t become a frequent flier because of this.

[Wick & Fable]

It varies, and it can be due to a variety of factors, like a change in how the rabbit chews which prevents all teeth from getting ground down, or just over time the spurs develop and need to be intervened on once. Just monitor and see how it goes!

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.

[Dasher]

Dasher never stopped eating but the only sign of teeth issues was that she was choking on pellets. She was pretty inactive when I got home but after 2-3 hours she was back to normal. She ate her pellets today with no issues.

[Dasher]

Well she choked twice yesterday even when hand feeding her. Idk what the problem is. It wasn’t as bad as before but I seriously cannot have a choking bunny. Could her mouth still be sore from her teeth poking her? I’ve been giving her pellet mush for now.

[Wick & Fable]

If the spur was really driving in there, it could be remnant sore. Maybe she isn’t chewing properly because of that so it’s making her more likely to choke. Pellet mush for the best couple days is a safe bet.

You may want to try giving her a piece of green lettuce and observe how good she is at rotating the piece and swallowing it. A lot of mouth movement and coordination is needed to effectively pull in and chew larger treats and vegetable pieces, so it could reveal whether or not she’s having jaw movement issues.

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.

[Dasher]

She seems to eat her lettuce fine. I guess not every pellet was completely mashed when I was giving her pellet mash and she choked again. I saw a lot of mash falling out of her mouth when she was choking so I’m wondering if she is just trying to eat so much that she doesn’t even chew and she just tries to swallow her food. I don’t know if there’s a medical issue or if she’s just kinda dumb. I just feel like I’ve let her choke too many time and I know the signs too well. I’m prepared to help her if she does choke but it just scares me. My sister says she can get the pellet out by herself and that I’m just scaring Dasher when I try to help her but I’m not taking any chances especially when I see the fear in her eyes and I know something is wrong. I’ve just been feeding her pellet mash and she’s been fine for the past week. Also if I feed her one pellet at a time very slowly she seems to be ok.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bindi started getting molar trims several years ago. First it was twice a year, then it went to every 4-5 months. Really depends on the bunny. Bindi would usually start to lose weight (which I can’t tell now since he’s so thin from other problems) and start having mushy poos when he needed them trimmed.

I only feed B mushy pellets due to several choking episodes a few years ago. I’m very anal about it. I put the pellets in a bowl and cover with warm water. Let them sit for 10 minutes and then dump them on a plate and feel it all for any hard pellets which I discard.

[Dasher]

Ok so I noticed that whenever I give Dasher a piece of hay she moves it to the left side of her mouth. I haven’t seen her use her right side. She had her molars trimmed on her right side. Maybe she has a different issue with her teeth? Any thoughts?

[Wick & Fable]

Rabbits chew in a grinding motion, so that’s not too surprising. If she’s favoring one side, it could be an indication of slight misalignment by jaw or teeth shape, but I wouldn’t get too concerned, though I don’t know normative chewing motion because I know Wick’s is abnormal to an extent. Continue to monitor, and if anything, Dasher may just require routine filings more so on one side of the mouth than another.

Generally it’s very typical for rabbits to rotate hay before it enters their mouth to make chewing easy

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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