Possible molar spurs?

[Rainn]

Rain was doing really well until this past week, she got picky with her usual foods again and I noticed sneezing so we took her to the vet for Baytril asap. This is usually what she does when she’s having bacterial issues, so I thought it’d just clear up as soon as she got her first dose like it always has. Today’s the third day and she doesn’t seem to be getting back to her normal appetite and energy levels. She’ll only eat critical care and romaine lettuce and maybe some pellets after taking pain meds. At the checkup the vet said she might have the slightest bit overgrowth on one of her back molars, but Rain kept squirming and kicking so she couldn’t get a good look. But she also did some jaw chewing exercises and said her teeth didn’t catch or anything when chewing? Should I take her back to get sedated for a better look at the teeth? She also doesn’t seem to be pooping normally, the ones she made look normal but she seems to strain in the litter box even though she ate plenty of Crit care.

[DanaNM]

In my experience, if the vet thinks they can see something in the normal exam, it’s worth taking a closer look, since it’s usually pretty hard for them to see the back teeth at all. Especially since she has some symptoms of dental issues, I think I’d try to book her in for a dental. Sometimes even a tiny molar spur causes enough pain to make a bun stop eating hay.

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Yeah I’ll definitely take her in on Monday, she’s been on baytril and pain meds the whole week and hasn’t improved her appetite or poop production. I’m very worried because she’s super slow today and still sneezing a lot. She still gets excited over Critical care (it’s like crack for her) and pellets, and will eat romaine lettuce if i hold it for her so there’s that at least. I hope it’s a small spur and nothing else, she’s never taken this long to get back to normal. In the meantime i should just continue giving her gas drops pain meds and antibiotics until Monday right?

[Rainn]

Can I give her pain meds more than once a day? She’s really worrying me right now, and I’m just trying to keep her going till monday. It says on the bottle .3 mL once a day but I feel like she’s in a lot of pain right now since they’ve likely worn off. Her stomach also still feels like its full of gas even though I gave her gas drops 3 times today, an hour apart each. She passed around 20-30 good poops, it seems like there’s no blockage so I’m really stressed and lost as to why she’s so slow.

[DanaNM]

Sorry just seeing this now! It’s not usually advisable to give a second pain med dose ahead of schedule without checking with the vet first. How is she doing now?

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Thank you! She’s doing okay, still producing some poops and taking pellets/critical care and water. I’m thinking the issue is she’s resistant to Baytril, because I’m seeing discharge on her nose now. Just 6 more hours till she sees the vets, things should be okay

[Rainn]

She’s back home from her visit, they ended up filing down a lot of her teeth. The vet said it was a really bad case and she had a lot of painful areas from teeth poking at her cheeks 😔 Makes me so sad because I wouldn’t have known if it hadn’t gotten to this point. The vet said to aggressively give critical care for the week until her mouth heals, and pain meds and antibiotics to prevent infections. How do I know if I’m giving too much critical care?

[Wick & Fable]

You can identify an upper threshold with the following chart, which is the guidance for rabbits who need to sustain solely on CC daily:

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.

[Rainn]

Thank you!

[DanaNM]

I’m glad you got her in! I know she’d been having some ongoing issues so I’m sure she 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.  

[Rainn]

Thank you so much ❤️ I really appreciate the help! One last thing (sorry I know its annoying 😅) but is it normal for her to still be sitting hunched up after the surgery? She’s eating all her critical care and drinking plenty of water, took pain meds and antibiotics but still having dry sneezing fits and sitting like she’s in pain. I’m worried that even if her molars were filed down, her incisor roots might be too long and poking into her nasal cavity making her still sneeze like that. Is that something I should take her in for again once she’s settled down or is it going to get better after the filing?

[Wick & Fable]

If the teeth were spurred enough to do damage to the mouth, there will still be pain I’m sure, even with the teeth filed down. Thankfully now though, the spurs will not continually irritate those injuries so they can take time to properly heal and ideally she’ll be feeling better soon. If it appears that the pain is not well tolerated so she’s not eating at all despite several hours passing, I would not hesitate to call the vet and report what you’re seeing and ask about potentially upping the pain med dosage.

I would wait until after she is fully recovered from the filing before moving forward with assessments on the teeth roots — you want to see what her “baseline” is after recovering from this and for her to be in tip-top shape if other assessments/treatments are needed to address the sneezing.

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.

[Rainn]

Hello, Rain’s been recovering well the past 4-5 days from her dental surgery. I just noticed though that one of her cheeks is swollen and noticeably jutting out compared to the other. Is this normal because of the surgery or something I need to get checked out immediately? I’m worried it’s a tooth abscess but I don’t know anything about those.

[Wick & Fable]

I would absolutely recommend ringing the vet and reporting this — swollen cheek can be a sign of infection and you want that assessed and treated as soon as possible.

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.

[Rainn]

Thank you, I will go ahead and call the vet on Monday!

[Rainn]

Okay, so the vet said the abscess formed when her teeth were cutting into her cheek and she drained it yesterday and said to continue Baytril and pain meds even tho Baytril seems to be doing nothing at all. Rain’s been very lethargic today and she’s been acting unlike herself. She’s started eating her litter box bedding and runs away when someone goes near her unless it’s to feed her CC or some fruit. The vet said to bring her back for a check in in 6 days, but I’m really afraid that Rain might not make it. What am I missing or doing wrong that’s causing her to only get worse?

[Bam]

You are not doing anything wrong, this is about the infection. Her body is fighting the infection now. I don’t suppose you could get hold of your rabbit vet on the weekend or I’d recommend that you speak to them. Keep feeding her and make sure she is kept warm. It’ promising that she doesnt run away from CC and fruit.

[DanaNM]

She very well might need a stronger antibiotic than Baytril. Oral antibiotics usually don’t penetrate the abscess capsule.

Usually with an abscess you have to do subcutaneous penicillin injections, so I would talk to your vet about that ASAP. Aggressive treatment of abscesses is crucial to get them under control. If this vet doesn’t seem experienced with rabbit abscesses, I would get a second opinion!

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Hello, thank you both for the responses! So we called the vet again today about changing the antibiotic and she said to continue Baytril for 7 more days before considering changing it… I think that this vet doesn’t seem to be the most experienced with rabbits, but she’s also the only one. I checked rabbit.org and everything for rabbit vets and the ones listed aren’t in my state anymore. The swelling on her cheek does seem much better after it got drained, and today she’s more responsive (perks up at shaking the treat bag, snatches food from your hand)  though still too low on energy levels to run around.

[Bam]

It sounds good so far! Lovely that you’re seeing some improvement! Baytril is a broad spectrum rabbit-safe antibiotic (broad soectrum means it is effective against many kinds of bacteria), but as Dana says, abscesses as a rule need to be treated with both systemic antibiotics and local. The rabbit owner is often instructed to keep the abscess open,  remove all pus (rabbit pus is thick like toothpaste and won’t drain through a tube) and to squirt either antibiotic cream or manukka honey into the abscess cavity daily. Since the abscess has shrunk, it seems that what you are doing now is working, but you should keep a close eye so it doesn’t start to puff up again. You could perhaps take daily, or twice daily, photos of it, because it is often very difficult to see if there are changes based on one’s recollection.

[DanaNM]

It’s a very good sign that she’s snatching the treats, even though she’s not 100%!

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Thank you! We got her to eat little bits of veggies too for the first time in the past two weeks. But her left eye, the same side with the swelling is leaking with discharge now. I gave her the same drops we used the last time she got an eye infection (they worked pretty efficiently) and am doing my best to keep the area clean. Also Bam, I will go ahead and take photos. Our vet hasn’t mentioned putting anything into the cavity yet.

[DanaNM]

I would definitely let the vet know about this new development, it could indicate the infection is spreading to her eye, in which case you need to get her on a systemic antibiotic ASAP.

. . . 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.  

[Rainn]

Update: turns out that discharge was just from the abscess bursting! She’s doing really well now, so I think we will continue this treatment and work to get her back to hay and veggies soon. Still, I will report everything to the vet at her follow up just in case. Thank you all!

[Author]

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