self inflicted wounds on Coco

[cocobear]

I hope someone can help. My rabbit Coco has been self mutilating her dewlap and I don’t know what to do. It started around Christmas time, we were away for the weekend and when we came back she had removed most of the skin off her her dewlap and neck. It was extremely gruesome, she had to have emergency surgery. The vet on call thought that it stemmed from a burn from the radiator.I thought that was unlikely, but there seemed no other explanation.( by the way, we did biopsy it and it’s not cancer) About a month later she had another wound, same place. I took her to the vet (her regular Dr this time) who thought it was self-inflicted and not a burn. It healed. We went away for the week in Feb. and we came back and she had done it again. Now I’m thinking she’s just anxious when I go away. But, after that healed, this morning she’s at it again and I’m right here! So, what is going on!!? The only time I’ve seen this behaior was with a I had rabbit who gnawd her tail because she was paralyzed. Coco is healthy and middle aged. Very spolied. Spayed.

[babybunsmum]

oh that sounds terrible!  poor coco & poor you!  i’ve never heard of this specifically before, although i have heard animals can do terrible things to themselves due to anxiety.  i hope you get to the bottom of it to help coco stay healthy & strong.  (((vibes)))

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Oh poor Coco and poor you!! **VIBES** What area do you live in? Maybe we can help you find or suggest a rabbit specialist to you?

Is there any chance you could video her chewing the dewlap, maybe we can all take a look and let you know what we think (in terms of if it’s a neurotic behavior, or a nervous behavior, or maybe it’s irritated…)

This sounds terrible, I’m very sorry for you! I hope we can help! Poor thing!

[Sarita]

Has your vet done a skin scraping on the area?

[kimberleyanddarren]

sorry i cant really help.. have u tried another vet as they both had conflicting ideas maybe another vet would help clarify it for u? Keep us updated

[Scarlet_Rose]

cocobear, there is someone who had the exact same problem that asked Dana Krempels on allexperts.com.  Please look at answer here:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Rabbits-703/Self-mutilation.htm

I hope it sheds some light on the situation and give my best to Coco.

[bunnytowne]

Oh my I hope you all can get to the bottom of this poor bunny ouch she must be miserable. doing this to herself must hurt

[cocobear]

Scarlet_rose, thanks for the link to the article. It seems to all click now. Coco had what I thought was GI stasis (which she gets from time to time) in January. When it  went on for over a week and I took her to the vet who discovered she was missing back left molars.We think they fell out recently, but the vet was stumped. The vet removed some rotted root and had to trim the right molars because they had grown sharp. Which was why she had stopped eating.  The vet never made the connection to the neck/dewlap chewing and the molar problems, she told me it was anxeity and nesting behvaior. I’ve had Coco for 6 years, she’s queen of this house. It doesn’t fit her personality to all of a sudden have anxiety. I am bringing Coco to the vet on tuesday, and I’m going to bring a copy of the article.  I hope I don’t have to bring her to get trimmed on a regular basis, reaching back molars was very stressful for Coco.

Thanks everyone. This is the best site ever. I’ll post an update after I bring her to the vet.

[cocobear]

By the way.. I live in CT. I use Bolton Vet hospital. They have 2-3 rabbit vets that come reccomended by my local rescue groups. I try to use Dr. Sim when she’s avalible.

[babybunsmum]

wow that makes a lot of sense doesn’t it?  i’m so glad you found a direction to go in… what an interesting article!  hope you can give us an update on coco after your vet visit on tuesday.

[Scarlet_Rose]

You are so welcome Cocobear, I hope she feels better soon and it sounds like you have some very competent rabboit-savvy vets at hand that will help get to the bottom of things and I think it’s a great idea to take the article with you.  Sending plenty of *happy healing vibes* Coco’s way.  Please keep us updated!

[Gravehearted]

ooo it sounds like you’ve been through a real ordeal, I’m really glad that Scarlet Rose found that article and sincerely hope your vet will have Coco feeling MUCH better soon.

[cocobear]

I took Coco to Dr. Sim at Bolton Vet. She still thinks the dewlap wounds are caused by discomfort, rather than saliva. I never noticed Coco drooling, she said I would def. notice it if she was. She took Coco in the back and brought her back with a bloody mouth (poor baby). She said she needs to have dental x-rays taken and than Bolton doesn’t do that since coco needs to be knocked out. She wanted me to bring her to Tuffs, but I really don’t want to subject Coco to a 3 hour car ride both ways. She suggested 2 other vets in CT. I have an appt. with Marlborogh Vet on wednesday. So… just waiting again. In the meantime, she is on metacam daily to help with discomfort. She has starting making these squeaky chewing noises that are very odd and she goes on for 20min at a time- I try giving her treats but nothing stops it.

[charlie82]

Posted By cocobear on 03/20/2008 4:51 AM

I took Coco to Dr. Sim at Bolton Vet. She still thinks the dewlap wounds are caused by discomfort, rather than saliva. I never noticed Coco drooling, she said I would def. notice it if she was. She took Coco in the back and brought her back with a bloody mouth (poor baby). She said she needs to have dental x-rays taken and than Bolton doesn’t do that since coco needs to be knocked out. She wanted me to bring her to Tuffs, but I really don’t want to subject Coco to a 3 hour car ride both ways. She suggested 2 other vets in CT. I have an appt. with Marlborogh Vet on wednesday. So… just waiting again. In the meantime, she is on metacam daily to help with discomfort. She has starting making these squeaky chewing noises that are very odd and she goes on for 20min at a time- I try giving her treats but nothing stops it.

 

 

Oh dear, it really does seem like she has major dental issues going on 🙁 Not all buns will present symptoms. My old bunny Charlie had severe dental problems and only drooled on one occassion. She did make the noise you describe. If you mean your appointment is next wednesday I would not wait until then. She really needs those teeth seeing to! When  I got my bunny to another vet as my first insisted there was nothing wrong one of her back molars was 3cm overgrown which was what was causing the noise I was hearing. I have no idea how she was managing to eat.

 

[cocobear]

Dr Sim thinks it’s an impacted tooth on the left. She had an overgrown molar on the right, which was sucessfully trimmed. She is eating like a little piggy now.( Currently she’s next to me pulling things out of the trash bin to chew.) She has left her wound alone and seems ok. I think she’ll be alright until wednesday.

[bunnytowne]

oh great your vet found the problem ohh I am so glad your bun Cocoa is doing much better she must be hungry and enjoy eating without hurting herself. awe.    how sweet I am so happy for you two. yes she was trying to say something the best way she could and you heard her. hurrah

[bunnytowne]

by the way thanks for the update I ws concerned

[osprey]

Wow, that is excellent that your vet was able to figure this out.  Hopefully they can treat her teeth and she’ll be back to her old self soon. 

Great catch, Scarlet_Rose, and I have to say once more, I Dana Krempels.

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

Oh that’s wonderful to hear that Coco is doing better!

Osprey – DITTO! You are just too funny! I don’t suppose you have her picture by your bed? (Just teasing)

[cocobear]

Hello all,
Here’s an update. I took Coco to a specialist vet on wednesday. He took dental x-rays and found that her molars have grown jagged. Her roots are inflammed. He discovered an old jaw bone abcess that might have been the cause of the loss of one of her molars, which made the other teeth grow incorrectly. So…she’s on metacam and anti-biotic to help the infllamation and she will have dental surgery on april 9th. The vet is hoping that if he trims them down they will grow back less jagged, but most likely she will probably need molar check-up for the rest of her life. The whole dewlap chewing was just a response to her tooth discomfort. Can’t wait to get all of the cleared up for her so she can start looking for a new boyfriend. We started bringing her to bunny meet-ups, but then all this happened, and I decided to hold off.
bye!

[commander_BunBun]

im so glad coco was ok, that must ahve been really stressful and worry sum. And I hope that they dont grow back in jagged.Take care

[Scarlet_Rose]

Cocobear, thank you so much for the update! Wow, poor thing. at least though the problem has been diagnosed and is currently being treated. Definately a good idea to hold off on dating until she’s back to her normal self.

[bunnytowne]

oh good help is on the way ahhh I feel better the vet is right on it. great going cocoa bear looking forward to her being her old self once again

[babybunsmum]

i guess poor coco has to endure some icky stuff before she’s all better, but it must be a relief to know the cause of her self-mutilation.  soon she’ll be all fixed u p & dating

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

OH wow does that ever make sense about her chewing her dewlap!! Thanks for the update, keep us posted on how the surgery goes!! *VIBES*

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

I’m so glad to know you found the problem… I hope everything goes well with her appointments. Healing vibes for Coco and your wallet!

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