Teeth – again

[Bat-E]

I seem to be spending more time and £ at the vet these days ….

Last week I noticed wet round Harri’s mouth – she has some fungus thing under her neck from the mites in her fur. Baytril and a wash twice a day seem to be getting it under control – though having been shaved she looks a bit pathetic!

Went for a check-up just now and commented that she seems to be eating very little, won’t look at carrots (used to love them) lettuce, spinnach, parsley, you name it, it just goes limp and uneaten. Though she did try a bit of broccoli yesterday (which I see she shouldn’t have!) She has never eaten hay no matter what a try … but now even her pellets she hardly eats. The only thing she wants and begs for are treats …. At least she is still drinking and also likes a little pineapple juice too. However, she still weighs 3.1Kg so she must be getting something.

Anyway, told vet who looked at her mouth for me – she had her teeth done a month ago – and to his (and my) surprise her back teeth have grown spurs AGAIN – in only a MONTH!!

So on Wednesday she has to go back for another op to see if he can remove the one back tooth that has grown and is digging into her. Of course, it will grow again and he said as it is right at the back, he may have trouble actually getting it out …

So, I’m not a happy bunny-mummy, not so much because of the cost, but because my Harri seems to have spent such a long time suffering from one ailment or another since I got her (possibly 3-4 years old) in November ….

Bat-E

 

 

[Sarita]

This can be pretty typical – sometimes it may take a few dental trims to get them back on track with the dental trims so that hopefully they will be farther apart.

How much pellets do you give her? How is she with eating hay? One thing with pellets is that they do not help grind down the teeth at all – another thing pellets just are not good for.

My rabbit Pepe had the same deal with the molar spurs – every 4 weeks – it’s now been a little over 2 months and so far so good – unfortunately I cannot get him off pellets but I’m slowly trying – we do think with him it’s partly his diet because the trims were so close together.

[Bat-E]

Hi Sarita,

Harri does not appear to eat hay at all
She gets a handful of adult pellets morning and night, with various greens and treats when she begs – which is fairly frequently at the moment!
I do hope that her teeth get back on track as I worry about all the anesthetic that she is having.
I have been out on the web and have ordered more different hays to try with her as well as some different food and am hoping that I will see an improvement by the end of the week.

Bat-E

[Sarita]

I totally understand about the anesthesia – it takes Pepe a full week to recover from his dental trims.

It seems like after this 3rd trim this time that we are no longer going just 4 weeks but so far it’s been about 2 months.

He’s still a poor hay eater and I’ve tried to decrease his pellets and increase his greens (which greens don’t really help as much as hay) but still no luck.

Pepe’s dental trims do seem to be mechanical (diet related) rather than disease related too -I’m not sure if that is the case with Harri though….does the vet seem to think his teeth are aligned properly and there are no other physical problems with his mouth? That could be a different challenge all together for you if that is the case. If they are not aligned even eating hay is unlikely to solve the problem (or at least fully solve the problem – perhaps it would help wear down the teeth – but it’s not a cure).

[Bat-E]

Harri’s is a bit of both it seems. There is one very back tooth that is not grinding against the top one properly … so that is why the vet is going to see if he can remove it in the hope that the next time it grows through it will line up better .. he said it depends if he can reach that far with rabbit mouths being so small. But if she chewed hay it would help somewhat I’m sure.

[MooBunnay]

Wow, I did not realize that molar spurs could grow back so fast. Even though it sounds like it is more than hay that would be the solution, I think that encouraging Harri to eat more hay. How much greens is she getting right now? And how many treats per day would you guess? I’d recommend really cutting down on the treats, I know it is hard to resist the bunny begging But if you cut down on the amount of pellets, than you can give her some pellets from time to time as a treat instead of other treats. Hopefully this will encourage Harri to eat a bit more hay.

[Bat-E]

Well, poor Harri. She went to the vet today to get her teeth sorted out and what was discovered? He found 3 very back molars were growing crooked through her gum and would have eventually grown through her cheek He removed them and then found that the roots were cracked and a huge abcess was underneath …
They of course flushed what they could from the abcess and packed it with anti-biotics.
Now she is on Baytril again and must go back every other day to have the wound flushed so that any remaining infection is hopefully removed and no food that gets into it causes it to flare up. He did explain how dangerous abcesses in bunnies can be and hopes it has been caught in time and that in a few days Harri will feel better.

I am making mash for her from her pellets (she’s not up to eating yet) and will do that for a while and am hoping that when things start to heal and she feels better she will once again be able to eat the full range of bunny food. The vet cannot say if the teeth will grow back, but they will need monitoring if they do.

Bat-E – a lot poorer than this morning, but glad the the ‘root’ of Harri’s problems has finally been found.

[Sarita]

Poor Harri – healing vibes to her.

It sounds more like dental disease then so there is probably not anything you can do diet wise to help.

Did he give her pain meds – she’ll need those.

[kralspace]

ah, poor Harri,

Hang in there. My Simba had a huge abscess on his cheek, luckily it was confined to the outside and didn’t get into the mouth or teeth. It took several weeks but it finally healed and he was declared OK yesterday. You must have a good vet to be able to do all that work inside those tiny mouths.

((((best wishes)))))))

[Bat-E]

Thank you for the good healing vibes for my Harri.
I am very pleased to be able to report that 36 hours after having her 3 molars removed and the abcess treatment started, she is sooooo much better!
She has eaten huge amounts of mash (made from hot water on her pellets) which I have probably given her far too much of, but you know what it’s like when you’re worried! I also found, thanks to a tip from my sister (not a bunny person but she used to breed dogs) that she eats much better off a flate plate rather than a bowl where her jaw might touch the sides.
Harri has also eaten her first greens – spinach and watercress – and is once more happily pooping copiously! She is moving her head better too, streching up and showing her neck (though why I’m seeing things now that I didn’t notice before …) and she is running around the house – not hopping, moving like greased lightning

We return to the vet for a checkup this afternoon and I’m going to ask about pain meds and when and how I should try introducing carrots …

Bat-E – mum to Harri bun who I must get a picture of!

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