Trouble Recovering From Incisor Extraction

[Robin]

Hi everyone,

I’d just like to thank everyone ahead of time for reading my post and offering any help you can.  Our vet was available yesterday for questions, but she is not in today, so I thought I would check with you guys to see if you have any tips or ideas.

Our little Oscar Bunny is a 1 1/2 year old Lionhead.  He’s a bit of a wild child, and a couple of months ago, he injured his front teeth while playing too hard.  As a result, he had to have all his front incisors removed.   The extraction was on Tuesday, and he’s supposed to take a Metacam for pain relief twice a day, and also an antibiotic twice a day.  He didn’t eat at all when we brought him home that night, but the next day, the vet had us up his dose of Metacam to help control the pain better so he would start eating something.  That seemed to help some and he had a bit of hay, a small pile of parsley (his favorite), and a couple of pellets.  He’s not drinking a lot, but I think he’s getting some hydration from the parsley.  

I have three questions. 

First, I know how important it is for bunnies to keep their digestive system in gear, and he is eating a little bit, but how little is too little?  He’s still nibbling on some parsley today and I set out a dish of water for him (sometimes he prefers to drink out of a dish), but he’s probably eating about a 1/4 of the amount of food he’d normally eat.

I also have a question about giving him his medication.  First day it was easy because he was still recovering from the anesthesia.  Wednesday, it was definitely a challenge, but eventually he gave in and we were somewhat successful for both the morning and evening doses. Today, however, he’s not having it one bit.  He’s fighting us with everything he’s got and even resorted to spraying me (poor thing feels so defenseless without his front teeth .  We’ve tried a few things – bunny burrito, holding him up, holding him on my lap, holding him in my arm while my husband tries to get the syringe into the corner of his mouth or under his lip.  We tried for about 45 minutes this morning, and for all practicle purposes, it was unsuccessful.  We probably only got a splash of pain medicine in there, and almost none of the antibiotic.

Do you guys have any other suggestions for how to medicate him?  I know he’s in pain and is very stressed out and it breaks my heart to see him struggle so much. 

My last question is about his poo.  I assume the anesthesia and all the stress probably upset his stomach.  He’s having some semi-solid waste which is getting matted on his bum…it seems to be better today, but when should we expect to see this return to normal, and when do we need to be alarmed?

Thanks so much for baring with me through this detailed account of Oscar’s tough time and for any advice you can offer! 

Robin

[Beka27]

Welcome to Binkybunny! He is adorable! I’m so sorry he had to go thru all this.

For medicating, I’ve always had the most luck restraining the bunnies on the kitchen counter, and if he’s available, having my husband hold them still, so I have two hands to hold their mouth and syringe. But you need to be even more cautious since that is going to be a tender area for him. If it is going to be too hard to medicate him, another option is taking him into the vet and seeing if a vet tech can help.

The soft poos at this point are normal because of anesthesia, and they should become more normal as his diet stabilizes.

[Sarita]

Oh dear, he’s just adorable.

Sorry you are having to go through this – it sounds stressful all around.

As for the food – you will need to cut the vegetables up somewhat since he does not have incisors – he should be able to eat the hay just fine.  I do know with dental procedures it could take a few days to get back to normal – did the vet give you critical care to syringe feed him (I know this sounds like a challenge though since he’s fighting you for his medication).

Here’s a link from the House Rabbit Society that describes a good way to give medication better than I can:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/medicating.html

 

[Robin]

Thank you both so much for your quick response and support! Having your reassurance really helps keep us calm, and I think that makes Oscar feel better too
I chopped up some greens for him this afternoon and he seems to be picking at them regularly throughout these past few hours, which is very encouraging. We’ll definitely try the kitchen counter tonight for his second dose and maybe also a more secure burrito. Ill let everyone know how it goes tomorrow….i’m keeping my fingers crossed!

[Sarita]

Please keep us updated on Oscar.

The metacam should help with the swelling – it’s a non steroid anti-inflammatory. My rabbit Pepe gets molar trims every 5 weeks and it takes him a good few days to recover from this. I give him buprenex and metacam the first few days after the procedure.

[KatnipCrzy]

Just the interruption for anesthesia and recovery from surgery (spay or dental extraction) often seems to disrupt the gut schedule and can cause mushy poo.  It should get better as his eating returns to a more normal schedule for him.

I don’t have any experience with a bunny with no incisors- did your vet give you clear instructions on the differences in feed/presenting his food to him?  I believe that there might be a different recommendation in how you chop his veggies and greens in order to make it easier for him to eat them and keep him eating a healthy amount.

As for the pain meds- they are usually quite sweet- the Metacam- I guess I would try putting a tiny piece of fruit on the end of the syringe and let him eat that off- with a bit of the Metacam on it- and see if that improves his taking the meds.  The same with the antibiotic- which antibiotic do you have?

My bunny, Schroeder, gets Enulose every night- it is a sweet syrup that is a stool softener- and at first he was a bit unsure- now he bounces off the pen walls when we bring the syringe down- and he bites and nibbles the syringe as he is taking his meds.  We stick it thru the pen bars and he runs over to get his “treat”.

If your bunny continues to be reluctant to eat- you may need to talk to your vet about Critical Care/ syringe feeding.  And some antibiotics can cause inappetance- so I would recommend calling your vet before the weekend to give them an update!

[Robin]

Hi everyone,

It’s been a full week since surgery and I just thought I’d update everyone one Oscar’s condition. Thanks so much for your suggestions and support!

Oscar seems to be acting more himself every day and is eating much better. He’s chowing down on greens we’ve chopped up for him and has just started eating some of his pellets again and hay relatively regularly. His system seems to also be recovering. He’s much more regular, although he is producing a lot of cecals and only eating some of them…which seems unusual for him. Could this be the result of the increase of fresh greens in his diet lately? Greens have made up most of his diet for the past few days as we’ve tried to get him eating again.

Medicating him continues to be a struggle. Our vet suggested we stop trying to syringe feeding him because it’s been so stressful for everyone involved. Instead we’ve tried different varieties of baby food and pineapple juice to mask the flavor. It’s been only somewhat successful. He’s such a picky eater. Our other bunny, Wyatt thinks baby food is the best thing ever invented on the other hand, and happily assists with the leftovers. I’m trying to keep his environment ultra clean and comfortable to avoid infection because I know he’s not getting his full dose of antibiotics. So far so good and it seems like he’s in much less pain now, even without all the metacam.

He’s been active and curious in his cage with us. Normally he roams free in the house, but we’ve been restricting him to his room while he recovers. Today he’s been especially interested in coming out and being social with us again.

Hope everyone and their buns are doing well out there!

[Sarita]

It could be the greens, but it also could be that he isn’t able to “grab” his cecals due to the loss of his incisors as well – more mechanical than diet related. I understand about the medicating difficulty but it sounds like you are doing what you can – maybe he’s feeling fine and that’s why he’s being so difficult. Your vet is aware as well, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

Thank you for the update on your darling Oscar. Continued vibes to him and to you too.

[Author]

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