Uh-Oh… Teeth Problems?

[LongEaredLions]

During the bunnies weekly health check, I looked at Bellas teeth, and was alarmed to see that her teeth are rather overgrown, and the two teeth are a bit seperate at the end. Her bottom teeth are rather short. She still can close her mouth with no problem, but their is a teeny scab on her lower lip about 3/4 mm in size. She is eating/drinking/pooping normaly as far as I have seen, except for 5-6 small poops three days ago. She is also acting completly normal, is very hyper for food, and gives lots of kisses. I will attach a pic, but it is not very good because she doesnt like me looking in her mouth. I will attach a pic in a min when i get home to my computer. So my question is, what do I do about it? 1.Go to emergency vet 2.Go to exotics vet In a few days(appointment) 3. try to trim her teeth myself (have experience with this, but not what i want to do unless it is completely nessesary) or 4. Examine teeth daily, weigh daily and encourage more hay eating and see if the teeth will wear down. So those are my options, so what do I do? Please help, I am very worried about my baby bun.

[Beka27]

1) Don’t go to an ER vet for this. This isn’t an emergency and ER the vet will likely not even trim them, just tell you to follow-up with your regular vet. ER vets are for immediately threatening situations (not eating, not drinking, lethargic behavior).

2) This is what you should do. Make an appt for this coming week to have a dental exam and trimming (if the vet feels it’s necessary).

3) I have heard of some people trimming teeth themselves. I personally wouldn’t do this b/c it’s very easy to crack the tooth lengthwise if you trim the wrong way. Leave it to the professionals… That’s my thought.

4) For anterior teeth, hay consumption isn’t going to be the fix. Hay eating is most beneficial for maintaining the back molars b/c it requires a grinding motion to break it down. If the front teeth are misaligned, there isn’t a lot that can be done except for regular trimming, or possibly removal of the teeth. Chewing on wood blocks can be helpful, but only to a certain degree. Misaligned teeth will continue to be misaligned and overgrow regardless of whether the rabbit is chewing on toys.

And just like horses and their water… you can give a rabbit a block of wood, but you can’t make them chew ;o)

[LongEaredLions]

Thanks! I made an appointment for the vet for Thursday, and In the meantime, I am giving her some apple stick wood chews and Timothy hay cubes to mabye help wear her teeth down.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Good luck at your vet appointment!

[LongEaredLions]

Thanks! :o)

[LongEaredLions]

Bella went to the vet yesterday. The vet examined her teeth, and trimmed them a bit, but he told me they weren’t really that bad. Yay! Guess I was being a bit of an overprotective bun mom, hehe. Thanks everybody for replying!

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