Advice needed on feeding after teeth removal U/D Now attacking mate and me!

Hello,

My rabbit has just had his front teeth removed after finding an abcess on the side of his jaw. He's having difficulty eating and as he loves his food is finding this quite distressing, it's also making me feel so guilty
He can eat greens as I shred them, I've grated carrots which he isn't fussed on (he was never a carrot lover). He used to love his pellets and the occasional treat, both of which he cannot manage now - even if I soak the pellets, he hasn't grasped the concept of how to pick them up.
Unfortunately, he's never been a hay lover but I'm still ensuring there is a plentiful supply in his hutch at night. By day he is free range, he seems to be managing leaves quite well but cannot manage grass anymore. I will pick some when it grows, it is quite short at the moment. Can anyone suggest any other techniques I could try?
I feel so sorry for the poor lad.

Also, I am flushing out the abcess wound with diluted hibiscrub as advised by my vet. Even if I wrap the big lad in a towel it ends up down his front. He seems to stay wet all day, I'm concerned this will cause a skin condition. I have tonight tried a hair dryer on a cool and slow setting - he hated this. Towel drying the area with a mircofibre towel - this helped but he was still a bit damp. I have also tried to soak the solution out with a wet cloth and then dry him - I just made him more wet, which was harder to dry. Has anyone got any tips on how to avoid this problem?

Many thanks for any suggestions - I've found this website to be an invaluable source this year

He needs the hay for the fiber. I did had 1 bridge bun, Little Happy, who doesn't eat the hay, and he has soft poos quite often because of that. Their diet should be 80% min. on timothy hay.

I also have yet another bridge bun Goofball who doesn't eat hay at all, she was eating it for the first 1 yr. or so, but stopped since.

w/ Goofball, my solution is put raspberry or blackberry mixed w/ hay stem (cut into 1 mm piece), while the blackberry or raspberry is smashed by the juicer. I then syringe feed the mixture in a 35 ml syringe and feed her a few times a day for a duration of just over 1 year.

As to those wet fur, you can temporary shave some off, or shorten it.

hi

Bless, well Angel who had a very bad start to life (had to have tummy tuck as she was starved, had mites and poorly eye.) Has just had her 3/4th dental while living with us and the vet said she would like to do some x-rays as Angel cant eat hay, greens. When we went to pick her up the vet said her mouth is in a terrible state she has mouth disease and her teeth are growing in wonderful directions (s-shapes, she has teeth where she shouldnt) she also discovered that Angel has no front teeth (she wont let her look in mouth so we never knew) Her teeth have not been removed by a vet! (obv been kicked out at some point) very annoyed that no other vet has picked up on any of this however
Angel has managed with pellets so leave them out and see how bun gets on. As for greens etc we shred stuff too so she doesnt miss out. She does have a lot of soggy poop (cecotrophes) so keep baby wipes so you can wipe botty as they would use front teeth to clean. Obv Angel has managed without hay for over a year that we know so I wouldnt worry too much but our vet mentioned hay pellets which i'm going to try. (may be problem for you but I'll let you know if they work anyway) I think bun probably just needs time to re-adjust so aslong as they are still eating dont worry and you could cut out pellets altogether as don't really need them! Ours currently have 5 pellets a day vet said that was more than enough. (was feeding them 1ounce each morn and night oops)

Thank you very much both for your advice and information.

We are going back to the vets next week and I will ask if they can shave his fur. He's get very distressed after the flushing and constantly licking himself. I've tried swaddling him in towels to prevent it from going down his front, but it still does. I'm going to look for a plastic bib today! He's actually got very good at being wrapped up and flushed now, he doesn't wriggle or get wound up, he just accepts it.

He has figured out how to eat the treats he loves, so I'm hoping with lots of encouragement he will soon be tucking into his pellets. He manages his veg and the leaves in the garden very well. I will also look into hay pellets for him as I've tried the timothy and other brands and he's just not interested.

My other problem now is he can't tolerate his mate, he chases her around the garden - which is big enough for them not to bother one another, but I'm having to separate them at night. He is constantly licking himself (under the chin) trying to get the hibiscrub wash off him. When he does this he flicks his front feet a lot, I'm not sure whether Maggie is intimidated by the action or he wants her to lick him. It seems to be him just going for her, she doesn't appear to be chasing him.
Also, he now hates having the baytril syringed into his mouth and will attack me with his front feet when I go near him with it.

It's really sad to see my bun suffering this way, he is such a loving docile rabbit normally. I really feel for him has anyone else experienced this with their buns?

Can you maybe soak his pellets and turn them into a slurry so that all he has to do is lick it? I know you said you soak the pellets, but I didn't know how much.

A lot of buns react badly to being given meds and this sort of attention. Can you maybe go to the extreme when it comes to positive things for him too? So that he gets his favourite places to go, lots of attention, whatever he really likes? I had a terminally ill guy who we gave the world to, and because we were doing that, he didn't mind so much, the other things we had to do and give to him.

He might be acting that way with his mate if he is in pain or hurting or something like that. Is he on metacam or any pain medication?

The pellets are soaked so they still hold their shape (but are soft) as he is managing to get the hang of using his tongue and lips to pick things up.
He is a free range bun, so he has the run of the garden in the day and is in the hutch at night. After handling him I give him a few mins space and then see to his food, to which he runs over to see what I'm up to. He's getting lots of cuddles and attention, which he loves.
He is on metacam which he likes the taste of, even after taking it this morning though he was chasing Maggie around the garden quite aggressively.

Just a reminder, Metacam must be taken when his stomach has something inside, Metacam can't be given if the stomach is empty.

This is why when I gave metacam, I always syringe feed the above food mixture 15 min. prior

Happy Hopping said:

Just a reminder, Metacam must be taken when his stomach has something inside, Metacam can't be given if the stomach is empty.

This is why when I gave metacam, I always syringe feed the above food mixture 15 min. prior

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I wasn't advised of this by my vet, I will change his routine to food first.