Spurs - am I right to worry??

I took Leo to the vet on Friday for his nail trim and for the first time since I've been taking him, the vet wanted to check his teeth. After looking, he said he had a slight 'spur' and went on to ask about his diet etc but he didn't fully explain what this was.

Can anyone tell me exactly what a spur is & if I'm right to be worried about it. Since leaving the vet, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it and I got really upset yesterday, worrying if he's in pain or he's going to have to have surgery.

Is it a serious condition? Is it life threatening? What should I keep an eye out for if it gets worse and/or Leo's in pain?

Also, since his visit to the vet, his 'honk' has got louder, sounds like he's swallowed a bee or something. Is this something to do with his teeth or is this normal? I have noticed it before in the past but it's not lasted more than a day or so.

Any advice would be very much welcomed - thank you. It would put my mind to rest a great deal x

Hiya,

Spurs are like little points of enamel that can jut out from various parts of the back teeth and sometimes if they get quite long, they can pierce the side of the cheeks or gums, so they do need to be taken care of if they are beginning to show or causing any problems, particulary so, if they are affecting his eating in any way.

You have said that your vet has described the problem as a 'slight spur', so I'm guessing that all he has seen is a slightly raised point on one of the teeth. Spurs can grow straight up or curve inwards or outwards so don't really know what your vet has seen, but did he seem worried it might worsen?? I saw a vet earlier this year and he described a back tooth on one of my rabbits as having a slightly sharp point, but, he said it shouldn't cause any problems and I haven't had any eating problems with this bun, so I am assuming this has worn down and was probably not much of a point anyway. The outer edges of the back teeth are quite sharp anyway, so, sometimes there is not much difference from the outer edges of the teeth to what can be described as a spur.

How old is your bun and is he a good hay/grass eater? There are various causes for spurs, but a good diet with a hefty percentage of hay/grass really helps either way. If your bun is eating and acting normally, he's probably not in any pain at the moment anyway, but you'll probably need to keep a close eye on him. Sometimes, bunnies carry on eating with spurs and acting quite normally, then stop quite abruptly when the spur/s are obviously bothering them.

If you do find your bun needs to have a spur taken care of, the best advice I can give you is to find a vet experienced in rabbit dental work. Some vets 'burr' , some vets will clip molar spurs off, and this can be done via a GA or done consciously. I am not a fan of burring after my buns received injuries from this and would personally opt for clipping (but with a vet experienced in this).

Its difficult to know what to advise, but would maybe contact your vet and ask for more detail what he saw and should you be concerned that condition might worsen?. I would want to know that if this was my bunny. If your bun is eating normally, I don't suspect he would be in any pain for the moment anyway, but I would keep close eye on his eating and behaviour.

Even if it is a spur that does need a dental, it maybe that he just needs that one dental or one here and there. Does depend on what the cause is, but hopefully if it isn't a genetic condition, may just be that some dietary modification is needed. Fingers crossed for you.......

Hope that helps,


Sue

Hi :wave:

My bunny Fudge had to get her teeth filed down because of the spur on her teeth got too long they had slighty cut her tounge.

I only noticed this after she stopped eating, and as SueMarketDraytonUK said it did happen all of a sudden. she ate her breakfast fine on the friday morning and was her normal self running about and when i came home that night she just wasnt herself, she was hunched in the corner of her cage, wouldnt come out when i opened her cage, was grinding her teeth and didnt eat anything! i even tried to encourage her to eat by giving her a treat but nothing.

Best to get more info on how bad they are, before anything happens!!

Thank you both for your replies. Leo is 6 years old & according to our vet, has a healthy diet of Supa Rabbit pellets, plenty of hay & a carrot to chomp on every day.

The vet did say to keep an eye on him, any changes in his behaviour and/or eating pattern. I will take him in straight away if I notice anything.

His 'honk' still sounds like he's swallowed a bee - and it's getting louder! I'm really beginning to worry now. Please can someone advise me, I've searched high & low on here for an answer from a previous thread but I can't find owt.

I feel like I'm going a bit mad with it all, I am constantly worried something bad's going to happen to him. I think it's because he's a little older now & I'm scared I'm going to lose him soon

Rabbit are fiber driven animal, Dr. Susan Brown, 1 of the contributer to the book "The 5 min. vet consult: Rabbits and Ferrets", points out that 90% of their diet must be in hay .

As they eat hay, the stem of the hay grind down the spur of their teeth, to offset their constantly growing teeth. So the hay actually serves 2 purpose, lubricate their system and grind down their teeth.

1 bale (65 lb.) of hay only costs me $8. So go for it. If you read some of the thread regarding hay, you'll notice we give unlimited amount of hay to our buns

pellet (a few spoonfuls), fruit, greens, adds up for the remaining 10% of the bun's diet

Hiya,

Sorry to hear you're still worried about Leo.

Just wanted to add that its possible the honking/humming sound you're hearing could be connected with a tooth condition, but that I never associated a honk as such with any of my bunnies that had teeth troubles. One of my buns would always sneeze when a spur started to bother her and that became a sign for me to take her in for a dental. Had another bun that made an awful high pitched cooing type of noise when a dental problem developed, so they can get vocal when something is bothering them. Having said that, by the time mine got vocal, the eating problem was also noticeable too, but doesn't sound like Leo is struggling to eat?? Usually associate honking with a 'neutering' need or generally just a happy sound that means your bunny loves you, so maybe as you've heard him do it in the past, you can link it with something else??

Just to let you know that if the initial tooth check Leo had was a visual check with an otoscope, there's always a possibility that there could have been other spurs there that weren't visible, they do tend to be quite hidden sometimes and aren't always picked up on this type of check, plus, mine always used to try and chew on the otoscope thing, so, think that must make it harder to see too.

I think around 6 or 7 yrs old, a lot of buns do maybe start getting the odd dental problem, generally as a result of aging and I think that encouraging eating with a wide variety of hays maybe some with different textures and coarseness ( ie oat hay, brome, Timothy) and either dried grass or fresh would all help with keeping molar spurs at bay. A couple of other signs to watch for with molar spurs are chewing with nothing in the mouth ( a bit like chewing gum) and also running up for food, then dropping it from the mouth. Carrots are ok, but known to be a little sugary I think, so, I think most people limit root veggies like these. Other veggies like Spring greens are a bit better for encouraging the side to side chewing motion required to wear down the molars, but not as good as hay of course.

I think Leo is lucky to have you worrying about him so much, but if you are still concerned about any loud honking noises he's making ( is he any better today?) I think I would get him back to the vets for another check, it can be difficult with rabbits because they are so good at hiding whats wrong with them. May just be Leo showing his affection for you though Having his teeth re-checked in a few days would probably be a good idea too anyway to check nothing has worsened and put your mind at rest.

Sue

Sue, you are an absolute angel, thank you. You have wisened me up to no end and also put my mind at rest heaps. I think I am worrying over nothing, as his 'honk' is a lot quieter today and our vet really is good, I'm sure he would have said if there was anything to worry about. Unfortunately, I never had the little man neutered so I think it's a case that he loves me as much as I love him - just in different contexts

I think I will make an appointment for next week, just to check

Thank you again, I'm sure I'll be posting again soon with another query, like the fusser I am :lol: