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strange mouth problem (I think) *UPDATE! No 2*

MartinR

Warren Scout
***UPDATE***

Hi Sue, Happy Hopping, and Mad Bunster..

We just got back from the Vets, and well.. it seems you were all right. The vet said he has a spur on his back teeth:(, and they want him to go into tommorrow and go under a GA while they file it down.. (kind of ironic really, because I'm booked in at the dental hospital tommorrow too to have some of mine extracted) my anxiety levels are through the roof!..

She also said, that it would probably need doing everything 6-8wks.. to be honest, he gets so scared at the vets it's heartbreaking and thought of having to put him through that every month or so is distressing, not to mention the cost.. I would have to get a loan literally *I'm a carer for my partner and that would pretty much wipe me out*..

so, my heads all over the place at the moment, as I'm worrying about snuggles procedure tommorrow as well as worrying about my own, I'm also worrying because he's hardly ate for the last few days.

I bought some fibreplex so will try and get as much of that in him tonight as we can..

I was reading that often they can take the teeth out, but I'm not so sure with it being a back one?.. I will ask tommorrow.

Thanks for all the replies, and the useful info. I've tried mashing his food etc too but he wont touch it, syringe feeding him is near impossible. so I have to just keep putting it on his paw and getting him to lick it off, though thats terribly wasteful considering how little fibreplex you get.

soo

I'm really not looking to tommorrow for sooooooo many reasons, but I will make sure that our bun gets LOTS and LOTS of TLC tonight.. though he always does.

Thanks again everyone,

I will report back (hopefully sometime tommorrow)



Hi Everyone:wave:..

I thought I would post this in, in case anyone has experienced something similar.

but our bun was eating, and then he suddenly did a strange thing with his tongue. (stuck it out as though he was trying to get rid of something) I tried to look in his mouth, but he freaked out, anyway a few seconds later he was fine and bouncing round etc.. so I just thought maybe a hair or some fibre or sometihing.

but the last day or so, he has hardly eaten anything, I don't think it's his gut as he seems to want to eat but is having a hard time chewing crunchy stuff.. I gave him half a raisin just to try and see how he chews and he ate that fine without any probs.. but he's picking up his pellets, dry foods and veg, and seems to be stuggling to eat them, then just drops them and wonders off.. so he's hardly ate at all, but I think he's really hungry..

When he does manage to eat some dried food, he turns his head from side to side, (almost like the food is alive inside his mouth sort of thing) then a couple of times hes ground his teeth immediately after eating it.

Also when he purrs when you pet him, it sounds a bit different like there is a lot of moisture in his mouth, it sounds like a wet purr if that makes any sense?

(he's off to the vets first thing in the morning)

He's drinking normal, peeing, pooping and seems fine in himself but just seems to be having a hard time eating his normal food. I mashed up his pellets too but he wont touch them. he keeps going to his bowl and just sniffs everything then picks it up and drops it again..

soooo

he was at the vets a month ago, and had his teeth checked and they said they were fine..

do you think he could of cut his mouth or something? and finding it hard to chew.. or could still be his teeth, I'm really worried about him and poor little soul must be starving..:(

I can't feel anything in his mouth, but can't see in there properly either.

any insights, suggestions etc, would be welcome.. hopefully the vet too can figure out whats up in the morning..

Thanks everyone..(Here's to happy buns)

M
 
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Hi there,

It sounds very much like molar spurs to me, one of the classic signs of spurs is picking up food and dropping it out of the mouth/ struggling to chew and also getting food selective.

You can't always see spurs on just a visual check with an otoscope and the vet might need to sedate your rabbit to get a better look. Its possible a spur could have pierced the tongue slightly which might explain the tongue problem you saw.

Just wondering what vets you use, I am not far from Crewe, in Market Drayton. :wave:

Sue
 
Hi,

Sorry just realised you put cheshire, not crewe, probably not a vets near to me then. Meant to add, it might be an ideal to syringe some food to your bun if you think he may be hungry and hasn't been eating properly too.

Good luck with the vets appointment tomorrow and hope it gets sorted out, if a spur has pierced his tongue, would probably be a good idea to get some metacam for him too, as could be quite painful.

Sue
 
Hi Sue,

Thank you for your reply..:) and that makes a lot of sense. thankYou.

You know I was just watching him again then, and he ate a pellet but it took him about 2 minutes, picking it up, nibble, dropping it, nibble etc. whereas normally he would just munch it straight down..

the second time he went to his bowl, he picked up more food, but almost ran round in a circle trying to eat it..

so yeah, seems like it could be a dental issue, I was worried too that he may of got something stuck in his throat, but I figure he would probably of been freaking a lot more if that was the case.

Hopefully the vet can find out tommorrow, the vet he goes to is , Reeves & Reeves in warrington, there is a foreign lady there who seems to understand rabbits pretty well, so I'm going to try and get to see her..

I just grated up some carrot but as of yet, he won't touch it:s

Thanks again

M
 
You could try feeding him a few dry oats or perhaps a little wholemeal bread if you have some, it might tempt him a bit, I used to give my dental buns this from time to time and they did manage to eat this even with a sore mouth. Not the best food but I used to hate it when mine couldn't eat because of spurs too. Used to keep dried plantain in too, which I found really helpful after dentals to try and tempt them back into eating.

Hope that helps a bit,

Sue
 
Thanks Sue.. it's ok, Crewe isn't really that far by car anyway. but we usually have to get taxi's everywhere..

and yea..

he normally has a huge appetite so he must be hungry, I don't have a shringe , he is an absoloute nightmare to treat in any way shape or form too

A while ago, the vet gave us some fibreplex and we tried absolutley everything, burritos etc.. in the end we had to just sort of splodged it on his paw and he licked it off.. for fear his heart rate would exceed safe levels.. it's sooooooo stressful for us and for him just taking him to the vets. as I guess it is for most bunny owners.. I' don't think I've every been to the vet so much in all my life since we had a rabbit:? I dread it....

I just grated some carrot up and he ate a bit of that, but then it seemed to annoy him again.. the only thing he seems to be eating without any difficulty at the moment is his poop..I was even thinking of stealing one of him and putting some mushed food in it.. but i doubt that would be enough...

soo..

I will keep you posted,

Thanks again for all the replies, I'm gonna give him lots and lots of TLC tonight, and hopefully we can help him out tommorrow.

Martin
 
Oh, I just caught your other post.. I don't have any oats, I do have some bread though, so I could try that.. Thanks!..

M
 
I also agree there is a 95% chance that it is molar causing diet problem, all the signs are there.

You can also reduce the time for a bun under GA:

if it's just simply teeth sanding/trimming down. So we put Bernie under a deep sedation, complete some part of the
sanding. Then for the remaining of the operation, we put him under an "Ultra Short" GA, and finish off the rest.
 
Have you tried softening some pellets by soaking them in hot water and letting them cool? Poor bunny if he is hungry - this will be easier for him to eat and its vital that he keeps up his intake of fibrous food.

Hope the vets get to the bottom of the problem soon.
 
I just realised I maybe should of posted the update here, so just in case..

here is the update.

***UPDATE***

Hi Sue, Happy Hopping, and Mad Bunster..

We just got back from the Vets, and well.. it seems you were all right. The vet said he has a spur on his back teeth, and they want him to go into tommorrow and go under a GA while they file it down.. (kind of ironic really, because I'm booked in at the dental hospital tommorrow too to have some of mine extracted) my anxiety levels are through the roof!..

She also said, that it would probably need doing everything 6-8wks.. to be honest, he gets so scared at the vets it's heartbreaking and thought of having to put him through that every month or so is distressing, not to mention the cost.. I would have to get a loan literally *I'm a carer for my partner and that would pretty much wipe me out*..

so, my heads all over the place at the moment, as I'm worrying about snuggles procedure tommorrow as well as worrying about my own, I'm also worrying because he's hardly ate for the last few days.

I bought some fibreplex so will try and get as much of that in him tonight as we can..

I was reading that often they can take the teeth out, but I'm not so sure with it being a back one?.. I will ask tommorrow.

Thanks for all the replies, and the useful info. I've tried mashing his food etc too but he wont touch it, syringe feeding him is near impossible. so I have to just keep putting it on his paw and getting him to lick it off, though thats terribly wasteful considering how little fibreplex you get.

soo

I'm really not looking to tommorrow for sooooooo many reasons, but I will make sure that our bun gets LOTS and LOTS of TLC tonight.. though he always does.

Thanks again everyone,

I will report back (hopefully sometime tommorrow)

((((((((((((((((((((Bunny Hugs to everyone))))))))))))))))))
 
I have dental buns and they have regular check ups, but treatment is not always necessary. Does your bunny eat lots of hay, as this helps to keep their teeth down.
I am fortunate enough to have a vet that does conscious dentals, this depends on the vets confidence and also how the rabbit behaves at the vets.

I hope this is just a one off for you and not a regular thing, if it is perhaps someone knows a vet near to you that is able to do conscious dentals.
 
Good luck for tomorrow. You might want to ask them for a skull x-ray at the same time to check the full state of the teeth.

My vet is near to Vauxhalls, and does conscious dentals. One of mine has his done every month. PM me if you want details.
 
Hi Hunny Bunny..

thanks! That's encouraging.. and good to know. I hope somehow we can do our best to keep dental work to a minimum as he gets so stressed out at the vets, and I do too.. i was holding back tears last time and (a lot of blokes would just laugh but to me he's like my little baby, he is:))..

to be honest though, he's never liked being picked up so I don't pick him up, but when I take him to the vets he practially jumps into my arms as if to say "get me out of here!"..and I don't blame him..

He's also never really been one for hay, I've tried all kinds of different varieties and he's not too interested, he's very fussy!..

Also, the consious dental work sounds safer than a GA, last time he had a GA he had the shivers for a day or two so had to keep him warm.

How do they do the consious dental work? do they sedate them, I can't imagine him letting them anywhere near him otherwise..

it's a shame the vet's don't allow the owners to stay with their pets like they sometimes do with kids..

Thanks for your reply!. and hope your buns have happy teeth always..

M
 
Hi Bunny babe!. just noticed your reply, yeah I think we will see how it goes from tommorrow, and If it looks like it may be a regular thing, I will certainly look into the conscious dental..guess I better look at getting insurance too while his healthy otherwise..

forgot to mention, he's also getting his claws clipped tommorrow too while he's under so I guess that's one stress less for him, as he hates having his feet touched too:roll:

M
 
If he gets stressed at the vets they may not be able to do a conscious dental:cry: It's normally me thats stressed at the vets and not my bunnies, they seem quite laid back by the whole thing:roll: They are probably used to it now.

I don't think you can get insurance with dental buns - not once a problem has been identified.

I hope you both get on okay tomorrow, please let us have updates.
 
Mine will eat Science Recovery from a spoon so I can avoid syringing. Do you have any. You could also wet down some pellets or, as advised to me recently, the sediments you usually find in the bottom of SS bags (mixed with water).

If you mix up porridge, let it swell for a while in water and just feed a small amount.
 
Hi Raine..

thanks!

Yep, tried all that.. I was up at 4am this morning grating carrots, and making different kinds of mush with different foods etc, and he just runs away:shock:

I really really really wish he was one of those buns that will eat anything (excluding carpet and wallpaper, he already done that) but he's very very selective..

I havn't tried porridge, but havn't got any eiher, though I guess I could borrow some of a neighbour, might get a funny look, but who cares...

Martin
 
Hi Everyone.

Just a little update from today, He's home:) and had a thourough check up, teeth filed, nails clipped, and he's up and about and eating.. YAY!!>.... what a relief!.. he still kind of groggy which I guess is to be expected with the GA and all the goings on today, but just to see him munching properly again is a total joy!. I guess his mouth is still a little sore from the work, but he's had pain relief too.

Also it seems his teeth werent quite as bad as first though, so hopefully he wont have to have dentals as often as they first said. and I am going to try and get him on mostly roughage and hay.

I just want to say thank You to everyone, for your blessings!. and thanks for being part of this womderful forum, and of course to the creators of it.:wave:

((((((Magic bunny hugs to all the buns and bunny folk))))

M
 
That's good. Hopefully he won't need them too often but just give me a shout if you want to go consider going down the conscious dental route.
 
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