What could be wrong with Polo?

Polo for the past year or so, has moments where she will stop eating... which would usually involve a trip to the vets, a shot of metachlopramide (i think thats what its called), and pain relief. Usually, within a couple of hours or being home, she will start eating again....and would usually be fine until the next episode some weeks or months later.

Polo has always had small spurs on her teeth but nothing that needed work as of yet. However, the other week the vet had a look at her teeth and suggested that she might now need a dental. I decided that the next time she would go into this stasis thing that she would have it done, once she had recovered. Id rather she didnt have a GA you see as the vet said her teeth arent THAT bad.

Well lately the episodes have become more frequent, and she again stopped eating yesterday, was all hunched up and sleepy... so off to the vets again and given the same magic potion as she has almost no gut sounds at all. As soon as I got home and popped her back in her run she started eating HAY and then i gave her veggies and she scoffed them too.

And this morning she was eating just fine... and now shes stopped again JUST. I am guessing this is because the pain relief has worn off. I dont know. Could it be anything else other than teeth pain? Has anyone else had anything similar to this happen to their bunny?

I would guess at teeth..
but could also be due to bouts of gas
does it happen after she has pigged on grass or any other veg ?:?

No, she doesnt eat grass. She hasnt eaten any veg today just hay and SS pellets.

This seems to be starting to happen to Flopsy too.
Its only happened a handful of times. Each time I can hear her stomach making noises, and like Polo some metaclopramide and pain killer seems to make her feel better and she starts eating again.
Vets say teeth are ok, one slight spur but not enough to cause probs, and vets are reluctant to put her under if it doesn't seem necessary although they say if it happens again they will put her under and look and also maybe take some bloods

Sorry I don't have any advice but i just wanted to say im having a similar problem :?

I'd say its her teeth and I would get the Dental done ASAP. Personally I will always opt for a Dental as soon as spurs are noted as this can help minimise the progression of Dental disease and subsequent GI tract problems

oscarbunny said:

I decided that the next time she would go into this stasis thing that she would have it done, once she had recovered. Id rather she didnt have a GA you see as the vet said her teeth arent THAT bad.

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Personally I would opt for a GA and dental while the problem is not severe - far better to get the problem taken away than to wait for it to cause ill health and the risk of having to put an ill bun under GA. Some bunnies can have awful mouths and still continue to eat and behave 'normally', others are much more sensitive and have problems earlier on. As Jane said, points on teeth can also indicate that the tooth roots are likely to overgrow, so you can help to limit this problem as well through a good dental.

Even though Santa is a snuffler, I book her in for dentals while she is still eating and the teeth do not seem to be causing her problems. It's always a tricky balance but after a few years now I am happy at the balance between frequent dentals and waiting too long.

I've been through a similar dilemma with Artie. I was convinced it was his teeth as I was told he has small spurs "not enough to bother him". I didn't feel he was eating enough hay but he has had 3 or 4 bouts as you describe - not eating, symptoms suggestive of pain etc. I've been monitoring him carefully for months trying to work it out as "something wasn't quite right". When he had a bout of pain symptoms last week he has an abdominal x-ray which revealed loads of calcium in his bladder was the problem, so I was way off with the teeth. Thankfully I've now found out what was causing it. I have to agree with the others though, if the teeth are deemed serious enough for a dental to get in and sort it before the next time she looks like she's in pain from it.

Do you think it would be worthwhile her having an xray as well. She is going in next week for a dental, I should have posted that, we were just waiting to get her eating again before I booked her in.

I see from my first post it sounded as though I wasnt going to let her have the dental... but I wanted to make sure it was the teeth, not something else like calcium build up.

How would you treat calcium build up?