Zion has a spur - when should I put him in?

Hi all

Well when Zion had his MOT at the vet at the time of his VHD the vet found he had a spur on one of his teeth he could see with the cone thing oops.

They couldn't give me a best time to put him in for a dental.

He is eating fine, lots of hay as usual and seems none worse the wear. He is a sickly bun and gets bouts of bloat and stasis every so often but there is no pattern.

So any advice as to when he should go in? They said it would have to be under a GA.

Cheers

Shiv

i would get it over and done with before it gets worse.. Alvin had spurs but really small and probably not bothering him but the vets told me to get him booked in within a few weeks before it became a problem

I think it would depend on whether the spurs are clinically significant - causing discomfort, blistering/ulceration of the tongue/cheeks? Did the vet say there was any inflammation in the mouth? Is your bun dribbling? Does he have a wet dewlap? runny eyes? (which could be indicative of tooth root problems - often associated with spurs as the whole mechanics of jaw are altered) difficulty eating hay or pellets/veg? weight loss?

If your bun seems otherwise fine I would watch and wait. It is possible to have mild spurs that aren't clinically significant and don't cause any probs. I would get your bun onto as high a hay diet as possible - it can help to control molar spurs to some extent.
I'm sure others would rather be proactive and nip the problem in the bud. I don't think there is any right answer, it's whatever you feel comfortable with and how your bunny is really. A dietary change can improve things greatly in my experience.

Both my rescue buns have spurs, one worse than the other, in fact one of the vets at the practice (not our usual one) said they were the worst he'd ever seen! Whereas our own vet is happy that they are not causing any problems at this stage and we have now been in this situation for 2 years, we just keep a very close eye on him. He has NO clinical symptoms apart from his spurs and a very high hay diet has actually improved them a bit. (We don't feed pellets at all).
I'm very aware that his spurs are just a symptom of probably a complete breakdown in the mechanics of his jaw and he could have abnormal tooth roots as well for all we know, however, the latest on rabbit dentistry suggests that simply burring off spurs is largely ineffective anyway in the long-term and that total molar reallignment through burring is needed to correct the jaw mechanics. Our bun has a twisted jaw from an early fracture, we suspect, but is also very prone to stasis/bloat so until his spurs become significant we are not prepared to subject him to a GA with his propensity to bloat when he is otherwise a very health happy bunny.

What you do about spurs and when you act depends on the 'whole' clinical picture of an individual rabbit and what you personally feel is best for them. But that is just my personal opinion

It is difficult to give a time without knowning the exact shape and size of the spur and his jaw dynamics. I would suggest you push your vet for a little more detail and ask for a rough timeframe. It can be difficult to assess pain in rabbits as many will continue to eat and behave relatively normally despite being uncomfortable as it is a natural drive from their wild ancestors to 'appear normal' to avoid attracting the attention of any predators, but presence of a large spur or soft tissue involvement would mean a dental fairly soon.
If he has been prone to repeat stasis episodes this could (among many other things) be due to low grade pain from his mouth so a dental could be considered as a therapeutic approach rather than an inciting factor for another episode.

My bunny is in today having smaller spurs filed down. She has had stasis too and she had spurs at the time of stasis so whilst the vet didn;t think they were the cause, there is no way I can reliably rule out the spurs being the cause or at least a contributing factor. Other than the stasis she shows no signs of illness or discomfort but we all know how well buns can hide discomfort :roll:

I chose to have them filed down after 4 weeks of reduced pellets and increased intake of hay didn't seem to make much difference. I'd rather they got done now whilst they're still relatively small rather than wait and risk them getting worse undetected as her net MOT isn't for another 6 months now :?

I'm sorry I didn't read your post properly at all - especially the bit about the repeat bouts of bloat/stasis without a pattern? I think you should definitely take Marie's advice - this could be a symptom of his spurs causing pain as she said. I hope your bunny is ok, am sure the dental will go fine, i'd definitely ask for a time frame to have the spurs done. Sorry, what I was waffling on about in my post was if no symptoms. My bun gets bloat/stasis sometimes but not for a long time now and his always have a pattern and trigger we can identify and he has a history affecting his tummy and an infection that could have caused scarring. I didn't mean to put you off going for a dental if that's what it sounded like! Please take Marie's advice

prettylupin said:

Thanks Marie
I feel like I have hijacked this thread now.....I'm assuming with the stasis you were referring to my bun??

Click to expand...

I was thinking of the original poster I'm afraid! from your last post it does sound more like diet change/stress episodes that trigger it rather than spurs. I always have nagging doubts in the back of my mind about any spurs - they could be absolutely no problem or they could be a factor. I know if I've got a headache I'm automatically more grouchy and prone to getting stressed so I anthropomorphose and assume rabbits with teeth problems could be more easily pushed into stasis by other factors.

marie_kubiak said:

I was thinking of the original poster I'm afraid!

Click to expand...

Yes Hi Marie :wave: I know I worked that out eventually - how embarassing! Hence my deleted post! I really must learn to read posts more thoroughly sorry!

Thanks so much for your advice just now though, I will bear all that in mind.
Thanks again

Thanks all

I really did push my vet for a time frame but she really wasn't happy comitting to anything. She mentioned 3 months but I think that may have been to placate me.

There is no swelling irritation of the tongue or cheeks.

I honestly don't think I could get him to eat more hay. He is my best hay eater - gets a small handfull of A&P in the morning and some greens in the evening and the rest of the time he gorges on hay. This is why I am surprised he has any spurs at all.

I will probably look to book him in either the end of this month or the middle of August as I have a week off work both times and will be able to keep an eye on him. I know it is necessary surgery but I don't want him to go through earlier than necessary surgery.

Thanks guys