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Bernie has passed away today (2005 to May 22, 2010)

Happy Hopping

Wise Old Thumper
Back in February 2008, because Bernie was an abandoned rabbit found in downtown. As such, he has no access to hay, no hay to exercise his teeth and most likely because of that, there was 3 upper top left molar teeth side by side that needed to be removed, because they have became bad teeth.

Since then, Bernie needed to trim the bottom 2 teeth every so often. At the beginning, 1 trim was done on Oct 26, 2008, about 8 months after those 3 top left molar was removed. Then in 2009, Bernie's teeth was trimmed on Jun 18, Sep. 15, and Nov. 19. So the time frame shortened to once every 3 months, then once every 2 months.

The operation is very short and simple, a pre-medication of 0.12 ml midazolam, 0.2 ml of glycopyrrolate, 0.4 ml of butorphanol, 0.1 ml ketamine, and under induction with mask isofluorane for about 15 to 20 min.

The very last time this was done, Nov. 19, 2009, the vet trim those 2 teeth down to the gum level. So this time, I don't need to trim it until 6 months later.

Last week, I notice he's having some problem eating his own sticky night time poos, and according to Dr. Hancourt-Brown's book, that's a sign that Bernie has dental problem, and I also notice he's not eating his treats rapidly like he used to. He usually clean up all the treats within 2 minutes, but in the past 4 to 5 days, sometimes he thinks about it for a while before he eats. :) Having said that, his diet was good, he's still eating a little bit of hay and the pellets and the treats, veggies and fruits as of last night. The poos was smaller in the past few days, due to the lack of hay.

So this Saturday, we decided to remove the 2 teeth permanently. Just at the beginning, about 15 to 20 min, as he undergo a GA, his heart stopped. They immediately stopped the operation, massage his heart, and got the heart beat going, but he's not breathing on his own. So they use those medical equipment to help him breathe.

So from 2:45 pm to 4:15 pm or so, his heart beat was erratic and not breathing on his own, and in the end, the vet said his heart stopped.

Looking back, regardless whether today is a teeth trim or teeth removal, it really makes no difference as his heart stopped only 15 minutes into the operation. The GA procedure was basically the same, just like the past 4 teeth trim.

However, if I were to know today's outcome, I suppose Bernie could have remove those 2 teeth back in June 18, 2009, when he's only 4 year old and his heart can sustained the GA procedure. But back then, the line of thinking was, the teeth belongs to him, I don't want to remove it unless it's absolute necessary, once every 8 months is okay with me, and he can use his teeth.

However, he was really use the upper gum, if he was using it at all, which got harden after the teeth removal back in Feb. 2008 to impact the lower teeth for the chewing, and the truth is, I don't think he's using that entire left side of the teeth at all. As when he eats an almond daily, it takes him longer than the other bun to finish off chewing it, make me think that he's only using the right side.

If I ever run into this situation in the future, I would remove the lower corresponding molar as well, while my bun is still young, and the heart can handle a GA. But this is soul searching, it's hard to second guess, but I do these second guessing each time any of my bun passed away.

I'll post some photos at the Rainbow Bridge later.
 
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Jason I am so sorry to read about Bernie. You gave him the chance of life since 2008 and he would have had a wonderful life with you. Had you opted for the teeth removal earlier, he may not have survived and had these important years of living the life he deserved with you.

Goofball will take care of himxx
 
I'm so sorry to hear about Bernie's passing :cry:
I'm sure he had a wonderful life while he was with you. Try not to dwell too much on what you might have done differently: you did what you and your vet felt was best at the time and you couldn't have known what was going to happen this time xx
 
Jason I am so sorry to read about Bernie. You gave him the chance of life since 2008 and he would have had a wonderful life with you. Had you opted for the teeth removal earlier, he may not have survived and had these important years of living the life he deserved with you.

Goofball will take care of himxx

Thanks Lorraine. Bernie did have some unexplained sneezing, only on his left nose, all these 2.5 years. The best vet in town wasn't able to figure out. It could be allergy, respiratory injuries, or something. So looking back, his genes was not top notch. As such, it should be obvious that any surgery that needs to be done, better be done at a younger age to improve the chance of success.

However, you are right, there is no way of knowing for sure if a regular length surgery of 2 teeth removal was done back in Jun 2009, that he would survive thru that type of surgery.
 
Sorry for your loss. I think you did the right thing in the circumstances, and could not have predicted what happened. He could have had an underlying illness or genetic problem. I think he had a good life with you and you did your best for him.
 
very sorry Jason :( GA's are a risk young or old but it sounds as if you gave him the best of love and care.
 
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