Poorly rabbit. U/D: Why do my rabbits have dental problems??

Chloe has seemed a bit quiet this week but has been eating and seeming ok (other than quiet). Last night she took her treat but wasn't very interested.

This morning I went to check on the babies (rabbits!) and Peter and Jess ran to greet me and take the food. Chloe was nowhere to be seen. I opened up the top floor door and found her led in the litter tray. She has a really sad look, her ears are cold and I tried all of her favourite foods to tempt her out. She wouldn't budge.

I have rang the vet and made an appointment to see what is wrong. Any ideas?

We are off to the vets in half an hour. Fingers crossed.

Tanya

Sounds like you've done the right thing in getting her to the vets, she sounds very poorly. Good Luck, I hope she feels better soon xx

get well soon

let us know what the vet said....
get well soon little bun
rabbit mum

Chloe needs a dental.

Vet has given her an injection and then we have painkillers and something that helps to bring her appetite back.

She has to go in Monday morning for a dental. My husband and I were strugggling to work out how to get her to the vets for 9am. I have a course which begins at 9:30am and is about one hours drive from the vets and my husband is leaving for work at 6:45. She has to be dropped off at 9am!

Anyway, the lady working in the reception offered to take her to the vets for me. I have to drop her off with the lady on Monday morning (about 8am) and she will take her to the vets. She has given me her address and number incase I get lost!

I feel bad dropping Chloe off at a strangers house but I know she needs her dental. :?

Chloe has been a very good girl when we are syringe feeding her but does not like the medicine!

Aww poor Chloe, but at least you acted fast and are getting her the help she needs.
Make sure she keeps hydrated too as this will help things move along in her tummy, so either syringing water or cooled boiled peppermint/nettle tea is good.

good luck to chloe for her dental, and to you for all the arrangements to hang together.

Chloe is not eating any food independently, so I am syringe feeding her critical care. She DID eat an apple yoghurt drop this morning, so atleast she is not too scared to eat everything.

I am worried about all my rabbits though...

Peter had two dentals in August, probably because he is not a fan of hay. He likes apple sticks now! (and eats some hay)

BUT, Chloe and Jessica EAT LOTS OF HAY and have burgess excel nuggets. What is wrong? Why do they need dentals?? Can I do anything else to try and prevent them from having these problems?

Thanks

Tanya

I am beginning to feel nervous now! Chloe has got her dental tomorrow and I am dropping her offf at the vet receptionists house.

My poor girl. She ate some banana treats tonight (crunchy dried banana) and a youghurt drop. I think thats good considering she didn't want to eat any other food. She has some critical care earlier just to help fill her tummy up. She has also been on the lawn all afernoon and I saw her nibbling on some grass.

Vet has given me 'Metoclopromide tablets 10mg' which I am supposed to give three times a day (1/4 of a tablet at a time).

She is due the next lot at midnight(If I do it every 8 hours). I have read online that this tablet helps to speed up stomach emptying. Should I give her this at midnight?

Thanks

Tanya

Do you have any greens or fresh grass you can tempt her with?

I am sure she will be fine after her dental and be feeling much better.

How old is chloe? Unfortunately some rabbtis have genetic teeth problems and will always need regular dentals as the teeth will never wear down properly. Some buns develop spurs due to not eating enough hay to grind down their teeth and this is easier to manage through encouraging a hay based diet.

Chloe is about ten months old. She has always ate lots of hay and loves veg and pellets.

She is not tempted by anything this evening. I have tried grass and fresh dandelions. She licked her lips when we gave her critical care earlier.

I am going to have a shower and sort my things for work then I will go back out to check on her. I will try and tempt her with some spring greens, she usually loves them.

Poor thing - I hope she is feeling better after her dental.

Is she eating anything at all? Its really important that she keeps good gut movement right up until her GA tomorrow. I would keep going with the critical care as much as you can and you could try mushing some of her normal pellets with wam water so they are easy for her to lap up.

I will keep my fingers crossed for her tomorrow

Thank you.

I am going to take some spring greens and grated carrot to her in a while and see if she is tempted.

sounds dumb but cut some grass....and pick a few dandelions......parsley used to get my first bun eating.

i really hope she improves.

my bif who i lost recently was a dental bun..sometimes 2 weeks apart...sometimes 4 months......but it wasnt until she was 5 that they discovered she had a recessive lower jaw. its genetic sadly.....cant be helped

Dental Problems

Rabbits teeth grow continuously to ensure there is always enough tooth to chew grass. Normally the correct chewing action + plenty of fibrous food (grass and hay) ensure that the teeth are worn down as fast as they grow and are kept aligned. If the teeth aren�t worn down by chewing enough fibrous foods, the teeth overgrow. The only thing that is hard enough to wear teeth down is other teeth. So why do my rabbit�s teeth need fibrous food? Simply because it encourages your rabbit to chew for long enough to wear the teeth down - nothing else will do this. So if you feed to much rabbit mix or pellets your rabbit will not have the appetite for hay and grass and so not chew long enough to wear the teeth down.

What happens if the teeth overgrow?

As the back teeth overgrow, a number of things happen:

* They start to force the jaws apart which means the front teeth no longer meet; this prevents them from wearing down so they overgrow - this can be seen from the outside.
* Before you see this, the overgrowing cheek teeth start to put pressure on each other pushing them into their bony sockets. This is painful. It also damages the bone in the socket making it soft so the teeth sink deeper into the bone. Lack of calcium in the diet due to excessive feeding of cereal based rabbit food results in softer bone and makes this even worse. As the teeth continue to grow they push deeper into the bone until the lower teeth start to push out of the bottom of the lower jaw (you may be able to feel bumps on the bottom jaw). The upper teeth start to push up towards the tear ducts and eyes.
* As the teeth overgrow, the correct chewing action is lost so the teeth start to grow in abnormal directions allowing spurs to form. The lower teeth tend to form spurs towards the tongue and the upper teeth towards the cheek. These can become sharp and cut into the tongue and cheek.
* Dental abscesses can form at the points where the tooth roots break through the damaged bone. These will require surgery and dental treatment.


all because some idiot bred from a bun with dental issues

hows she getting on?...id make sure she has plenty of water too..syringe feeding it to her if she doesnt drink herself..this will also keep her tummy moving to help prevent g i stasis..our buns love banana if they are off their food or herbs

Chloe has been very quiet this evening. She felt cold so I heated up the snugglepad for her.

I rang the vets because she felt quite stiff and was very dopey. He said she was given muscle relaxant so they could open her mouth wide enough to do the dental. He suggested that it will last for several hours but she will be fine by morning. I hope so. :?