Lobo
Mama Doe
Eleven days ago our 17 month old Milo's eating pattern altered abruptly. He ate normally overnight then in the morning sniffed his hay and left it to go to his pellets where he only ate 2-3 Oxbow Bunny Basics. During the day he picked at a small amount of greens, left his pellets and ate no hay. He went to the vet that afternoon where palpating found quite a lot of hair in his stomach and GI tract. A dental examination by otoscope also revealed some small lingual molar spurs but as they were not sharp it was though treating the possible stasis the priority. He was put on motility drugs and Metacam and we did some supplementary Critical Care feeding.
After 4 days his eating pattern had not changed but he was still poohing, although they were smaller but not stasis like. He was just not eating enough fibre. I spoke to the vet and said I thought his problem seemed to be in his mouth as he wouldn't eat anything firm or drink much so a GA and dental was booked for last Thursday. The spurs were removed and his tongue checked to ensure there were no cuts or ulcers. The vet said Milo had a malocclusion he had not seen in a rabbit before. His mandible has an inward bow on both sides which is causing the upper and lower molars not to align and thus developing spurs. Also this is causing his tongue to be always touching against the molars.
Another 4 days on and he is still only just picking at a tiny amount of hay and taking all day to eat a 10-15gms of pellets. His water consumption remains lower, but not to dehydrating levels The poohs are still smaller but there are plenty of them and he is running around and doing binkies. He will eat greens, grass and a little soft Orchard grass but not his Timothy, Meadow or Oaten hays. He is quite easy to syringe feed (once you can get him into the burrito wrap) and I usually manage to get 30-40cc's into him at a time.
I am wondering if anyone else has had experience with this kind of malocclusion or if there is any experience of other fibre he might eat without syringing. Unfortunately our choices are limited in Australia with no Redigrass etc. I am concerned for him as we had another bunny with dental problems from malocclusion for 7 years and I would not like to see Milo go through all the GA's, burring and spurs little Liam endured.
Not feeling the best
Hiding from the syringe
After 4 days his eating pattern had not changed but he was still poohing, although they were smaller but not stasis like. He was just not eating enough fibre. I spoke to the vet and said I thought his problem seemed to be in his mouth as he wouldn't eat anything firm or drink much so a GA and dental was booked for last Thursday. The spurs were removed and his tongue checked to ensure there were no cuts or ulcers. The vet said Milo had a malocclusion he had not seen in a rabbit before. His mandible has an inward bow on both sides which is causing the upper and lower molars not to align and thus developing spurs. Also this is causing his tongue to be always touching against the molars.
Another 4 days on and he is still only just picking at a tiny amount of hay and taking all day to eat a 10-15gms of pellets. His water consumption remains lower, but not to dehydrating levels The poohs are still smaller but there are plenty of them and he is running around and doing binkies. He will eat greens, grass and a little soft Orchard grass but not his Timothy, Meadow or Oaten hays. He is quite easy to syringe feed (once you can get him into the burrito wrap) and I usually manage to get 30-40cc's into him at a time.
I am wondering if anyone else has had experience with this kind of malocclusion or if there is any experience of other fibre he might eat without syringing. Unfortunately our choices are limited in Australia with no Redigrass etc. I am concerned for him as we had another bunny with dental problems from malocclusion for 7 years and I would not like to see Milo go through all the GA's, burring and spurs little Liam endured.
Not feeling the best
Hiding from the syringe