Still drooling after dental, advice? U/D, I've let my baby down :(.

It has been 9 days since Tila had a dental on his molars to grind down spurs and fix the alignment of his teeth. Prior to the dental he was drooling, chewing on nothing (ie chewing when he had nothing in his mouth), 'clicking' his jaw (moving it around with obvious discomfort) and sticking his tongue out and drooling as well as not eating.

The vets did his dental and said his teeth are now as perfect as they'll get. His last dental was 2 years ago so they said he's doing exceptionally well for a dental bun thanks to his diet being varied and adequate .

However since he had the dental, it took him almost 3 days to eat normally (was on metacam for 2 days after, started eating properly again on the third day, vet said a bit of soreness and fussiness was expected until his teeth settled down). He is eating normally again, but now he has an infected chin as he still sticks his tongue out and drools quite a lot.

For those who aren't familiar with Tila's history, he had his four incisor teeth removed when he was almost a year old due to osteomyelitis (he is now 3.5). He has not needed any more treatment for the last 2 years, however he has had the occasional skin infection under his chin due to drooling/chewing/rubbing the area, also a few cases of upset gut but these have not been often recurrences thankfully.

So I am bathing his chin/mouth in salt water and have started him on whatever Baytril I have left in the cupboard - 1ml dose twice a day. It looks quite bad, worse than it has ever been, but it is not overly red or sore, just wet and smelly (which I know means infection).

So I know that he is not poking his tongue out because of his teeth as they have only just been fixed. What I'm wondering is if it is perhaps because he does not have his incisors he is not able to sufficiently hold his tongue/saliva in? Is there anything else I can do to help?

Sorry for this very rushed reply

I am afraid that it is perfectly possible for molar spurs to develop in 2-3 days. So if he was only eating soft food/syringe feeds after his last Dental he may well have spurs AGAIN. I have seen this happen in one of my Rabbits who had to have a 2nd GA/Dental 6 DAYS after the first one.

My advice would be to take your Bun back to the Vet today for another oral examination

Another possibility is that he has now developed a tooth root abscess

Thanks Jane,
He has been eating his normal foods since the same day of the dental (pellets and greens), he was just being picky over them and eating very small amounts rather than his whole portion.
I've just been out to feed him and checked his teeth, I couldn't feel any spurs when before they were quite sharp and obvious. I washed and dried his chin and instantly he was licking at it and making it wet and smelly again :?, I think perhaps this is why it's always wet, as he only seems to be sticking his tongue out and drooling after he's been at his water bowl, at least that's when it seems to be at it's worst. His chin is no longer red (it was this morning, so it seems to have somewhat cleared up), but still a bit smelly so am keeping up the baytril/salt baths.

It's saturday night here, so I'll see how he goes over the weekend as he is eating normally (well, normally for him - without his incisors he is expectedly slower than other buns at picking things up etc) and doesn't appear to be in any pain, my biggest worry is that he's constantly licking his chin and making it worse rather than letting it heal.

The vet also said next time he needed antibiotics they might change him to penicillin injections because they seem to be more beneficial for rabbits, as they go directly to the blood stream they don't affect the bacteria in the gut and it's only one injection every 48 hours rather than 2 oral doses a day for batytril. Does anyone know if it costs much more? I'm afraid I'm incredibly tight on money as the O/H is currently out of a job, I just spent all our savings on his dental last week

Argh, so so much has gone wrong since Tila's dental 2 weeks ago. I'm at my wit's end and don't know what to do as I wel and truly do not have the money to pay yet another round of vet bills - I barely have enough to feed myself lately let alone this...

When he attempts to eat, he makes a very sloppy sort of slurping sound, like there is a lot of saliva in his mouth or he is clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, I don't really know how to describe it... Sort of the messy sucking-type sound a baby makes when first learning to eat food I guess, if that makes sense? He has been eating on and off, sometimes as normal but some days refusing it until later.
He sits with his chin deliberately dipped in his water bowl, so it is not getting better at all. As much as he hates them, I'm going out tomorrow to buy him a bottle in an effort to try and reduce the moisture he can get to his face. His whole chin/chest/front paws are almost always wet because of it. As soon as I wash it and dry it with salt water then put betadine (watered down) on it, he licks it off immediately. The baytril doesn't seem to be helping much because he's not helping it. I'm supposing an elizabethan collar (like used on cats and dogs) would be detrimental to a rabbit?? Because of eating caecals etc...??
But to top that off, he has stopped using his litter box and is leaving piles of soft squidgy poo everywhere for no apparent reason! (Not caecals -- I can tell the difference between his fortunately..) Seems to be weeing in litter still, but not pooing.
I just don't know what to do. I'm trying my best but it obviously just isn't good enough ...

Oh I feel for you, I'm sorry, Ive no idea what to say to help. Hope someone can help.

Is there any chance you could discuss a payment plan with your vet so you could take her back in again?

Unfortunately, i have to agree with Jane, that either spurs are back, or some form of infection/absess has kicked in post dental

Unfortunately, some buns need dentals every month, or every 2, i have one of them :/

I know you are in Oz, so i dont know if things are different there re payment plans and how lenient the vets are?

Hi, sorry he is not doing do well. Could it be an ulcer or something under his tongue?

I hope he improves soon.x

Also, to add - is bun on any continuing pain relief, metacam for example?

Banni Binky said:

Argh, so so much has gone wrong since Tila's dental 2 weeks ago. I'm at my wit's end and don't know what to do as I wel and truly do not have the money to pay yet another round of vet bills - I barely have enough to feed myself lately let alone this...

When he attempts to eat, he makes a very sloppy sort of slurping sound, like there is a lot of saliva in his mouth or he is clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, I don't really know how to describe it... Sort of the messy sucking-type sound a baby makes when first learning to eat food I guess, if that makes sense? He has been eating on and off, sometimes as normal but some days refusing it until later.
He sits with his chin deliberately dipped in his water bowl, so it is not getting better at all. As much as he hates them, I'm going out tomorrow to buy him a bottle in an effort to try and reduce the moisture he can get to his face. His whole chin/chest/front paws are almost always wet because of it. As soon as I wash it and dry it with salt water then put betadine (watered down) on it, he licks it off immediately. The baytril doesn't seem to be helping much because he's not helping it. I'm supposing an elizabethan collar (like used on cats and dogs) would be detrimental to a rabbit?? Because of eating caecals etc...??
But to top that off, he has stopped using his litter box and is leaving piles of soft squidgy poo everywhere for no apparent reason! (Not caecals -- I can tell the difference between his fortunately..) Seems to be weeing in litter still, but not pooing.
I just don't know what to do. I'm trying my best but it obviously just isn't good enough ...

Click to expand...

I really think your Rabbit needs to be examined by a Vet again. He clearly has alot of oral discomfort. He may be sitting with his chin in his water bowl because the cool water soothes the pain in his mouth.

Is he receiving any medication for pain relief now ?

There is a risk that he could develop, or he already has, a fungal infection in the skin under his chin/on his chest. This too needs to be addressed by a Vet.

Just feeling for molar spurs is no where near as accurate as viewing the inside of the mouth with an auroscope, even then some problems can be missed. A full GA is necessary to get a thorough look in a Rabbit's mouth.

Do be VERY careful if you remove his water bowl. If he refuses to drink from a bottle dehydration will rapidly exacerbate his already severely compromised health.

If I were you I would get him back to the Vet absolutely as soon as you can.

This link may be of interest:

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/generalities_ptyalism.htm
Good luck

Thanks guys, I keep getting into tears about it because I know he needs to go to the vet but they don't do payment plans over here, they all require up front. I just don't know what to do, I don't have any more savings and there is nobody I can borrow money from...

Edit: I've had him on Baytril for any infection, no affect. Will call the vets on my way to work (been urgently called in) and will ask them about penicillin injections and if they're willing to do a payment plan for a client who's been going there for over a decade.... Other than that, I really don't know what to do. I cannot afford another several hundred dollar round of dental to be told they found nothing again as has happened before.
Could the drooling be his osteomyelitis flaring up? If so, it's a case of putting him on a course of penecillin.

Update: there's hope yet...

Called my vet this morning. They do not do payment plans unless you have a full time job. Im a uni student, therefore inelligible.

However, they referred me to the RSPCA, who only charges a consult fee and then you can apply for a payment plan depending on what treatment is required regardless of job status. My local RSPCA clinic is over an hour's drive away but I don't mind getting him there if it means him getting treatment, whether that means me getting someone to take me, or if I have to (hopefully not) take him on the train...

Goodluck. I hope you manage to get an appointment as soon as possible.

Thank Tanya, I managed to get an appointment for tomorrow, as soon as I told them that it was a rabbit and concerned his mouth/GI tract they wanted him straight in. It's saturday tomorrow, but thankfully they don't have a weekend surcharge like every other vet!!

Horrible news, I'm afraid.
Unfortunately today, I made the heartwrenching decision to have Tila put to sleep. I feel like I've let him down, his eyes were so sad... All I have been able to do since is cry and vomit.

He went off of his water some time lastnight, on top of not eating properly for the last 2 weeks. By the time we got him to the RSPCA vet, his temperature was incredibly high, he was getting dehydrated and he had lost a large amount of weight. To put it simply, he was in critical GI failure, and they said there was nothing more they could do for him than I was doing at home (syringing him) except for some sub-cut fluids. Even then, they suspected he would have passed away through the night in agony as there is nobody at the shelters/clinic between 8pm and 9am, a massive 13 hour block for him to be on his own, and they would not allow me to bring him home and care for him in the critical condition Tila was in. Backed up between a rock and a hard place, I had to let my baby go.

I stayed with him while he went to sleep, and we buried him in the yard with our other lost pets buried in his blanket.

I let him down and I don't know if I will ever forgive myself for that...

I am sorry he didn't make it

I'm sorry.

Rest in peace, Tila. x

I am so very sorry to hear this.

RIP Tila. xx

I am sorry for your loss

Binky free little one x

I am so sorry. RIP Tila.

I'm so sorry.