Advice following dental

Hi everyone,

I took my minilop to the vet last night after she lost her appetite and was lying down a lot. Turns out she had a big spur on her molar which was causing an ulcer.

Vets kept her overnight and tried to syringe feed her but they said that she wouldn't feed. They rang this morn and said she's doing OK but still not eating and asked me to decide whether to have her pts or go ahead with the dental.

I decided to go ahead with the dental but they discovered that her teeth are growing in a wave shape and that they couldn't remove everything they wanted to.

I decided to bring her home as she never likes being hand fed as it is and was given meds and liquid food to syringe.

I tried to syringe feed and she was having none of it, then i put a floret of broccoli and a carrot in and she suddenly started eating the leafy bits off the brocolli and about 1/5 of the carrot.

She's now gone back to sitting and feeling sorry for herself, she wont drink any water when offered. She does hop about when you sit in the run with her.

I'm not sure what else I can do - I feel so sorry for her.

One of her eyes is a bit runny too - could this be linked to the dental?

Sorry for all of the questions!

Has she been discharged with pain relief to have regularly ?

Has she passed any feces ?

How old is she ?

She's 5 1/2. She's been discharged with metacam (dog) telling me to administer 0.6ml once per day starting tomorrow and zantac syrup telling me to administer 0.5ml twice per day starting tomorrow.

She looks really fed up :-(

Ps no faeces seen as yet but she only ate the brocolli and carrot about an hour ago and thats the first she's eaten in about 24 hours

She is probably still very groggy from the GA

Just keep tempting her with Veg and maybe try making her usual pellet feed soft by soaking it in boiled water and allowing it to cool.

Or crush the pellets into a powder and mix them in with grated carrot.

Is she indoors ? She really needs to be as she will struggle to maintain her body temperature as she recovers from the GA.

Thanks for your advice, she is in my conservatory with the radiators on so nice and toasty.

I also don't know what to do about her bonded bunny, the vet told me to keep them seperate so that I can monitor faeces etc but I also wonder whether she's missing him. He's currently outside - there's not really enough space to have them in the conservatory separately, I only have 1 run which she is in. What do you think? x

Minilop said:

Thanks for your advice, she is in my conservatory with the radiators on so nice and toasty.

I also don't know what to do about her bonded bunny, the vet told me to keep them seperate so that I can monitor faeces etc but I also wonder whether she's missing him. He's currently outside - there's not really enough space to have them in the conservatory separately, I only have 1 run which she is in. What do you think? x

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I never separate bonded Rabbits when one is ill. IMO it adds to the stress and hinders recovery. But I cannot tell you to go against the advice of your Vet, only you can make that decision

I hope she feels a lot better by the morning and that she is able to eat a bit more.

It was the vet nurse that suggested (when I asked) that it might be an idea to keep them separate to be able to monitor faeces...they both look sad without eachother though.

Do you think its worth a go putting them together again? I know that you don't want to contradict the vet nurse but i'd be grateful of your advice from experience

Minilop said:

It was the vet nurse that suggested (when I asked) that it might be an idea to keep them separate to be able to monitor faeces...they both look sad without eachother though.

Do you think its worth a go putting them together again? I know that you don't want to contradict the vet nurse but i'd be grateful of your advice from experience

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If they were mine I would keep them together but definitely keep them indoors. Less space for them is not important as it is not a permanent arrangement, probably just overnight

I've brought him inside - she seems to have brightened up a bit which is good. Definitely harder to tell whether she is passing waste but at least she's chirpier. Just going to have to keep trying to feed her - how often do you think I should attempt this? There's plenty of hay and fresh veg and pellets in the run if she wanted that but wondering how much to try to syringe food.

Vet nurse said as much as possible as she's not been eating but i also dont want to stress her out...

She's a bit brighter, and has eaten a tiny bit more carrott and i've seen a couple of poo's which im 90% sure are hers.

How often do you think I should be trying to feed her? Should i be getting up in the night to try her or just leave lots of food in run and hope she'll carry on eating her veg?

Hopefully she will be so much better with her partner now. Should make a big difference.

I hope so - everytime i try to feed her the recovery food she runs and eats some veg as if she's trying to get me to take the horrible green paste away! Have mixed the recovery food with some grated carrot, topped up hay, put some water soaked veg in the run and am going to leave them to it for a while.

I've seen some poops now which is a good sign, definitely hers!

How is she doing this morning ?

Hi there

She's much better today thanks, she's had her meds (which was a battle!) but when I got up in the night to her she was munching away and hopping about - lots of pooping.

The vet said yesterday that its likely she'll need regular dentals due to the way her molars grow...not sure what else I can do to try and reduce the risk of spurs growing rapidly. She's a fussy bunny who's not a big fan of hay (saying that she's eaten a fair bit today). She has excel food and lots of veg etc - is there anything else I can do?

Thanks for all advice yesterday, was a nervous wreck!

Minilop said:

Hi there

She's much better today thanks, she's had her meds (which was a battle!) but when I got up in the night to her she was munching away and hopping about - lots of pooping.

The vet said yesterday that its likely she'll need regular dentals due to the way her molars grow...not sure what else I can do to try and reduce the risk of spurs growing rapidly. She's a fussy bunny who's not a big fan of hay (saying that she's eaten a fair bit today). She has excel food and lots of veg etc - is there anything else I can do?

Thanks for all advice yesterday, was a nervous wreck!

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How much pellet feed does she have ? If she is fed too many pellets she wont bother that much with hay.

Also, have you tried her with a variety of different hays to see if there are any that she really likes and will eat more of

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Hays,+Grasses+%2526+Herbs.4/

Glad things are so much better today. often vets don't really understand about bunny bonding but after a dental I always put my guys back together. Generally the no poorly one knows to be gentle and will often lie down a little way away, close enough but not hassling poorly bun. A happily eating bunny is the best encouragement I know to get a non eating bun eat.

Hay, hay and hay is the only way really you can try and manage the teeth a bit. Problem is when the mouth is sore hay's an awful thing to eat so many dental bunnies are wary of hay. I get all the Oxbow ones and the Burns one goes down well too. Dried herbs-dandelion, plantain mixed with hay can help. I put hay in willow balls, loo rolls etc so it's EVERYWHERE and of course loads in the litter tray as buns love a munch whilst on the loo. Mix some food with hay in a loo roll, she's bound to eat a bit of hay whilst hunting. I know it's harder with 2 buns but you'll soon see they'll have different size poos-you'll soon tell the difference. Bunny mummies are experts in poo.

You've got to keep a close eye on future teeth problems though-the quicker you get treatment the better. I take mine for regular checkups if a bit of time passes-at least monthly is a good idea. As soon as there's any sign of problems-stopping eating, no poos, dribble etc get to the vets. You may get into a pattern timewise but you'll see the signs-you'll get really good at knowing your buns this way.

is she used to banana? when our frenchie had an abscess removed from her jaw she would only eat mashed banana:roll: plus our rodentologist says that guineas love it too when they are poorly.its fattening too hope shes still feeling better
kellie

Thanks for the tip about banana however its not needed this time - she's happily wolfed a huge portion of veggies, hay, pellets and is doing brilliantly. So so glad I decided to go ahead with the op and not have her pts x

Good news she's much better. Teeth are NOT a death sentence. There's alot that can be done but alas vets aren't always all that bunny savvy. So glad things are better.