Dental Advice, Soft Poo's + x-Ray Query/U.D- Teeth fine,possible small blockage

Took my Benji to the vets only 2 weeks ago as I thought it was time for a dental. The vet examined his teeth and said they look fine, no sharp edges or spikes or anything.

However, today Benji has been acting differently, not him normal self. I have just tried giving him his pellets, and he wont touch them. He did pick one up, tried to bite into it and then dropped it and wouldnt have it. This to me seems to be his teeth hurting him He has also been biting hay in half instead of eating it.

I have wet the pellets and they have gone much softer and he is eating away ok now.

Also noticed that he poo's are a lot different, bigger but not properly formed into a round hard ball, more mushy. Difficult to explain

Ive rang my vets, just caught them before they closed and said I need an appointment for tmorro, and I have one in the morning at half 8.

Apart from feeding plenty of hay and grass, and proxetin pro fibe what else can I do tonight? Is there anyway I can help him get his poo's back to normal?

Feel useless

Also, I want to ask the vet to x-ray his teeth during his dental, as he is under G.A. One of the rabbits I had as a young child developed absesses all round her jaw, we had her operated on and cleaned them out everyday but she suffered so much and had to be put down. The thought of this happening to Ben scares me so much. Hence the reason for the x ray just to check his teeth roots are ok and no absesses are there.

Does this sound abit over the top?

It may be difficult trying to get your rabbit to eat hay. But you could try mixing in forage, grass ,small cut up fruits, and wet veg for variety and hopefully the strong fresh smells will encourage your bun to eat a bit, if not a lot!

It's not OTT about asking for a X ray, it's perfectly normal and if tomorrow the vets suspect there's some issues with tooth roots then they'll think about doing x rays anyway.

Refusal of food could be due to teeth problems and other things as swell such as gas in the lungs. Is your rabbit sitting in a hunched position?

Use this interactive symptom checker to ease your mind
http://www.animaloracle.com/pet/

whitehood said:

It may be difficult trying to get your rabbit to eat hay. But you could try mixing in forage, grass ,small cut up fruits, and wet veg for variety and hopefully the strong fresh smells will encourage your bun to eat a bit, if not a lot!

It's not OTT about asking for a X ray, it's perfectly normal and if tomorrow the vets suspect there's some issues with tooth roots then they'll think about doing x rays anyway.

Refusal of food could be due to teeth problems and other things as swell such as gas in the lungs. Is your rabbit sitting in a hunched position?

Use this interactive symptom checker to ease your mind
http://www.animaloracle.com/pet/

Click to expand...

I have mixed in some apple leaves and fresh forage for him too. He is actually eating some now, think its because Cupcake is eating it

Glad to hear its normal, I think I need to have one done to stop worrying, I dont think my vet suspects of tooth root abcesses but I would like one done just to be on the safe side.

As far as I can see he has been sitting normally, and has been lying down a few times as he normally does. He has been very moody though, which isnt like him. He wont let me touch around his mouth, and he normally doesnt mind.

Would you say the softer poo's are teeth related? Normally when he's due a dental he leaves his cecal pellets and his poo's are different.

Im also baffled as to why his teeth were ok 2 weeks ago (no spikes) and now they seem to be causing him a lot of pain and bother

lilgems91 said:

I have mixed in some apple leaves and fresh forage for him too. He is actually eating some now, think its because Cupcake is eating it

Glad to hear its normal, I think I need to have one done to stop worrying, I dont think my vet suspects of tooth root abcesses but I would like one done just to be on the safe side.

As far as I can see he has been sitting normally, and has been lying down a few times as he normally does. He has been very moody though, which isnt like him. He wont let me touch around his mouth, and he normally doesnt mind.

Would you say the softer poo's are teeth related? Normally when he's due a dental he leaves his cecal pellets and his poo's are different.

Click to expand...

I'm not really sure as I'm not a vet but try searching for the answer to your question on this webpage.
http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

If you think later on today the problem is going to get worse I would phone the emergency vets and ask for their advice. They may/may not tell you to come in.

Took Benji to the vets yesterday expecting to have to leave him in for a dental. My vet checked his teeth again, and said from what she can see everything looks normal for Ben, long but with no spikes.

I seriously dont know whats going on, as his symptoms are typical teeth irritation from Benji but they appear to look fine :?

She also had a feel of his tummy, and thinks that maybe because he grooms himself and Cupcake so frequently he has got a small blockage in his gut, so gave him an injection to keep his gut moving, and said to give him Metacam. She said just to feed him on hay and grass, with his normal amount of pellets. Since yesterday he seems to have perked up a little bit, and will now also eat hay as well as grass.

She wants to treat as a possible gut problem first, and if nothing has changed by Monday she thinks it must be his teeth.

Am I right in thinking that vets cant normally see the teeth right at the back properly? My vet admitted this herself, and said he wouldnt let her see right to the back.

I am at a loss what to do, I do not want to put him through the stress of a dental + anasthetic if he does not need it, but might not know until then.

On the other hand I do not want to leave it incase he is in more pain, and do not want it to be left untreated

Has anyone been in a similar situation with their dental buns??

lilgems91 said:

Took Benji to the vets yesterday expecting to have to leave him in for a dental. My vet checked his teeth again, and said from what she can see everything looks normal for Ben, long but with no spikes.

I seriously dont know whats going on, as his symptoms are typical teeth irritation from Benji but they appear to look fine :?

She also had a feel of his tummy, and thinks that maybe because he grooms himself and Cupcake so frequently he has got a small blockage in his gut, so gave him an injection to keep his gut moving, and said to give him Metacam. She said just to feed him on hay and grass, with his normal amount of pellets. Since yesterday he seems to have perked up a little bit, and will now also eat hay as well as grass.

She wants to treat as a possible gut problem first, and if nothing has changed by Monday she thinks it must be his teeth.

Am I right in thinking that vets cant normally see the teeth right at the back properly? My vet admitted this herself, and said he wouldnt let her see right to the back.

I am at a loss what to do, I do not want to put him through the stress of a dental + anasthetic if he does not need it, but might not know until then.

On the other hand I do not want to leave it incase he is in more pain, and do not want it to be left untreated

Has anyone been in a similar situation with their dental buns??

Click to expand...

I think the two bits in bold are key because the vet can't see properly what's going on at the back without a GA and properly opening the rabbits mouth. Scarlet had some horrendous issues at the back that FHB and our regular vet hadn't been able to see. If he's eating better with metacam it could be teeth, but if his tummy is also now feeling better then he'd eat again.
The fact that he was eating only grass and will now eat hay too now he's on the metacam says teeth to me.
I think you're just going to have to keep a close eye on him.

Did you vet use the *****scope (*** I don't know the starting of the tool )
The *** scope's tip has to be inserted into the mouth and there's a light and a magnifying glass for the vets to see through to the back of the mouth.

And weight loss also indicates teeth problems, did the vet say the weight was okay ?

whitehood said:

Did you vet use the *****scope (*** I don't know the starting of the tool )
The *** scope's tip has to be inserted into the mouth and there's a light and a magnifying glass for the vets to see through to the back of the mouth.

And weight loss also indicates teeth problems, did the vet say the weight was okay ?

Click to expand...

They still can't see everything even with one of those (it's an oteoscope) that's what both our vet and FHB use.

Benji has maintained his weight well, in fact he has been slowly gaining weight in the last year.

He hasn't had any metacam yesterday or today, and is still eating grass and hay fine :s

He has another appointment with the vet Monday morning, would it be cruel and unnecessary of me to request he has a dental incase there are problems that can't be seen at the back?

His tummy seems much better now, and his appetite is back to normal?

Sorry for the late replies, my Internet has been down!

If his eating is back to normal I would leave him be. Any dental will cause some pain (though you can manage it) and there is always a risk with a GA so I wouldn't do it as a precaution and I don't think any vet that knew stheir stuff would do that. We watch Scarlet's eating like hawks and have her teeth checked at least every month (other than straight after a dental when we wait about 6 weeks) so that the vet can properly monitor their growth and we go to FHB for dentals only when they get bad.

Thank you for the quick reply.

So if he continues to eat as he has been then leave the dental for now, and keep a close eye on his eating?

If the same thing happens again in a few weeks and he gets picky with his hay and pellets and seems to be struggling then another appointment at the vets, and a possible dental needed?

He normally has a dental every 9 weeks, and he hasnt needed one since 1st march so has gone much longer than needed.

My vet is very good, she has said she wants to treat as a tummy issue first and then if this carries on look at teeth possibilities.

If the teeth at the back are left to grow long is there a possibility of accesses occurring?

lilgems91 said:

Thank you for the quick reply.

So if he continues to eat as he has been then leave the dental for now, and keep a close eye on his eating?
If he's eating fine then leave his dental just take him for a check up a few weeks later/
If the same thing happens again in a few weeks and he gets picky with his hay and pellets and seems to be struggling then another appointment at the vets, and a possible dental needed?
Him rejecting food could possibly indicate teeth problems so he may need a dental depending on what's causing him discomfort
He normally has a dental every 9 weeks, and he hasnt needed one since 1st march so has gone much longer than needed.
[COLOR="#FF0000"[COLOR="#FF0000"][/COLOR][/COLOR]
My vet is very good, she has said she wants to treat as a tummy issue first and then if this carries on look at teeth possibilities.

If the teeth at the back are left to grow long is there a possibility of accesses occurring?

Click to expand...

Yep as the long teeth would puncture the gums and the wound could get infected and form into an abscess

But would teeth have to be left for a long time for this to happen?

I'm scared now if I leave his teeth he's going to get accesses