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Poorly Poppy (teeth)

J

Janey

Warren Veteran
Poppy has on-going dental issues that are being managed.

The last few days she has been picky with food and has also lost some weight. I assumed her teeth were the issue, vets yesterday where they clipped an incisor and burred the molars although the vet said there wasn't much that could have been causing problems in regards to those. He gave her a metacam injection just incase and said to bring her back if she's not improved in a couple of days. He said her gut/caecum felt fine and no temperature.

This was last night and she's still not herself, she normally bounces back to normal eating almost immediately after a dental but it doesn't seem to have helped this time (and no huge thing was found that was clearly causing an issue).

I know it's a long shot but any ideas? She is eating a bit and does show an interest in food but then loses it quite quickly where as she normally eats until everything is gone.
 
Did she have the Dental done under GA ?

hAS SHE HAD SKULL RADIOGRAPHS TAKEN ? wHAT IS GOING ON IN THE JAW BONE/TOOTH ROOTS CAN BE VERY SIGNIFICANT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF dENTAL dISEASE


Sorry 'bout caps lock, in a rush !!
 
Thats ok, thanks for replying.

No she didnt have a GA. I know most people hate it but she has concious dentals, my vet is v.rabbit savvy & thats how he does it. Poppy has had dentals both under GA and concious & concious works best for her, she is bery placid.

Not recently. I know she has tooth root problems, when she had skull x-rats before they weren't v.conclusive. We know she has issues in that department but short of removing a lot of molars (which I decided against years ago), there isnt much that can be done I believe.

Perhaps that is the issue though (which is my big fear). If she doesnt puck up by tomorrow we will be going back to the vets & perhaps will have to look at further investigations. She is 6 though so although not very old there is a limit to what I will put her through I think.
 
When you say she's being picky, what is she choosing to eat and what isn't she?
I agree there's nothing surgical that can be done for tooth roots but you can give regular pain relief if they're causing a problem. It seems to be hard foods or foods that cause a sideways chewing motion like hay that cause pain when eating.
Have you tried soft foods like porridge oats or pellets soaked in water? Or banana if she likes it.
Keeping the teeth really short also helps, so it might be worth asking your vet if he thinks she should go under GA to get them filed right down to the gums. Grim's has had this once or twice. Removing molars is very dangerous because it has a high chance of cracking the jaw so I agree with not doing that.

Grim could never eat hay, but you can replace the fibre lost there with fibre from forage such as brambles and plantain. Thumps_ said to me that dental rabbits find them easy to eat if they're dried out into 'crisps' so that they just break up in the rabbit's mouth.
 
If she has known tooth root elongation then she will require analgesia for several days after any Dental work.

I wont get into the Conscious Dental debate as I have said how I (and both my RS Vets) feel about it :D

I would ask your Vet if you can give Poppy a high dose of Metacam for 3-4 days

Also, TRE can lead to abscessation and possibly osteomyelitis. I would be very concerned about not monitoring this (impossible without a GA/radiographs)

Hope Poppy feels less sore soon xx
 
Thank you both for your input.

When I say 'picky' I really mean she will eat for a bit then stop then try again in a little while. She has always been an awful hay eater (and when I say awful I mean really doesn't eat it), she would starve rather than eat hay, but she even gave that a go yesterday.

She has had a few pellets ( I am having a nightmare getting hold of SS so doesnt help she is on excel which she finds less favourable I think), had a go at a variety of veg which I always cut up into small pieces anyway. She had porridge twice yesterday and again this morning which she started eating with gusto but then left after a few minutes.

I know people hate concious GA's, it isn't a decision I take lightly.

Thanks Jenova, I will get some bananas. I have some forage dried from last year so will get that out and see if she fancies it.

I think I will make a vets appointment for tomorrow incase she isn't back to her normal self and take your suggestions with me. I really do feel that people who have experienced these things with their own bunnies have better ideas than the experts at times so thank you.

Abcesses have always been my fear too, I think I have always felt they are almost a certain rather than a possibility.

Typical petshop bunny before I knew better......at least she will get the love and care she needs with me, that makes me feel somewhat better.
 
Janey said:
Thank you both for your input.

When I say 'picky' I really mean she will eat for a bit then stop then try again in a little while. She has always been an awful hay eater (and when I say awful I mean really doesn't eat it), she would starve rather than eat hay, but she even gave that a go yesterday.

She has had a few pellets ( I am having a nightmare getting hold of SS so doesnt help she is on excel which she finds less favourable I think), had a go at a variety of veg which I always cut up into small pieces anyway. She had porridge twice yesterday and again this morning which she started eating with gusto but then left after a few minutes.

I know people hate concious GA's, it isn't a decision I take lightly.

Thanks Jenova, I will get some bananas. I have some forage dried from last year so will get that out and see if she fancies it.

I think I will make a vets appointment for tomorrow incase she isn't back to her normal self and take your suggestions with me. I really do feel that people who have experienced these things with their own bunnies have better ideas than the experts at times so thank you.

Abcesses have always been my fear too, I think I have always felt they are almost a certain rather than a possibility.

Typical petshop bunny before I knew better......at least she will get the love and care she needs with me, that makes me feel somewhat better.
Click to expand...

How often do you feed her? Grim doesn't eat hay at all either but a rabbit's digestive system is designed to be eating all the time so I make sure he has pellets (soaked in water) available constantly or at least every four hours. It's a problem because he's bonded to Smoo and I don't want her scoffing pellets all day but if they don't eat for a long time then their guts slow down and it's hard for them to eat a lot after that.

Try putting some of the exel in a cup and filling it with water just to the top of the pellets. They soak it up nicely and expand after about five minutes. They might be easier for her to eat and if it's possible you could offer her those every four hours. If she will eat forage you can leave that down all day for her to graze on.
 
I feed her morning & night with a snack when I get in at 6ish. Luckily for me Peter is more of a grazer so at the moment there is always food available for her (when Igot up this morning there was pellets & veg), i didnt bother with the porridge last night because she was eating when I went to bed but I gave her some this morning so I know something is in her tummy.

I have always felt that it's not ideal that she doesnt graze all day but she's normally such a greedy guts I havent been able to do too much about it.

I will try the pellet thing, thank you. I have just phoned Jolleyes and they finslly have the SS I ordered (seemed they've had it a few days despite saying to me the other day they didnt & then promising they'd call me when it came in).

Im booked in tomorrow morning so can take her then if she's not back to her normal greedy self.

Sorry for the awful grammer, I am on my phone.
 
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