Any one with experience with dental rabbits who can advise?

Hi all,

My dental rabbit Nancy is not quite herself. It started about a week ago when I noticed she wasn't as excited about her evening veg as normal, over the week she hasn't been eating as much hay as she normally does but she's been scoffing grass and her favourite garden plants like normal. Today she was as enthusistic as ever about her nuggets but when I let her and her bunny friend out into the garden she's taken herself off to her favourite spot behind the shed and stayed there. I've checked on her a few times and she looks bright as a button, bright eyed and moving about happily. Nancy normally enjoys a good run about on the lawn so this lack of activity is unusual for her.

Both her and Casta are coming to the end of a month of E.C treatment as Casta was showing signs of stiffness/weakness in her back legs which has now fully resolved. Nancy's not keen on medication time at all but otherwise has been having no stress or change to her environment. I've booked her in to have a once over on Monday when she can see the specialist vet who looks after her teeth but I don't know if anyone who has experience of dental rabbits thinks I should be more alarmed by her?

She's had two sets of dental treatment that we know of (she's rescued). The first was done on adoption by the RSPCA the second was three and a half months later by my vet. As luck would have it the vet who took her in was new to the practice and remembered Nancy from the RSPCA centre as she had worked with the surgeon there on Nancy's first op. She informed me the work on the second op was much better owing to the superiour equipment at the vets surgery. So I was hoping to get approx three and a half months or more before surgery was due again, but its only been two months. As she's been happy to eat nuggets and grass I was leaning away from teeth this time, but I'm new to this dental rabbit business!

She's not lost any weight, if anything she's gained massively these last two months. She's not drawling or looking pained, just not eating hay and hiding today. So what do you think? Should I be more worried or is she just having a change in tastes and a down day?

It sounds as though she does have Dental pain. This pain may either be within her mouth from sharp teeth/spurs, or pain in the actual jaw from tooth root elongation. Dental Rabbits with TRE can get significant jaw pain if the crowns of the teeth become over long as this puts additional pressure on the roots.

A different 'mechanical' jaw action is needed for a Rabbit to eat hay than is needed to eat pellets. Hence the Rabbit goes off hay as it hurts too much to chew it.

Hay is usually one of the first things that rabbits stop eating when they need their teeth doing, although others go off other types of food first.

I'd say she needs them doing again, classic signs.

Have you got any metacam? An easy way to tell is to give them a decent dose of metacam for a couple of days and see if their eating picks up, if it does then it was almost definately pain stopping them eating. If not then it may or not be though.

Well I'm pleased to say as soon as I had posted the above out she came from behind the shed and she's been bouncing about, scrapping with Casta and stuffing her face with grass for the last two hours!

However, I will take your point about the hay being the first thing to go and keep her appointment on Monday, and keep watching her closely. Her teeth grew in the wrong direction, inwards towards her tongue rather than straight up so they don't get ground down, her problem is normally sharp spurs. Can I ask what TRE is? Still getting used to my dental rabbit and all the terminology that comes with her! Will be a shame if she does need her surgery so quickly after the last, she does not like being medicated and meddled with! Not to mention it's bloomin' expensive! Still, what's a bit of money and hassle for a healthy happy bun?!

I always have metacam kicking about the place - I have a garden full of rescue creatures and if it's not one its the other in need of a touch of TLC! What sort of dose is normal for a 2.5kg rabbit? There have been three other creatures since her last dose and can't remember what the vet recommened!

Fatfish said:

I always have metacam kicking about the place - I have a garden full of rescue creatures and if it's not one its the other in need of a touch of TLC! What sort of dose is normal for a 2.5kg rabbit? There have been three other creatures since her last dose and can't remember what the vet recommened!

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Metacam is a prescription medicine so, even though you have a supply at home already, you should ideally speak to the vet to see if it would be ok to give Nancy some on this occasion and they will be able to advise you of the correct dosage.

TRE is Tooth Root Elongation. Hope you get on ok with the vet.

One of my dental rabbits had to have a lot of regular dentals when he first came here, but now he has them about 9-12 months-ish apart, so it can get better with regular dental treatment and good hay eating. That said my other dental rabbit has to go every 3 months, pretty much on the dot. It has never improved but that's because he has malocclusion/weirdly growing teeth. So I'd just say that every dental bunny is individual and you will get to know the signs for your bunny, but also there is hope that with a good diet and regular trimming the dentals may get more spaced out.

Good luck for Nancy.