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Malocclusion and hair loss

BBBunny

New Kit
We have an 18 months ish neutered male dwarf casmere lop. He mainly eats a diet of commerical pellets, hay and grains with occasional fresh fruit and vegies. He lives inside as a house rabbit with his own space, no straw/hay bedding, mostly indoors when we are home. He goes outdoors into a cage/house on grass when we can't be home to supervise him.

Since we have owned our BB Bunny he has always had an issue with his teeth in that they dont match and therefore dont wear away, it is only an issue with his incisiors , the other teeth are perfect. His bottom teeth grow out of the mouth and his top grow around and in. I have been taking him to the vet every month (about 4 weeks) to have this trimmed back. The longest he has ever made has been around 6 - 7 weeks.

The vet has discussed the possibility of removing these teeth altogether. My question is, is this the best approach for this? Im not comfortable trimming them myself as I fear that I will cause him serious injury. Hence our monthly visit to the vet. We live in rural NSW Australia.



The second question is related to his coat. Ive taken the poor thing to the vet about this one too, he just seems to get bald all of a sudden. I try to keep his coat from being matted, but his under arms and leg creases are a bit of a bother (tips for that would be awesome). But his hiney is going bald again. The last time this happened the vet diagnosed a "mite" and gave us some low dose drops to put on his neck for cats. It cleared up and then he started again though no little white flakes visable, she gave him a steroid injection to stop this itch and kept with the drops. It stopped.

It warming up again and its started again. Has anyone had an experience like this? This time it is much worse and seems to coincide with the heat. We have the drops again (advocate for cats at a lower dose) to hopefully help him.

Please help, my poor boy is looking very sad and sorry and I just want to make him all better. Thank you
 
Hello

Your Rabbit is not really on an appropriate diet, which should be based on 80-90% grass/hay. This is the only way to ensure healthy gut function and dentition.

As your Rabbit already has Dental Disease it is very important to try to slow it's progression.

Mites are a common finding in 'Dental Rabbits' as they are often less able to groom themselves.

I would definitely opt for Incisor removal but only by a Vet with specific skills in the treatment of Rabbits.

I am sorry this is a brief reply, but here are some links which may be useful to read

http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/CongenIncisorAbnRabbits.htm

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Dental_diseases_main.htm

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/Feeding130807.pdf

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/going_green_oct_06.pdf

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/resources/content/leaflet_pdfs/longhairNov07.pdf
 
From those pamphlets we're not too far off with his diet though there is definitely room for improvement, so I will get onto that. Thanks. :)

My biggest concern is his teeth and the reoccurring mite issue. He is groomed regularly but the little terrors just keep on coming back. In the middle of the heat I can't imagine that's much fun for him. He loves getting his coat brushed thank goodness but I would love for him to not be loosing so much due to these mites.

I've saved that information for continual reference. So thanks. :)
 
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