Root elongation... Was there something we could have done?

Feeling guilty and raw at the moment...our beloved Wilma has left us, and her husbun Xandy to binky at Rainbow Bridge.

We moved in June, and they finally became house rabbits.....and it was a magical six months. Wilma became part of the furniture almost, whilst Xander has always been out little ninja, and avoided soppy cuddles and nose rubs, Wilma would come and sit on the sofa, have nose rubs, and spent a great deal of time just flopped....like below lol.

She was fine, eating hay, greens, some kibble...nothing seemed to be an issue, and nothing ever came up on their health checks...apart from that they were miracle bunnies surviving through myxi.

About a week ago, she seemed to be off her food, we just put it down to a bad 'hare' day. The following day, she developed a slight head tilt, so she was rushed up to see the emergency vet. She gave her an injection of antibiotics and metacam and told us to bring her back the next day to see the normal vet. (We also got and administered critical care) This we did, and we noticed some swelling in her jaw....although she seemed her usual self. Bar not really eating. The vet popped her on the floor, and she ran around, saying hello, and acting her usual charming self.....she advised that a conservative approach would be a good option, and we were given oral antibiotics and metacam. Thankfully Wilma was always good with her drugs, and happily takes them. In fact she loves metacam

Apart from some swelling, and her not eating, she carried on being Wilma. Flops, binkies, kisses and demanding nose rubs. But the swelling got worse, and started to travel up to her eye.

Saturday morning, and no improvement, and her eye had gotten much worse overnight, so we took her back up. Vet advised that she needed X-rays and possible treatment whilst under, and that the eye possibly could t be saved. Told them to do what they had to. Phone call a couple of hours later, to be told that the eye was lost, there was infection in all four quadrants of her molars, requiring all of them to be removed, could we come back.

Up we went, distraught, as we knew what was coming. She showed us her X-rays, and you could see that her roots were miles longer than they should be....some protruding into her eye socket. Vet said that her teeth themselves that you could see looked fine, occluded properly, nothing was there. After explaining the treatment options they had, ( removal of all teeth through the cheeks, removal of her eye and long term antibiotics and pain relief, with no guarantee of success) we decided that the kindest, most humane option was to have her pts. She fell asleep in my arms, having nose rubs with daddy.

We are now trying to do our best for little man, who wasn't there when she left us (the only time they've ever been apart since they bonded). He seems ok, but we will be lead by him....if he needs a new mate, then that's what we will do.

I'm sorry for the long post....it's kind of come gushing out . I just can't believe we never noticed anything before....reading about elongated roots, it seems like it's something that we should have picked up before....but she loved her hay, it wasn't til she got the infection that she stopped eating. What did we miss? She never suffered with runny eyes, nothing . I just don't want to ever miss it again, and the thought that she was suffering whilst we were unaware is heartbreaking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Binky free wilmy, gone, but never forgotten. We will miss you always x

I'm so very sorry for your loss I don't know anything about tooth root problems other than that they often cause a runny eye etc, I'm sure you did everything you could for her hugs xx

laurajayne said:

Feeling guilty and raw at the moment...our beloved Wilma has left us, and her husbun Xandy to binky at Rainbow Bridge.

We moved in June, and they finally became house rabbits.....and it was a magical six months. Wilma became part of the furniture almost, whilst Xander has always been out little ninja, and avoided soppy cuddles and nose rubs, Wilma would come and sit on the sofa, have nose rubs, and spent a great deal of time just flopped....like below lol.

She was fine, eating hay, greens, some kibble...nothing seemed to be an issue, and nothing ever came up on their health checks...apart from that they were miracle bunnies surviving through myxi.

About a week ago, she seemed to be off her food, we just put it down to a bad 'hare' day. The following day, she developed a slight head tilt, so she was rushed up to see the emergency vet. She gave her an injection of antibiotics and metacam and told us to bring her back the next day to see the normal vet. (We also got and administered critical care) This we did, and we noticed some swelling in her jaw....although she seemed her usual self. Bar not really eating. The vet popped her on the floor, and she ran around, saying hello, and acting her usual charming self.....she advised that a conservative approach would be a good option, and we were given oral antibiotics and metacam. Thankfully Wilma was always good with her drugs, and happily takes them. In fact she loves metacam

Apart from some swelling, and her not eating, she carried on being Wilma. Flops, binkies, kisses and demanding nose rubs. But the swelling got worse, and started to travel up to her eye.

Saturday morning, and no improvement, and her eye had gotten much worse overnight, so we took her back up. Vet advised that she needed X-rays and possible treatment whilst under, and that the eye possibly could t be saved. Told them to do what they had to. Phone call a couple of hours later, to be told that the eye was lost, there was infection in all four quadrants of her molars, requiring all of them to be removed, could we come back.

Up we went, distraught, as we knew what was coming. She showed us her X-rays, and you could see that her roots were miles longer than they should be....some protruding into her eye socket. Vet said that her teeth themselves that you could see looked fine, occluded properly, nothing was there. After explaining the treatment options they had, ( removal of all teeth through the cheeks, removal of her eye and long term antibiotics and pain relief, with no guarantee of success) we decided that the kindest, most humane option was to have her pts. She fell asleep in my arms, having nose rubs with daddy.

We are now trying to do our best for little man, who wasn't there when she left us (the only time they've ever been apart since they bonded). He seems ok, but we will be lead by him....if he needs a new mate, then that's what we will do.

I'm sorry for the long post....it's kind of come gushing out . I just can't believe we never noticed anything before....reading about elongated roots, it seems like it's something that we should have picked up before....but she loved her hay, it wasn't til she got the infection that she stopped eating. What did we miss? She never suffered with runny eyes, nothing . I just don't want to ever miss it again, and the thought that she was suffering whilst we were unaware is heartbreaking.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Binky free wilmy, gone, but never forgotten. We will miss you always x

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So sorry for your loss.
We didn't know there was anything wrong with Fiva till he suddenly became very ill over night (severe dental problems). The vet says he is a very extreme case. I, like you can't believe we didn't see the problem brewing but as you say he was a brilliant eater and no dribbling.
I like you find it hard to cope with the fact that he may have suffered before we realised but they hide it so well.
Try not to blame yourself, your bunny clearly thought the world of you so must have felt extremely loved. xx

I am really sorry you lost Wilma. How could you have known if she was eating well with no outward signs? It wasn't your fault.

As the vet said, if the teeth looked normal from the outside there isn't a lot you can do to detect elongated roots, you need a sign to go ahead with an xray and it sounds like you did that as soon as you got one. Even if you had known the roots were getting long it's very tough to do something about it as bunny teeth are tricky to take out and just taking out the top ones would have meant the bottom overgrowing.

It sounds like although they'd probably been getting longer awhile they hadn't been an acute issue for long. I think one of the positive things about house rabbits is you are much more likely to notice changes in behaviour and eating and that she hadn't been displaying those means you picked it up pretty quick.

I am so sorry for your loss. I don't have any advice as this is something I am very paranoid about too... It must have been distressing for you, Wilma sounds like she was a special bun and lucky to have you and her husbun xx