Dental Bunny Help?

EmmArghh · Mar 28, 2014

Hi guys,
you might have seen my post a few months back about Harvey-bun and all the stress he put me through.
In the end it turned out he had dental spurs (which three vets completely missed)

My mum feeds both bunns in the morning and mentioned to me yesterday that he didn't seem to be that interested in his food.
I've been out with a treat today and he's still not interested (although he will eat bits of his salad in an evening).
I guess my main worry is that his spurs are back.

Can anybody with dental bunnies let me know approximately how often they need their dentals?
Dreading him needing another!

Thanks!
Emma, Harvey & Martha (Arthur)
xxx

GrahamL · Mar 28, 2014

Everybunny is different, my Ginger (RIP) needed dentals every 3 weeks at one point - some need them more often, some need 1 a year, some need 1 every few years, its impossible to say really.

If he's not eating properly and hasn't been for 24hrs plus he needs to see a vet TODAY, with no delay. When a rabbit stops eating, its already become an emergency as they hide illness very well due to being prey animals.

Please get to a vet.

HappyHop · Mar 28, 2014

Hi there

I have a dental bun too - they do cause us to worry don't they!

For my bun the second dental was not as bad as the first as at least you now know what you are doing.

Have to agree with Graham though, the early you get him to a vet the better and it will also hopefully mean his recovery will be quicker.

The trick with dental buns is spot the tiniest clues early on so you can get them sorted immediately.

I know its really hard (been where you are myself) .

Good luck.
Let us know how you get on
Nikki

EmmArghh · Mar 28, 2014

He's still eating bits of hay and hasn't stopped eating completely.
I'm going to bring him in later and give him some critical care/recovery (which ever one he decides he likes the taste of this time) and see how he is tomorrow.
If he hadn't eaten anything at all yesterday I'd have rushed him there straight away, don't worry. It's hard to tell what's being eaten my him and what's being eaten my Martha so I'm definitely going to bring him in alone for a few hours later on and coax him into eating without her.

I was just wondering what the time span was for different people, I've never worked with, never mind had my own, dental bun before so this is all new.

Thanks,
Emma, Harvey & Martha (Arthur)

HappyHop · Mar 28, 2014

It is a learning curve when you have a dental bunny for the first time.

Every dental bun is very different and will show different signs.

I know it would be great to be able to predict when the next dental is needed so you can be organised and ready but these cheeky little furries unfortunately don't work like that.

As graham said there are people on here who have had to have dentals every 3 weeks and others can go on for a lot longer.
For mine the first time was 5 months. It was also missed by 4 different vets until i found a great exotic specialist vet.

I now know the early warning signs- he goes off his veg a bit and sneezes.
If yours is off his food this maybe him showing the signs that he needs another dental.
I would try and get him to the vet today, some vets can be a nightmare at weekends and you don't want to have to pay the silly amounts the emergency vets cost.

EmmArghh · Mar 28, 2014

Just had a text off mum telling me that he stuffed himself full of straw this morning (I could kill him, he has a hutch full of hay and chooses to eat the straw!

)
Just nipped out with some parsley and he nearly tore my arm off so I'm not too worried about him, just worried about when the next dental is going to pop up!
He seems, if anything, more lively than he usually is (I'm sure he has seasonally active depression at times!) but I'll keep an eye on him just in case.

I've read from a few people that their rabbits have to have dentals every 4 months or so - that's probably why I'm watching everything he does like a hawk!

Thanks for the advice

Emma, Harvey & Martha (Arthur)

Jack's-Jane · Mar 28, 2014

Personally I would get the Vet to check his teeth now regardless of whether or not his eating improves. With Dental Rabbits it is 100% always better to get any treatment carried out BEFORE the Rabbit stops eating.

EmmArghh · Mar 28, 2014

HappyHop said:
As graham said there are people on here who have had to have dentals every 3 weeks and others can go on for a lot longer.
For mine the first time was 5 months. It was also missed by 4 different vets until i found a great exotic specialist vet.

I now know the early warning signs- he goes off his veg a bit and sneezes.
If yours is off his food this maybe him showing the signs that he needs another dental.
I would try and get him to the vet today, some vets can be a nightmare at weekends and you don't want to have to pay the silly amounts the emergency vets cost.

They're little monkeys aren't they?!
Its mostly his pellets that he's gone off, but to be honest he never really got his appetite back for them after he had his dental!
Thankfully, with working close to the vets I never struggle to get an appointment (Robert's great and would fit Harvey in even if it meant taking time from his dinner).
Think I just had a little panic when I was told he wasn't eating - to be honest, he could leave one piece of hay and she'd tell me he hadn't eaten as much :lol:
I've found when he's ill he goes downstairs in his hutch, surrounds himself in hay, and lies in the corner... I think this is because Martha is scared of using the stair sin the hutch for some reason so won't go downstairs. Right now he's lay in the sun snuggled up to her so he seems fine

katie88 · Mar 28, 2014

I would say it's highly likely that this could be early signs of him needing a dental. As others have said, it is much better to get dental work done as soon as it is needed rather than waiting as the recovery for the bunny is much easier. It takes a few times to learn the subtle warning signs. With marbles, she just goes off her hay, barely enough to be noticeable and she will still eat her pellets and veg and looks just as bright. But low and behold when I take her to the vets, they find some spurs.

I was told by a rabbit specialist that the 'average' time between dentals for a dental bun is 10-12 weeks. Marbles normally goes about 3 months.

Hugo's There · Mar 28, 2014

Our surgery offers free dental checks with a vet nurse for rabbits. Maybe your surgery offers something similar?

Definitely worth getting him checked up as its always better to catch these things before they completely stop eating.

We have had rabbits that need dental every three weeks and others that need one or two a year so it really does vary an awful lot.

Good luck

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Dental Bunny Help?

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