Dental

So Parker had a dental around 7-8 weeks ago and it was her third one (all spaced six months apart).

As it's clear she has genetic dental problems I now want to be proactive in checking her rather than her getting to the point where she stops eating etc so the vet suggested regular check ups.

I took her today and they are longer than they should be but don't look to be causing her issues as of yet. She has no signs of any ulcers or sores in her mouth, however she has lost 600g, so they are going to monitor her (as well as visually) by her weight. So not as good as I hoped (was praying vet would say teeth were nice and short still!) but I am hoping not all bad news.

I have been really trying to get her to eat more hay so have been reducing her pellets and veg a bit so that could account for the weight loss (I really hope it is!) Going to take her back in a month or so to be weighed again to keep an eye on her. Might even try and attempt to weigh her here see if she plays ball....!

I'm trying to remain positive and not get caught up in thinking that the worst is going to happen, but I know I have to accept she has health issues that may shorten her life (?) - breaks my heart, love her so much!

I know bunnies are prone to dental, am I right in my thinking about her life expectancy or is it just one of them unknown things. I know GA's aren't great for rabbits but she has done really well with her previous ones.

On a positive note I had a really good experience at my vets today. Hugo was neutered today and I had a really good chat with the nurse this morning, she really explained everything, we discussed lots of other rabbit related stuff, how complex rabbits are etc... I asked if there are any proper rabbit experts and she recommended one of the vets. Will be making sure I see her in future!

Hugo is home now and doing really well....weeing and pooing, is just having a drink and had a little nibble of his greens.

On count down now till I can bond him and Parker!

One of my bridge buns was a dental bun, (6monthly approximately ) I struggled to get her to eat much hay but once I persevered and managed to get her eating a lot of hay she didn't need any more dentals :thumb:

I would try some alternative types of hay, some rabbits are fussy :roll: other ideas you could try are sprinkling pellet ration into the hay, spraying the hay with a bit of diluted apple juice, mixing in a bit of grated carrot or readigrass or ordinary grass into the hay to try to encourage her to eat it. I would slowly reduce pellets to an eggcupful per day.

If she hasn't had carrot/readigrass/grass etc before, introduce slowly a small amount. Carrot shouldn't be fed in much more than a tiny amount occasionally as it is very high in sugar

I'm not sure about the life expectancy of a dental bun being any different to normal.

I'm glad Hugo is ok, once they are bonded hopefully he will encourage her to eat more hay :thumb:

Thank you for the reply!

I will certainly try the top tips!

She does like the marigold and dandelion forage that excel do and a plantain mix I tried recent she gobbled down! ... Is that counted as hay consumption (sorry if silly question!).

Am going to take a look at what other hay brands/types I can find to see if any of those take her fancy!

I have a dental bunny too, it's stressful isn't it? But try not to get carried away thinking about her life expectancy, many dental bunnies live long happy lives, it's just a case of managing it and the most Iimportant thing is that she is happy and well looked after for the years she does have with you :thumb:

I'd definitely try a variety of hays. My two both love oat wheat and barley hay which you can get from thehayexperts.co.uk. Also another member on here said that orchard grass is good for dental buns as it's very coarse. Also available from the hay experts, it's expensive but I just mix a handful in with their usual cheap hay and it encourages them to eat more.

Also re the weighing - I find the easiest way at home is to put them in their carrier and weigh the whole thing, then take them out and weigh the empty carrier and work out the difference.

Oh and no, forage mixes, whilst perfectly fine for them, doesn't count as hay as it doesn't wear their back teeth down in the same way, so I'd avoid giving too much if you're trying to encourage hay eating. You could sprinkle some in her hay, she might be more inclined to eat lots of hay!

One of my buns started to have teeth problems at about 4.5 and he lived to be 9 when we lost him to a thymoma (nothing to do with teeth). We were proactive in monitoring him and he had to have dentals every 5-6 weeks toward the end under GA.

Molly is a dental bun .Since November last year she has had 3 about 6-7 weeks apart.
I have changed her diet a lot .Having Science Selevtive pellets that she likes, less treats and
I pick bramble leaves and other things like dandelion leaves.
She is not a big hay eater but gets a lot of free range time and does graze on grass ,
which I hear can help with dental bunnies.
So far it has been 8 weeks and no signs of any recurrence at present .So fingers crossed
maybe able to prolong the treatments ,but sure the problem will return.
Good Luck.

katie88 said:

I have a dental bunny too, it's stressful isn't it?

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Yes! It's so helpful to have read the responses to this thread....the very first time I took Parker to the vets and she needed a dental the vet implied that it was a case of seeing how she went and it could be deciding it would be kinder to not put her through lots of GA's so I think since then I' d had it in the back of my mind what the vet said but now I think that I can't think like that and you just never know what will happen!

Also re the weighing - I find the easiest way at home is to put them in their carrier and weigh the whole thing, then take them out and weigh the empty carrier and work out the difference.[/QUOTE] what a great idea! :thumb:

Have brought a couple different types of hay and will give it a go mixing in small amounts of the forage.

Also, I do let Parker free range in the garden when I am home and the weather is nice and she loves a munch on grass!