Salivating!!!

Hi, I have a 6 year old dwarf lop bunny. He has randomly started salivating excessively, especially when he eats. We have been to two different vets and they have both done a conscious examination of his teeth and mouth and cannot see any signs of teeth problems, although this is the common reason for the salivating. He seems to have a healthy appetite and seems pretty fine otherwise. The vet has given a big dosage of metacam twice a day in case he is in pain and has also suggested taking him in to examine him when he is under anaesthetic to properly see his teeth and then possibly do x Rays as well? They mentioned that it could be tooth root abcess which isn't visible? He isn't painful or swollen around his mouth though :S I wanted to ask what your opinions/experiences are with this sort of thing? I worry that the anaesthetic is unnecessary and will be very stressful for poor little billy, especially considering his age! Please can I have some help and opinions? The vets booked him in for the procedure next Wednesday so I don't have too long to make a decision!
Thanks in advance!!

Hello,

I’m in the same position myself. I posted my query about an hour ago. My pet rabbit is also 6 years old, he had a leg amputation around 2 years ago. Now has a swollen hard cheek, salivating a lot and not to keen on food. He will be going to the vet tomorrow.

Re the anaesthetic, nothing is guaranteed. When my pet rabbit (at that time aged 4) had surgery they said to me they can’t guarantee he will survive but he was perfectly fine and recovered quite quickly.

I personally think the x ray is the best bet, this should provide a better diagnosis.

All the best!

Although aneasthetics are always a bit nerve racking, six is really only just past middle aged so as long as your bun is health then it should be fine. If you are worried you could ask for a blood test to check organ function first.

Your vets plan of checking the back teeth really well and taking an xray would definitely rule in/out a lot of problems.

Hi.. Excess salivation could a tooth root abcess or some issue with the teeth... It could also be really quite painful...

The vets would really need to xray and check under sedation/ anaesthetic to see what the full picture is.. Ref his age, some bunnies can live to a ripe old age!!!

Poor wee souls.. Bunnies and their teeth.. A weak link in our bunnies genetics that they are so susceptible..

Good luck x

But he's eating normally, that's what is making me second guess the whole thing, like if he wasn't eating or hopping about like normal I'd understand but he really doesn't seem to be in pain... Is it still worth it?

he could have spurs hidden out of sight. my bisc has these. a light sedation is all that will be needed for checking, plus to do the actual dental and xrays. our vet always takes xrays when doing a dental to check the tooth roots. it definitely sounds like dental related. your bun will be able to eat probably due to the metacam.

it is definitely worth it. before we knew bisc hid spurs out of sight, we assumed he didn't have them and he ended up really ill

another thing is make sure you go to an exotic/rabbit savvy vet for the treatment. then you can be assured your rabbit is in the very best hands. :wave:

eta: i wouldn't worry about a six year old (this is only middle aged really) having a sedation. (sedation is very light anyway and exotic vets will use this). :wave:

biscandmatt1 said:

he could have spurs hidden out of sight. my bisc has these. a light sedation is all that will be needed for checking, plus to do the actual dental and xrays. our vet always takes xrays when doing a dental to check the tooth roots. it definitely sounds like dental related. your bun will be able to eat probably due to the metacam.

it is definitely worth it. before we knew bisc hid spurs out of sight, we assumed he didn't have them and he ended up really ill

another thing is make sure you go to an exotic/rabbit savvy vet for the treatment. then you can be assured your rabbit is in the very best hands. :wave:

eta: i wouldn't worry about a six year old (this is only middle aged really) having a sedation. (sedation is very light anyway and exotic vets will use this). :wave:

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So metacam will affect his eating? If he seems to be eating fine, just slower, would he be okay on the metacam until the dental stuff on Wednesday? Or should I change it to tomorrow? I know that once a rabbit has stopped eating all together things can start going downhill really fast and I really don't want him to get to that point!

CharlotteB said:

So metacam will affect his eating? If he seems to be eating fine, just slower, would he be okay on the metacam until the dental stuff on Wednesday? Or should I change it to tomorrow? I know that once a rabbit has stopped eating all together things can start going downhill really fast and I really don't want him to get to that point!

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i meant metacam helps with the pain, so this might be why he is eating reasonably well. and that he still may have dental issues so definitely go for the xrays etc. definitely keep him on the metacam. :wave: