Dentals in Older Bunnies

My rabbit Daisy us 7 years old, she had her first dental in May 2013 and then when she was spayed in October 2013 they filed them down i believe whilst they had her under - we went back to the vets this wkend for a check up and she said she thinks she may be due for one now as a spur is slightly showing
she said there is no right or wrong answer and do u leave it or do u do it now but she believes it will be needed soon

she eats loads of hay always grazin so is this because shes older and already had a dental? feel awful but i know its prob best doing it now before it causes any pain? xxxx

For a known dental bunny, it is always a balance between leaving it a bit too long and the rabbit losing weight / being in pain from the spurs cutting in to soft tissue in the mouth, and putting them through an anaesthetic too often. I find that monitoring their weight weekly gives a good indication of the best time for a dental. As soon as they lose weight, book them in that week - unless there are other obvious signs such as drooling, dropping food, smaller poos or 'chewing air' or just looking a bit 'off' - in which case they need sorting out urgently.

I have not had any problems with anaesthetics in older rabbits and would usually get a dental done as soon as it was needed (ie when the spurs are visible), rather than risk them not eating properly for a few days as they will make a quicker recovery and be less stressed. It also has less impact on the other teeth if they are able to chew more normally all the time. Spurs will affect the chewing action and therefore the wear on the other teeth.

Kelly11 said:

My rabbit Daisy us 7 years old, she had her first dental in May 2013 and then when she was spayed in October 2013 they filed them down i believe whilst they had her under - we went back to the vets this wkend for a check up and she said she thinks she may be due for one now as a spur is slightly showing
she said there is no right or wrong answer and do u leave it or do u do it now but she believes it will be needed soon

she eats loads of hay always grazin so is this because shes older and already had a dental? feel awful but i know its prob best doing it now before it causes any pain? xxxx

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It's been over a year, and that's quite a good interval between dentals. However, if your vet says a spur is only slightly showing, it may not be necessary to take her back right away. Monitor her weight every week or so and watch for weight loss. Eating hay is great, but can only achieve so much if the teeth are already growing wonky.

There are some vets, of course, who do conscious dentals. I use a vet who does this for one of my rabbits, as she cannot tolerate a GA and is at least 11 years old

Kelly11 said:

My rabbit Daisy us 7 years old, she had her first dental in May 2013 and then when she was spayed in October 2013 they filed them down i believe whilst they had her under - we went back to the vets this wkend for a check up and she said she thinks she may be due for one now as a spur is slightly showing
she said there is no right or wrong answer and do u leave it or do u do it now but she believes it will be needed soon

she eats loads of hay always grazin so is this because shes older and already had a dental? feel awful but i know its prob best doing it now before it causes any pain? xxxx

Click to expand...

A small spur may not cause an issue. I would carefully monitor her input and output and also weigh her every couple of days. If you notice that she appears to be eating less/chewing 'awkwardly' or going off certain foods and/or if her poo output decreases in size then I would ask the Vet to take another look. With the weighing, if there are 3 consecutive losses then that too merits a recheck at the Vets. If all appears to remain 'stable' with no other symptoms of dental problems then I would get the Vet to recheck things in about 4 weeks. A pre op blood profile could be run to check her major organ function.

Good luck