Possible dental questions

One of my girls currently has a watery eye and today has done some quite runny poos. I actually noticed her eye weeping a couple of weeks ago, but at the time of spotting it she had been digging and hay all over her face, so I just assumed she had dust in it and it cleared once I had cleaned the area. I just got back from holiday this evening so I'm unsure of exactly how much of what she has eaten today, she went crazy as usual for pellets and had some carrot tonight, but the person who was looking after them wasn't with them long enough to monitor how much hay she might have eaten

I've never had a dental bunny before, and as I'm taking her last minute to see a vet I'm unable to guarantee that I will see a rabbit specialist. Could anyone with experience please advise what I should typically expect if it is dental issues and she requires a dental procedure, for example would a dental be booked in straight away and would you expect to be sent away with pain relief both before and after etc?

I know each case is different and it might not even be a dental issue, I'm 100% not asking anyone to diagnose my rabbit or provide medical advice. I've had so many bad experiences coming away from the vets and finding out my pets should have been prescribed medication or had further tests carried out, I'm just trying to get a basic idea of general dental treatment so that I can feel confident asking the vets to double check what they are telling me if I feel it might be incorrect :wave:

In my experience, I'd take Alfie along and she'd then look in his mouth with an otoscope. If she found something, depending on how he was, a dental would be booked in for the next few days or, if it was Friday/a weekend, Monday. Alf's on pain relief anyway, so I can't comment on whether they'd get any, but as I said before I think it's depending on how he is.

One time when Alfie needed a dental, he was hardly eating and was clearly uncomfortable so my vet managed to push back some of her operations and do it that same day (had he not have already been on Meloxidyl, I'd have expected him to be given some then). The other times, he's been eating well enough for him to wait until the vet had a free slot. I'd expect pain relief afterwards though, and have always been instructed to up his dose for the following couple of days.

If your bun has a runny eye, as opposed to reluctance/avoidance to eat, then I'd think it was more tooth roots than spurs? If that's the case then, in order to diagnose, bun would really need an x-ray (and a GA, obviously) as you cannot see tooth roots without x-ray (again, obviously!).

Alf has blocked tear ducts as well as normal dental problems. He first had an x-ray to ascertain the problem, then about six or seven flushes until it was pretty much clear, then was started on Meloxidyl to both reduce the inflammation and control the pain. He's now a metacam junkie :lol: but it has done the job as he had x-rays for something completely unrelated 3 months ago and they were perfect, not blocked at all.

Sorry if this doesn't make sense. I'm tired and have a headache, so can't think straight! Hopefully you get the jist :lol:

Thank you, that does make sense and is very helpful

Hope you feel better soon!

A bit more reading material to provide some information about what the Vet may suggest

Dacrocystitis ('runny eyes') : http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/S/00dis/Miscellaneous/DacrocystitisRabbit.htm


Management of Dental problems : http://www.manorvets.co.uk/ckfinder/userfiles/files/dental dz(1).pdf

sillyrabbit said:

One of my girls currently has a watery eye and today has done some quite runny poos. I actually noticed her eye weeping a couple of weeks ago, but at the time of spotting it she had been digging and hay all over her face, so I just assumed she had dust in it and it cleared once I had cleaned the area. I just got back from holiday this evening so I'm unsure of exactly how much of what she has eaten today, she went crazy as usual for pellets and had some carrot tonight, but the person who was looking after them wasn't with them long enough to monitor how much hay she might have eaten

I've never had a dental bunny before, and as I'm taking her last minute to see a vet I'm unable to guarantee that I will see a rabbit specialist. Could anyone with experience please advise what I should typically expect if it is dental issues and she requires a dental procedure, for example would a dental be booked in straight away and would you expect to be sent away with pain relief both before and after etc?

I know each case is different and it might not even be a dental issue, I'm 100% not asking anyone to diagnose my rabbit or provide medical advice. I've had so many bad experiences coming away from the vets and finding out my pets should have been prescribed medication or had further tests carried out, I'm just trying to get a basic idea of general dental treatment so that I can feel confident asking the vets to double check what they are telling me if I feel it might be incorrect :wave:

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If dental issues are suspected, the vet can't usually get a really clear idea of the issues until the rabbit is sedated. I would always use a very confident rabbit savvy vet, even if it meant a wait to see someone.

In my experience, if a dental seems urgently required, the rabbit is prioritised and kept in after the consultation for the procedure to be done.
My vet does not give pain relief before or after and I have not found my rabbits needed it. Some vets take skull X-rays, but my vet does not find these especially helpful.

Re tear ducts - they can be flushed whilst the rabbit is conscious, but it may be an ongoing problem and they may need flushing at regular intervals.

Hope you get a clear picture once your rabbit has seen the vet :wave:

Thank you guys, very helpful

I used to take Sorrel in for a dental check if she seemed to be eating a bit less hay than usual, and they'd generally book her in within the next couple of days. I think they gave her pain relief sometimes, when the spurs had started cutting into her cheeks, to make sure she kept eating.Once she had the dental straight away that day, as she'd all but stopped eating. (That was the first one.)

I found they could usually tell while she was conscious how bad the spurs were, but I uess it would vary depending how wriggly is your rabbit! But if your bun has a water eye I suppose that might root problems rather than spurs...? And I don't know much about those.


She had some skull x rays too because there were other complications including an ongoing jaw abcess - they were useful in determining the extent and nature of the problem and enabling me to make decisions about her future treatment etc.

Thanks hun

She is booked in Thursday for X-rays, and she definitely has spurs which they want to sort out at the same time and flush her tear duct. I guess the treatment for any root problem will have to wait until they can see exactly what's going on there. I'm so nervous, she is eight so obviously it's a risk but we can't just do nothing or it will get to the point where she is unable to eat at all

She has also dropped a bit of weight because she is eating less

sillyrabbit said:

Thanks hun

She is booked in Thursday for X-rays, and she definitely has spurs which they want to sort out at the same time and flush her tear duct. I guess the treatment for any root problem will have to wait until they can see exactly what's going on there. I'm so nervous, she is eight so obviously it's a risk but we can't just do nothing or it will get to the point where she is unable to eat at all

She has also dropped a bit of weight because she is eating less

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Hope all goes well for her on Thursday xx

Thanks Jane xx

Hope all went well today.

any news?

Thanks guys, sorry my internet sucks! She is doing great I think Binky was more traumatised by the whole experience than Scarlett! x

sillyrabbit said:

Thanks guys, sorry my internet sucks! She is doing great I think Binky was more traumatised by the whole experience than Scarlett! x

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Wow, fantastic update :thumb:

sillyrabbit said:

Thanks guys, sorry my internet sucks! She is doing great I think Binky was more traumatised by the whole experience than Scarlett! x

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Great news B !!

yeah great update x