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putting rabbit to sleep?

steve67

New Kit
Hi everyone I'm new on here and would like some advice, my rabbit snowball, whose about 7 years old has started having teeth problems, his back teeth have become misaligned and are growing up into the eye socket as well as down and so are not being worn down properly he's never had a problem until the end of last year. We had his teeth ground down by the vet but as the vet said yesterday this will need to be done every few weeks which means a general anaesthetic. He's independent and doesn't like being picked up so is it fair to keep putting him through this stress every few weeks when the problem can't be solved. Vet said it would make no difference if he ate a perfect diet from now on because the angle the teeth are at now means they won't wear down.
 
Im no expert in this, so don't take my words too seriously. But i would take him a couple of times and if you see him acting different then maybe it would be in his best interest to put him to sleep. You'll always want the rabbits best interest at heart.
 
you know your rabbit best and i think you will know when it is time. don't feel bad for choosing to put to sleep if you think that is in the rabbits best interests, sometimes it is the kindest but hardest decision to make.
 
Personally I would have his teeth done a couple of times and see if he deals with it or if he does get extremely stressed in which case PTS may be the best option.
Is there any chance of a conscious dental, if it is just filling down and not removing or drilling that may be an option, I know it is not as effective as a GA dental but may be a safe option with his age.
 
firstly, is your vet exotics/rabbit savvy? if not, i'd get another opinion before deciding. some will now do conscious dentals, or just use a very light sedation to do the dental. in some cases, the time between dentals becomes further apart as the teeth are kept under better control. bisc was having dentals every 4 weeks at one stage, this increased over time and now he does 6months - 18months between them! on the other hand though, our vets see some rabbits for dental every couple of weeks and they stay needing those.

you know your rabbit best though and some just get too stressed and upset being regularly handled and taken to the vets. in that case, it may not be the best thing.

definitely see an exotics vet though if you haven't already and then base your decision on two vets, plus your own gut feeling. maybe someone can recommend a vet if you say where you are. good luck.
 
firstly, is your vet exotics/rabbit savvy? if not, i'd get another opinion before deciding. some will now do conscious dentals, or just use a very light sedation to do the dental. in some cases, the time between dentals becomes further apart as the teeth are kept under better control. bisc was having dentals every 4 weeks at one stage, this increased over time and now he does 6months - 18months between them! on the other hand though, our vets see some rabbits for dental every couple of weeks and they stay needing those.

you know your rabbit best though and some just get too stressed and upset being regularly handled and taken to the vets. in that case, it may not be the best thing.

definitely see an exotics vet though if you haven't already and then base your decision on two vets, plus your own gut feeling. maybe someone can recommend a vet if you say where you are. good luck.

Welcome to the Forum :wave:

I'm sorry you're facing this crossroads. I would go along with the advice above.

One of my rabbits has had conscious dentals all her life. Another has regular dentals for molars that grow in all directions.
I understand the problems you are facing. If the teeth are really ground down to the gum line, then it may increase the time between dentals. I appreciate that with some rabbits even feeding hay won't grind the teeth down.

Personally I would seek a second opinion, possibly have some skull radiographs taken to confirm, and then make a decision ...
It's obvious you love your rabbit very much and want to do the very best.

All the very best whatever you decide x
 
Not sure if this is an option but two of our buns no longer have any molars - an rabbit specialist vet removed them due to similar issues.
 
Hi everyone I'm new on here and would like some advice, my rabbit snowball, whose about 7 years old has started having teeth problems, his back teeth have become misaligned and are growing up into the eye socket as well as down and so are not being worn down properly he's never had a problem until the end of last year. We had his teeth ground down by the vet but as the vet said yesterday this will need to be done every few weeks which means a general anaesthetic. He's independent and doesn't like being picked up so is it fair to keep putting him through this stress every few weeks when the problem can't be solved. Vet said it would make no difference if he ate a perfect diet from now on because the angle the teeth are at now means they won't wear down.

Poor Bunny

I am assuming that as you have mentioned that the tooth roots are growing up into the eye sockets the Vet has taken skull radiographs ? This would certainly be extremely helpful. It may be that there will be a need to do a few Dentals quite close together BUT eventually the teeth can actually stop growing. Or at least the rate of re-growth can slow down considerably meaning less frequent Dentals are needed.

If tooth root elongation has occurred then this can sometimes cause a fair amount of bone pain. Good analgesic cover would be absolutely essential in such circumstances. Usually Metacam alone is not sufficient. Tramadol is very useful for managing bone pain.

I had a Magpie Doe, Maya, who developed Dental problems at the age of 7. At first she needed treatment every 6-8 weeks, including the removal of her Incisors and two molars (which were already lose). Eventually the rate at which her teeth regrew decreased and she only needed treatment every 3 months or so. She had another 2 years of good quality life from the onset of her problems.

I would see how he copes with having treatment and see how long it takes for the treatment to need to be repeated. He may surprise you and cope better than you expect. But if he does not do so and the treatment is needed every few weeks then you may feel it is infact in his best interests to let him go. I just feel that if you have him PTS at this stage you may well always wonder if it was too soon.

You and your Vet are really the only people in the position to judge what is right for your Rabbit. There can be no 'one size fits all' and what one Rabbit can cope with another can not.
 
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