JellyEllie
New Kit
Hello, I have a 5 year old male lionhead rabbit and he just had his first dental for his incisors and cheek teeth on the 30th of June. He's been struggling to eat hay and hard food like his favourite strawberry leaves. He wants to eat it but he chews it but it just goes slightly mushy and falls out of his mouth so he gets frustrated and gives up.
I've been mixing his pellets with water and giving him slithers of banana as it's nice and soft and my priority at the moment is to try to prevent GI stasis. I look him to the vet again today (2nd of July) to see if this was normal and to check how his teeth are doing but they don't line up correctly in his mouth so that could be the reason for his difficulty eating.
His gut sounds fine so I've been told to keep doing what I'm doing but he's going to need repeat dentals for the rest of his life which I'm fine with paying for (I'd sell my kidney for this rabbit) but I'm just wondering if there's anything else I can feed him in a similar way? I didn't know whether it would be safe to grind his strawberry leaves/pea shoots and things into a paste? I've been reluctant to try it because I know that when grass goes through a lawnmower it ferments so I wasn't sure if this would have the same effect. Just I know that this diet isn't good for him and I don't want to have another problem on top of his dental issues.
Also for those of you who have rabbits with repeat dental problems how long does it take for them to get back to normal eating after an operation? I'm hoping that this eating issue is a result of sore teeth or something since he was eating fine before the operation it was complete luck that they found this issue during a vaccination/nail clipping otherwise I wouldn't have known until it was too late. Is a lifestyle of constant dental surgery safe/humane?
(Sorry if this is in the wrong place!)
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you.
I've been mixing his pellets with water and giving him slithers of banana as it's nice and soft and my priority at the moment is to try to prevent GI stasis. I look him to the vet again today (2nd of July) to see if this was normal and to check how his teeth are doing but they don't line up correctly in his mouth so that could be the reason for his difficulty eating.
His gut sounds fine so I've been told to keep doing what I'm doing but he's going to need repeat dentals for the rest of his life which I'm fine with paying for (I'd sell my kidney for this rabbit) but I'm just wondering if there's anything else I can feed him in a similar way? I didn't know whether it would be safe to grind his strawberry leaves/pea shoots and things into a paste? I've been reluctant to try it because I know that when grass goes through a lawnmower it ferments so I wasn't sure if this would have the same effect. Just I know that this diet isn't good for him and I don't want to have another problem on top of his dental issues.
Also for those of you who have rabbits with repeat dental problems how long does it take for them to get back to normal eating after an operation? I'm hoping that this eating issue is a result of sore teeth or something since he was eating fine before the operation it was complete luck that they found this issue during a vaccination/nail clipping otherwise I wouldn't have known until it was too late. Is a lifestyle of constant dental surgery safe/humane?
(Sorry if this is in the wrong place!)
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thank you.