Wesley Rabbit and his Teeth

I took my little rescued Polish boy in to the vets last Friday to have his teeth checked and filed down if necessary.

When I collected him, the vets showed me his x-rays. Apparently, because of either poor breeding or poor feeding in his first 6 months of life, the bones of his skull and jaw are not dense enough, and his bottom tooth roots are starting to go through his jawbone. Wesley was rescued about a year ago from a breeder who fed the very cheapest pellets he could find, in order to make a maximum profit when he sold the rabbits. I feel it is this which has caused Wesley's problems.

The vet filed down his teeth just a little, and said that Wesley could carry on for years if lucky, or if very unlucky it could be just months. I decided to have Wesley castrated at the same time, as I want to at least give him the chance of a happy life living with one of my females buns.

He has recovered really well, and is eating for England ... he really LOVES Supa Rabbit Excel.

If anyone has any advice about this sort of problem in rabbits, please let me know ... I am taking things from day to day with him, and am hoping for good luck.

Chinakit
Jane xx

Awwww poor wesley ... at least he is with you now and is being looked after very well. Wishing him all the luck in the world xx xx

Thank You, 5CuteBunnies (Yep they sure are CUTE) :lol:

I will do my best for him, but am by no means a rabbit expert, hence the post on here. I am very open to advice.

I have kept cavies (guinea pigs) for many many years, and they have some similarities to bunnies, but in other ways rabbits are very different. I know about basic rabbit care, but with anything out of the ordinary, I would rather ask for help than do something wrong.

Chinakit
Jane xxx

Everything crossed for your little lad

hi

Sorry I have no advice, but Good luck with him - bunnies live from day to day - they don't fret over 'what if's' - so if he's happy now, living a good life, that's the best you can do

Zeus' tooth roots are elongating. Best tips I got were: plenty of hay - the chewing action on hay/grass helps to keep the jaw aligned and the teeth filed down in the correct manner and sunlight! According to the research I did for this article: http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5553&sid=162bfc3360d47c31cc58230b745ac181 it can help strengthen the bone (rabbits do actually need some vit D to help calcium absorbtion) and prevent the tooth roots tracking too far.

Zeus' roots have slowed their growth but you can feel ridges along his jaw and his incisor roots have blocked his tear ducts and got infected so he had permanently weepy eyes until we started treating with metacam.

Caz

I rescued a lionhead 3 years ago and his teeth were a nightmare as his jaw was out on the alignment, he constantly had runny eyes aswell, after numerous trips back and forth to the vets, we decided to take his front teeth out approximately 2years ago and he has never looked back no runny eyes and eating everything in sight.