teeth again & worry about General Anaesthetic overload??

:? As many of you may know, Trav has a problem with his back teeth forming spurs , he's had to have them rasped twice in as many months, and is going back tomorrow for another check up. I know they've grown back as last night he stared sneezing again when he was eating (nice of him to have found a way to let me know!! :roll: )

Thing is, this will probably be the third time in as many months that he will have been put under general anaesthetic :shock: . I'm sure this can't be good for him, but I don't know a lot about the possibility of overloading a bun with GA's.

The last time he had them rasped down the vet did suggest the possibility of removing a couple, as they are always the same couple of teeth and growing so frequently. She said that because his sets of teeth don't sit directly on top of one another, they kinda alternate, they could be removed as the ones opposite would still have something to wear down against. :? Does anyone have any experience of this or opinions?

I trust my vet, and have never really had a problem with them, the one I see even shows me Travis' teeth when she looks so that I can get a better understanding of it all. But I am obviously concerned that it's stressful for both me and Travis (I was in a right state last night when I realised they'd grown back again, I got myself all worked up over the fact that he would have to be put under GA again so quickly. ) it's also costing quite a bit - although that's the least of my worries, I just want my lil' boy to be comfortable.

Any help would be greatly appreciated....

Mary had about 3 GAs in 3 months because of spurs on his teeth (seems to get one reoccuring in the same place all the time, and he was fine. Took a little while to bounce back (but as I knew the routine I could take him home straight away and stay up the night syringe-feeding him until he ate by himself) but no side-effects (that I know of!)
I changed his diet and he went from having those frequent ops, to not having had one since March '05. He had a prominent spur in the same place recently but they clipped it while he was awake - I know there's a bit of controversy about this but he's quite poorly at the moment (suspected kidney infection) so I wouldn't want to put him through a GA. If you search through my posts you'll find more about his diet. One thing I'm going to change about what I feed my buns is to watch the calcium content, incase that's linked to Mary's problem now, so trying to stick more to hay than dried grasses and feed veg with good calcium sources (e.g. kale, watercress, etc.) in even smaller amounts. Mary's problems are probably not even related to his diet, as the other 4 buns get the same and haven't had a problem, and Mary is from bad breeding I expect (as he had incisor malloclusion at an estimated age of 6-8 months, followed shortly with these spur problems)
I also talked to my vet about removing teeth/this one tooth in particular that the troublesome spur is on, but then there was the argument that the tooth above wouldn't have anything to wear it down, and those either side might grow in to where the gap would then be. Now his diet is sorted he needs dentals a lot less frequently so I'm leaving removal as a last option (e.g. for some reason he can't cope with GAs and they can't do it conciously so an attempt at removing it to solve the problem altogether is the only possiblity)

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If you're really worried try finding a vet that will rasp them while he's awake..make sure you get a recommendation for the vet, but a lot will do this now. some will give the rabbit just a quick whiff of gas to relax them if needed...can save the risk of GA..

Do you know what GA your Vet uses? Most tend to use a combination of Domitor/Vetelar/Isoflo. Then a drug called Antisedan is given which effectively reverses the GA, flushing the drugs out of the Bun so the buns kidneys do not have to work so hard. Therefore the risk of GA 'over-load' is significantly reduced. If your vet feels that molar extraction is an option then it is worth considering.One of my Buns is the proud owner of just ONE remaining molar!! But hers literally fell out,roots and all, due to severe dental disease. You might also consider a dental X-ray for your Bun as often what goes on within the ROOTS of the molars is more important when assessing long term management of recurrent spurs. Jane and Buns xx

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be as simple as changing his diet. :? He is already on only a small amount of pellets (approx 10) per day, 1 papaya + pineapple tablet per day plenty of hay and in the evening a handfull of veggies, mainly spring greens, herbs, celery and broccoli. occasionally carrot and cauliflower. So he has plenty of "natural" stuff on a regualr basis and is constantly chewing on his grass mats and willow sticks so his front teeth are fine, despite all of this, they still seem to be growing at a vast rate :shock:

When the vet showed me them last time the spurs were sticking out into his cheek and caused lacerations on his toungue too, they are literally re-forming in around 3 1/2 weeks :shock: obviously if theyr'e going to carry on growing like this, then I'm unsure what to do for the best. I doubt removal would end his troubles but it might mean that he can go for longer between operations? He doesn't sit still enough to have them clipped, he needs to be under GA he's bad enough just when we're trying to have a look!! :roll:

It's swings and roundabouts, I don't want to put him (and my nerves and wallet) through too many GA's in such a short time, but at the same time, I don't want to cause more problems by having them removed.... it's gonna be a tough call..... :?

JCO said:

Do you know what GA your Vet uses? Most tend to use a combination of Domitor/Vetelar/Isoflo. Then a drug called Antisedan is given which effectively reverses the GA, flushing the drugs out of the Bun so the buns kidneys do not have to work so hard. Therefore the risk of GA 'over-load' is significantly reduced. If your vet feels that molar extraction is an option then it is worth considering.One of my Buns is the proud owner of just ONE remaining molar!! But hers literally fell out,roots and all, due to severe dental disease. You might also consider a dental X-ray for your Bun as often what goes on within the ROOTS of the molars is more important when assessing long term management of recurrent spurs. Jane and Buns xx

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All I know from my "invoice" :roll: is that he was given Metoclopramide and Metacam injections if that's any help. I have considered an x-ray, but it's not something that my vet has recommended just yet, I will ask her about it tomorrow.

When she was talking about possible removal of teeth (it was like 3 strikes and your'e out, if he got them again real quickly they were coming out!!?? :lol: ) she was saying how you can't make a rabbit "gummy" (bless her she's sweedish!!?? :lol: ) like you can a cat, so she couldn't take out all of his teeth - not that I'd want her too!! :shock: But how does your one molar bun cope? would a change of diet be in order or just help with feeding?

Because he is otherwise healthy, I have no reason for him not to need a GA, I was just concerned about him having so many in such a short period of time, it can't be nice for him

Honeybunny, thank you for your suggestion, but I'm not brave enough to have someone do that, it'd make me feel worse than if he had a GA and didn't wake up I dont even like seeing him have his teeth checked cos whilst he's not in pain it's uncomfortable and scary for him and I end up feeling bad -- He must see me as such a pushover!? - he gets spoilt rotten when he gets back from the vets!! :roll:

But all things must be considered, so thanks for the suggestion all the same