Sumi is at the vet :-(.. What is wrong with my bunnies?

My beloved boy is having another dental today - 7 weeks after his last. He has been off his food and bloated twice in 8 days and I've decided to have his teeth sorted again. Vet can see small spikes.

I have asked the vet to clip instead of burr - all of my bunnies have had a terrible time after burring and it only seems to have bought them an extra week in between dentals. I don' know if its my vets technique or whether its a more vigorous procedure but my bunnies have been zonked for days afterwards.

Sumi is a strong bunny who can clench his jaw shut and avoid the smallest of syringes so here's hoping he gets back to eating quickly.

I'm going to start a new thread on my bunny group as I am having recurring problems with going off food, sharp teeth. It is my bunny Clover who is also sick with mouth ulcers. Marcy was gassy this morning though a bit better after some Infacol. This has not been a good 4 months.

Here is the lovely Sumi being disturbed in his litter tray on Wednesday night! Its a bit blurred, more of an action shot



Hope my wee man is ok.

Fiona x

Awwwwwww Fiona, you really are having a hard time of it at the mo with your precious bunnies.

Big hugs to you,
Su.x

Hope everything goes ok

hope things go well for Sumi xx

Hope all goes well for Sumi

Are all your Buns related to one another?

Janex

Jack's-Jane said:

Hope all goes well for Sumi

Are all your Buns related to one another?

Janex

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Yes! Nell and Sumi are mum and dad, Clover and Marcy are the kids.

I'm at the end of the tether. I love my buns but I dread visiting them as I usually find something up. They have become a project instead of pets and I deeply miss simply spending time playing with them. I never do that anymore, its constant first aid and fighting with them at the moment.

I think the problem could be that I never used to feed the best diet until late summer of last year. I seriously overfed pellets and had a major squishy poo problem. I don't think they used to touch their hay. I rarely saw them with it. Obviously now that they have their oxbow pellets in small quantities they are gnashing their molars more eating lots and lots of hay. But since then I've had no end of problems with molar spikes.

What will I do? What can I do?

Fiona x

i know how you feel hun Bifs recovering from another dental now..its been real bad for her this time..
I would ask your vet to xray mum and or dads jawbone..there is definately a family connection and therefore if there is a genetic jaw malocclusion problem even if its very mild this would explain the problmes with all of them needing dental suffering ulcers etc..
Tell the evt youre concerend its a genetic fault and even tho youve changed their diet it isnt helping..

the sad thing is that if its a fault then the dentals need doing faster and closer togehter till its something like once a month like our old dwarf lop doe did years ago and it was kindest to put her to sleep as shed had so many int he 18 months we had her and she ate veggies n fruit more than pellets but wouldnt touch her hay due to the chewing action..

she had gi stasis more times than i care to remeber but we always got her through it till the last time sent her really badly with impacted poo and doing a lump the size of a ping pong ball..the vet said it was cruel to do any more work on her and i agreed..

Bifs been with us since the end of march last year and this is her 2nd dental..but once theyve had one dental..they do need more and more.
Do your buns have metacam after a dental? pain relief aids a speedier recovery. And i have got some of those protexin high fibre probiotic pellets as a food topper..but mine wont eat them!
Bifs just eaten some... of the bunny basics high fibre pellets..its easier to eat than science selective..her lips were swollen after the dental very badly and her mouth is still sore even with metacam..i think it depends on what vet does it..i know the vet i dont like who doesnt think folks should have rabbits indoors etc did it..not the young guy bif likes or the new lady vet dealing with bif now with her cancer scare.

i have bought some dried blackberry leaves and before her dental bif tried a few but her mouth was too sore even tho they said the spurs were little and the cheeks and tongue were just red looking..
anyhoo blackberry elaves is good for upset tummies and especially mouht ulcers..so im going to try her with some in a mo..she ate the last of her dried herbs..ate some greesn adn a few of those pellets but i havent seen her drink by herself yet so im off to get the syringe!

i wish you all the best its so hard to make vets realise and you wonder why otherbunny mums dont get this are you a bad bunny mum..thats how i always look at it!
keep an eye for related eye probs usually caused by a molar root in a wonky jaw.

good luck

Thanks for your post. I am so worried that my bunnies have no quality of life having to go in for dentals very regularly. Vet has tried taking teeth right back but of course that didn't work.

Vet couldn't see much evidence of malocclusion on Nell's xray when she was last in but I'll ask him again. There weren't any root problems either. Vet absolutely feels it is likely to be a genetic fault but didn't have an opinion on whether their diet change (for the better) has brought about these problems. After all, bunnies need their hay.

Bless them, I love them so much but they are hard work and it is seriously getting me down. I had such a late night last night, up again at 5am only to find Marcy off her food. :roll: Touch wood she is brighter again

My main worry isn't me though, its their quality of life right now. And they also hate me.

Anyway, Sumi is just out of his dental and is recovering on his heat pad. I am picking him up at about 5pm. Vet has clipped off some sharp spikes. Hopefully he will do ok.

Fiona x

Oh Fiona,
Don't be too upset your bunnies don't hate you at all.

At least you are getting them all the help they need and in the end they will love you for that

Sue.x.

Fiona, I am sure you are doing the best you can for your rabbits. I'm sure we've all experienced when all we seem to be doing is injecting, syringing and in my case the delightful job of squeezing huge blobs of pus out! I was in tears when my giant Easter hid shaking when we had to do this to her but once it was over and had some time to herself she would come for treats.

Do you have someone helping with the treatment? i couldn't have got through it without my husband. Even my mum helped out sometimes. it just makes it feel like you're not the only 'mean' one!

Hope things get better X

Fiona your are doing a brilliant job, and I know how you must be feeling
I am sending vibes to you and all your buns.

Aww Fiona, it doesn't rain but it pours huh?

I am thinknig of you and the buns. xxx

Hi Fiona how's wee Sumi and Clover today?

I hope they are doing lots better.
Sending more vibes

Hi there. Aw thanks for remembering them!

Sumi is doing a little better. He is a bit uncomfy looking but he is having regular munches at the grass I have been giving him. He had a big slurp of water just there so I am happier with him. His poos are small and a bit wierd but hopefully they will get back to normal. He ate a little treat too which I'm pleased about. Oh....we had a poo incident this morning....let's just say Marcy got a little 'covered' in a 'lovely' soft Sumi squisher - a post GA poo as I say and the poor mite doesn't seem to have stopped grooming herself since about 11am!


Clover is still a bit of a sorry looking soul. I have been trying to cheer her up but she just hops off and kicks her feet at me. She has been munching a little hay and ate her veg last night (not instantly) but gradually over night. She won't touch her pellets. I am keeping hopeful that her spirits lift soon. I am so worried that she has given up but will remain hopeful. I filled her run with a bale of straw tonight and she has had a lot of life in her hopping around and has been having little munches at a new bale of timothy hay that I got at the farm down the road. Hope she is not kidding me on.

I am hoping that this is the first night I have had without syringe feeding since Christmas eve, though hope I am not tempting fate saying that :shock:

Fiona x

I bet they are having fun with all that straw :lol: :lol:

Mhairi likes to rearrange 3-4 bits of straw and then you can see she is satisfied that she has finished the hoosework :lol: :lol:

Glad to hare they have both perked up, so there is a diffrence between burring and clipping?

Last time it took Sumi along time to recover from his burring :?

nicole said:

Glad to hare they have both perked up, so there is a diffrence between burring and clipping?

Last time it took Sumi along time to recover from his burring :?

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YES! How odd, I wonder if others have seen a difference between bunnies who have had their teeth clipped versus those who have had their teeth burred?

Fiona x

Oops! Just saw you started a poll on it!

Fiona x

Fiona, it's a very popular problem, I have to do the same thing to my rabbit last year. Sometimes they don't come back. But it's a very simple process, just make sure they are put under GA and gently sand down