Vibes for dear little Nell. Advice/opinions please

Hi there. My bun Nell is in need of some vibes for tomorrow morning. She is having another dental having been off her food for sufficiently long. She has molar spurs again.

Bless her little heart, she has been such a good little patient and completely cooperative during syringe feeding, no mess, no fuss, just gets it over with. She has been off her food for a good few days, I have tried to nurse her through with syringe feeding, tempting foods and meds (and of course seeing the vet) just to see if it was a simple tummy ache but it has not passed and I have to trust that it is her teeth again.

I hope so much that she does well tomorow during her dental. She has had far too many recently and I am concerned about her quality of life. She takes longer and longer to come round from the anaesthetic each time and her dentals seem to be down to almost every four-five weeks now. Nell is only 3.5 years old. It breaks my heart.

I have posted so much about her in recent months. Her problems with recurrent bloat seem to have tailed off, having cut out certain veg known to cause wind and offering only very little veg in the diet to encourage more hay eating. But she is certainly not out of the woods.

Do you think it is wise to book her in now for a routine regular dental to save her the trauma of going off her food in the first place, risking gut stasis, getting gas and needed lots of TLC before the dental. At the moment, I wait until I see signs of her going off her food and looking uncomfortable/in pain. It seems so unneccessary being as I now know she gets problems with spikes every month or so. I so want to be proactive about this but similarly wish I could hold out for a miracle that they never return and certainly don't want to put her under GA unecessarily.

What would you do if it was your bunny. Please bear in mind that her husbun Sumi also seems to be only managing 5-6 weeks in between dentals and it never happens at the same time. My other two, Clover and Marcy, have only had one each so far but I am keeping a close eye on them.

I know I am not the important one here but it has been a sick bunny marathon since Christmas Eve in particular (but it really has been terrible since September) and I have only had two days without syringe feeding since Christmas Eve. Might sound ok but I am also holding down a job and losing serious sleep. I am so worried all the time too.

It would be easier if I didn't have all the worry and stress of finding them sick/off food, giving first aid and all the feeding care, rearranging time at work to get them to the vet, TLC until they are back munching again. And then what has been happening is that two days later, my next bunny is due her dental and has gone off her food. And then it has had to start all over again.

I love my bunnies so much and would be devastated if anyone thought that I was more concerned about the inconvenience of it all for me. I would do anything for them. But it struck me that if I could try to work in with the pattern of when they usually need a dental, I could organise it to be done routinely. And it saves them from the stress of going off food, risking gut stasis, then getting dental. But the obvious down side is the regular GA required and the fact that maybe it is unnecessary. My vet will not do dentals without GA which I understand fully.

I would so much appreciate opinions on this. Does anyone else 'book in' dentals. I am so sorry that this has turned into a very long post.

More importantly though, my beautiful Nell needs lots of bunny vibes!

Fiona x

I don't really know about having a regular, booked in dental, but I wanted to say good luck to Nell for her dental tomorrow. XXX

Hi Fiona,

Sending good luck vibes for Nells dental.

I replied to your message on my thread about burring molars.
Thinking of you both.

Hugs,

Nicola and Harvey xxx

Hmmmmm a lot to think about!! :?

Personally I would not want a Bun of mine to have a GA once every 5-6 weeks unless absolutely essential. Do any of the Buns graze on grass daily? This would give them the best opportunity to keep their molars worn down as the 'mechanics' of pulling at and chewing grass give excellent attrition.
Have any of them had a skull X-ray to assess the roots of their teeth? This might give a better idea re longterm management.

I am not really sure what else to suggest as Dental problems dont seem to follow the exact same pattern in everyBun

Sending Vibes for Nell

Janex

Hi there. Thanks for messages. Well I have dropped Nell off and at least this time I didn't cry in front of the work experience boy at the vet.

Had a long discussion with my vet who thinks that other than try like mad to encourage even more hay eating, there seems to be a very definite pattern emerging of a dental every few weeks. She has had a skull xray which showed no root problems, though vet is certain that occlusion isn't brilliant, not completely terrible but still a problem. My vet is not against routine dentals being as it is his preference not to have a bunny in trouble when he/she comes in. But it doesn't sit easy with me having to give routine GA. But it seems a shame to let her teeth make her sore and refuse to eat, she gets very depressed and seems to give up. But of course the problem is worsened byt the fact that a few days later my next bunny starts the whole process off again. Quite seriously, the pattern is remarkable.

My bunnies live in walk in run combo. The floor is concrete though I now cover it in straw and hay and that encourages more hay eating (and they use the run more when it is covered in straw). I am growing grass in big trays to put into their runs so that they can graze on it. Its not ready yet though. I try to let them out on my small patch of grass and have the bigger run of the garden every couple of days at the moment but I pick them grass every night to eat, more if possible.

Oh deary dear, this is all too much for a little brain

Fiona x

Just to let you know Nell is now home and still a bit sleepy. I've been out to get more hay and am just about to embark on cleaning them out and keeping an eye on whether she has an appetite. Hope me and the buns don't blow away in these high winds that are picking up!

Fiona x

aw snuggles to nell and hugs to you hun xx
(((((((((((snuggles))))))))))) (((((((((((hugs))))))))))
glad to hear she is home :wink:

i was thinking ( :shock: ) how about some fresh hazel twigs etc as well as her hay?
mine go nuts for this stuff and it must be like eating sandpaper as far as their teeth are concerned. i know eating hay takes effort, but these take LOTS of effort to chew up!

run it past the pro's first though *cough* jane *cough* :wink:

I'm glad to here Nell is home safe and sound and am now sending loads vibes for her recovery

Not too sure what to advise. Willow needs regular dentals due to a bottom tooth growing inwards rather than upwards. Personal I prefer him to have a dental before it becomes a problem and he stops eating. The next dental will be his third. I'm booking him in next week for check up and to ask the vet when it should be done before he goes off his food.

Hope Nell is feeling better.