Travis has problems with his back teeth (molars). He has to have regular dentals. This can vary from 3 - 9 weeks apart, but averages around 6. There's so much that can be done, but most importantly, is to ensure she has a very rabbit savvy vet. My vet see's Travis 4 weeks after his previous dental for a FREE check-up, and then once a week after that until we decide he has to have another dental.
Travis' teeth are not burred until it is obvious that they are beginning to cause discomfort (ie cause cuts or sores on the tongue.cheek). If there are obvious teeth causing the problem, they can be removed. Travis has had a total of 5 molar teeth out that had either come loose from the burring, or were the root of the problem (excuse the pun). I also had x-rays done of Travis' jaw to ensure that there were no underlying problems such as the roots of the teeth causing them to grow funny!!
Travis has had this problem for 15 months now, and you wouldn't know it to look at him. Burring is very quick, and there's not much recovery time associated with it as it doesn't cause much pain for them. I could never have Travis PTS because of his teeth
He's my baby, it causes him no pain or trouble. When you know your rabbit inside out you know when they need burring again without even looking. I do worry every time he goes under GA obviously, but he's always woken up so far! And I have the comfort in knowing that I'm giving him a long and loved life, I'd feel awful if I cut it short like that.
My vets have said Travis is the most frequent they've had to see a bunny, but they love it when Travis and Treacle go in there for the day!!! I get discount on his dentals due to the fact that he has them so often, and all of his check-ups in between are FREE too.
Your friend really needs to find the reason for it happening - X-rays can rule out problems with the roots or jaw alignment, and may show teeth that would benefit from being removed.
Teeth removal is an option if it's always a certain tooth/teeth. However, this does come with risks as sometimes the remaining teeth may shift to fill the gap, causing more mis-alignment. In Travis' case, I decided that the benefits outweighed the risk of that happening.
Genetics play a big part, lionheads and lops are more prone to dental problems than some breeds due to the shape of the skull. And dental problems are hereditory.
Diet can make all the difference. Ensure that the rabbit has plenty of hay. Try lots of different types to find one that they like. (Excel Herbage is popular in our house!!). The rabbit should only have a small amount of dry food (pellets/mix) The rest of it's diet should be hay / grass / veg. When it comes to veg things like spring greens are good for keeping teeth down.
A rabbits jaw is designed to move from side to side when they eat in order to wear the teeth down, commerical foods and pellets require a rabbit to eat like we do crunching in up and down movements with the jaw, thus, not wearing the teeth down. Therefore, the more "wild rabbit" food you can give them, the better. So hay, grass and leafy veg is best.
But don't give up hope, there's a great chance that this bunny could live for many years yet. A guide of 3-4 weeks is rubbish as it can vary sooooo much, one month it might be 3 weeks, the next, it may make it 9 weeks. Some rabbits have managed to go for months at a time between burring, it can all change so much. So please, keep trying for a little while before making a decision, you never know. And encourage the vets to give you discounts etc. :wink: