Hay only diet for small spurs

[BattleKat]

My rabbit has developed small spurs on his teeth, likely due to feeding him too much commercial feed (oops), but they don't seem to be bothering him at all.
For other reasons he's been switched on to a hay only diet but I'm hoping that will take care of the spurs. Does anyone have any idea how long it might take for the spurs to be naturally worn down?

Dentals aren't covered on his insurance for another year so I'm really hoping to get them improved before we take him back to the vet.

Obi

 

[Shimmer]

A hay only diet will definitely help keep the teeth in trim (and is excellent for digestive health), but I suggest you get the spurs checked again in maybe a couple of months. They may need burring down anyway so that your rabbit can chew properly. Spurs can be caused by other issues eg genetics. A high fibre diet (ie hay, grass, forage) is the best way to manage it on a daily basis, but some rabbits are prone to dental issues. All you can do then is increase the time between dentals and monitor them regularly. There is no guarantee with this one - just do your best to minimise the problem recurring, and watch out for signs that it needs checking (eg continued weight loss over a couple of weeks).

 

[keletkezes]

I've never had a rabbit without spurs/hooks, it turns out :roll: :lol: Aboleth's teeth were 'all over the place' and she had and Lopsy has small spurs but they didn't/don't bother them. Chibbs has hooks, on the tongue side, and had slight marks on her tongue but they don't bother her at all. Everybun eats loads of hay (of their own volition, I am very lucky!) and we've never (yet, touch wood) had to have any dental treatment. I am super stingy with pellets and have encouraged the OH to be less generous (he's more willing to give them less in Summer when he's foraging for them), and it seems to work. We feed a range of soft and woody forage as well: brambles all year (evening, after pellets; branches and leaves, basically the lot and ours LOVE chewing the big sticks), willow, hazel, apple, hawthorn etc. when it has leaves or has been dried (late afternoon, they sticks get left for up to 24hrs for chewing), soft forage like weeds and herbs when there's little woody forage, when it's new or when I can be bothered :lol: Not that that'll help you as such if it's hay-only. I would definitely say hay-only wouldn't hurt, and every rabbit is different but you can't go wrong with just hay You might be unlucky and have one with faster or more-awkward teeth so it doesn't help as much as it does with e.g. mine, but it's worth a shot!

ETA my vet also says he sees rabbits with very different tolerance of spurs/hooks, and mine all have quite a large tolerance but he sees others who can't have even the slightest spur. So it is VERY rabbit-dependent!

 

[BattleKat]

Thanks both for your replies.

He'll definitely be going back within 2 months, he's had a host of problems since we rescued him a year ago that are mostly ongoing (and mostly excluded from his insurance:roll
He's always gone through a lot of hay but he's a single (atm) giant so it's been hard to judge against previous smaller rabbits and when I had pairs/groups together. My old giant had troubles keeping weight on his entire life so I think I went overboard with the commercial feed from the off with Obi. Really hoping that's all it is.
I've had such good luck with my buns' teeth. Only one of them ever needed dentals and that was only once she got to about 11! Crazy though, she went from not the tiniest spur in the first decade of her life to needing dentals every 4 weeks overnight.