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We have a vet appointment for Casper this afternoon. This morning his head keeps tilting to the right when he eats. Like this (especially at the end of the video): https://imgur.com/fz2203K He's fine the rest of the time, so I wonder if eating is hurting him somehow or there's something wrong in his mouth... I'm not sure what's going on...
beautiful boy. Could you email the video to your vet & get their thoughts. Really hope he is ok
Thank you, j&b. I'll show the vet the video when we have our appointment in a few hours.
Sending lots of vibes, I hope that the vets appointment goes well xx
Sending Casper lots of vibes. I hope he gets on OK at the vets.
Thank you, Zoobec and Omi.
Loads of vibes from us to Casper
Could be something oral/ Dental but a neurological work up would be a good idea too. Sending vibes for him :love:
Hope you find something simple to fix :) It's a very marked difference to normal!
Sending Casper vibes.
Sending lots of vibes for Casper. It looks a bit like something is disturbing him inside the mouth in the beginning of the video. I hope it is something easily fixed!
Thank you for the vibes, everybody. I appreciate them very much. :love: I'm going to need to keep this a bit short, because the vet appointment has really exhausted me, but the vet examined him and couldn't find anything (though he does already have a tiny spur starting), but strongly suspected it's something in his mouth that she can't see while he's conscious. Since he was still eating well, she recommended keeping an eye on him for a few days and see if it goes away on its own, but if it gets worse or he starts having trouble eating to let them know and they'll sedate him and look in his mouth.
Since we've been home, I've offered him food several times and he hasn't been tilting his head while eating, at least not while I was watching (but I've been mostly asleep until now), so it does seem to have gone away on its own, but it took some convincing to get him to eat his grass, and I don't think he's eating hay; he seems to just chew it and drop it, so I'll call the vets tomorrow and let them know.
I hope he improves by himself, although it does sound like there is something going on with his mouth that the vet can’t see whilst he is awake, as you say. I hope you can get a good rest.
I'm glad to hear that. I hope it doesn't happen again and it's a momentary thing. Xxxx
I'm sorry its not resolved - well I should say great to hear the tilt appears to have gone but sorry he's not eating grass & hay normally. He causes a lot of worry doesn't he Casper, I really wish you could have a decent amount of time with no bunny worries & no vet trips.
Well it's good news that the vet couldn't readily find anything wrong and also that you haven't observed the behaviour since. But it's worrying if he's having problems with grass and hay and I hope that gets resolved soon, ideally by just disappearing.
I hope you manage to catch up on some rest too :love:
Hope you and Casper are feeling better this evening and that you vet can sort out the issue.
I am glad he isn't tilting his head anymore and I hope that whatever is bothering him will resolve soon!
It is possible after a month, yet it still seems quick for him to need another dental when it is not typical for him.
Could he have ear or jaw discomfort? Middle ear inflammation/infection can be hard to detect early.
While it is good the tilt went away, it is frustrating to not know the cause and how it relates to his food preferences.:( sending vibes.
Thank you so much, everyone, for hoping Casper will feel better. :love: And thank you for hoping I could get some rest, too. :love: This morning he hasn't been tilting his head, but he's still not eating hay, and he didn't eat all his breakfast pellets, so the vet wanted to see him this afternoon, so my dad's taking Casper and Sophie to the vets now (I'm too exhausted to go with them) and the vet will take a look at Casper's mouth while he's sedated later. I hope they can find something that's easily fixed... I wonder if it's the tiny spur the vet saw yesterday...? I'm very worried, and very exhausted...
Bunny momma, I did wonder yesterday if it was an ear thing, too. The vet said that if it were he'd likely tilt his head when not eating in that case, too, though, and what she could see of his ears was fine... And, yeah, while the vet said his jaws felt okay yesterday, I do wonder if his jaw could be hurting, too, maybe...
It could be a spur and maybe it has now caused a bit of soft tissue damage. I hope the Vet can sort the problem out and that Casper will soon be eating better again. Hope you will feel better soon too.
Thank you, IM, for hoping the vet could sort the problem and Casper will soon be eating better. It looks like it was the tiny spur causing the discomfort, because the vet couldn't find anything else in his mouth that could explain it. No soft tissue damage, either, unless they forgot to tell me. My dad just picked them up and they're home now. He hasn't eaten anything yet, but that's understandable; I'll give him some time. And I slept most of the day, so I feel a bit more functional now, thank you. :)
A small spur can cause a tiny sore spot eg on the tongue, which would make eating normally quite uncomfortable.
I hope he picks up now.
Thank you, Shimmer. Maybe he has a tiny sore spot that was too small for them to see, yes...
I gave him a pile of grass and he has eaten some of it, so that's promising. It's just worrying me that he already needed a dental when his last one was only 4 weeks ago. I've really been trying to get him to eat as much hay as possible; they only get a small amount of herbs for greens now everyday, plus grass and some flowers from my balcony if there are any, and a small amount of dried forage, no treats except for a tiny slice of dried cucumber before bed, and only enough pellets for him to keep his weight on. He does eat a good amount of hay, I think, and he gets some grass daily, but it doesn't seem to be enough. :( Should I just cut out everything except hay, grass, and his pellets? I know cutting out his pellets would help with the hay-eating, but he loses weight quickly without them.
I am glad they are safely home.. If the tiny spur was visible when he was conscious yesterday, it will be easy to monitor in the future . I would not stress over timing.
It is nice that your dad took them to vet so you could get needed rest. Sending vibes you will all be feeling good soon.
Sending vibes that all of you are feeling better soon!
Rodney especially sends dental recovery vibes to his fellow sufferer x
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I'm glad they're home :D I think he's had recent skull x-rays hasn't he? If the jaw isn't aligning properly then that's maybe why he still has problems despite eating lots of hay and grass.
Thank you, bunny momma. I'll try not to stress over timing... I'd prefer him to not have dentals so often, though; it can't be good for him. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by bunny momma
Aww, thank you. That's so kind of Rodney. :love:Quote:
Originally Posted by CarelessSquid07
Thank you, Omi. :) He had skull x-rays four weeks ago, yes. I don't think they've ever said anything about his jaw not aligning properly, but they have said that his molars don't align and that's why he gets spurs so quickly. I had just hoped that encouraging him to eat lots of hay would slow it down, and it did seem to be working, because the last time before his dental last month was in April, so he was fine for 5 months, but then the time before that was only 6 weeks earlier, so I don't know why sometimes he's okay for months and other times they come back really fast.Quote:
Originally Posted by Omi
Last night he didn't want his pellets, so I gave him his meds with a syringe, and then I got up a few times throughout the night to offer him some fresh herbs, since he has been eating those, but each time I did he ran away from me, probably thinking I was going to give him more meds. :( So, I don't know how much he ate throughout the night. But he ate some fresh herbs this morning, and he seems to be okay. He was sniffing his hay for a while earlier, but I couldn't see if he ate some of it... I'll see if he wants breakfast in a little while.
Can you get any fresh grass for him ?Quote:
Originally Posted by a reader of books
Yes, I grow fresh grass for them. They get some every day, but it's not much compared to what outdoor bunnies get. He has been struggling with grass these past few days, though. It must be too difficult to chew right now...Quote:
Originally Posted by InspectorMorse
How's our little soldier today?
Aw, thank you for asking. He's doing okay. He's mostly just been eating fresh herbs today, but he just ate some pellets, so that's progress. He seems very tired, though. He has just been sitting on his little table most of the day. I've made him a nice buffet up there.Quote:
Originally Posted by joey&boo
aww :love: I guess tired is understandable. I hope he enjoys his buffet & eats it all up
Aww I hope he has a good rest and buffet x
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Thank you both. :love: He had some flowers from the balcony, and then left his table to stretch out on the floor, where he's currently asleep and dreaming. :love:
Sending your boy vibes that he will continue to improve.
Thank you, bunny momma. :love: He's pretty much the same as yesterday today. He's currently falling asleep on top of the fresh herbs I gave him. ;) He did eat some of them, though. :love:Quote:
Originally Posted by bunny momma
Fresh herbs sound lovely.Quote:
Originally Posted by a reader of books
Casper needing some dentals close together and others further apart is something I experienced with Raven too. Raven's molars can be very worn, yet spurs grow in needle like points straight up/down from near his gums.
Oh, poor Raven. That must be painful. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by bunny momma
Casper's eating a bit better now. :love: He's only eating a tiny, tiny amount of hay, but hopefully that'll improve in the coming days.
Is hay more difficult to eat than grass? Because Casper's eating his grass really well, but he's still barely touching his hay. I've only seen him eat hay twice since his dental, and that was only a little bit. I think something might still be bothering him.