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Tooth spurs

B

beki

Mama Doe
Betsy was spayed today. Whilst under they checked her teeth and the vet nurse when I collected Betsy said there were Spurs starting. She is only 5 months old. I didn't think to ask her how to prevent them getting worse. Do I just need to feed her more hay? Her and Bertie get through a fair amount of hay but they do get q lot of pellets (well they did until Bertie started his diet, pellet intake has been reduced recently). I don't want poor Betsy to have to endure lots of dentals and my bank balance won't be too happy either :(
 
beki said:
Betsy was spayed today. Whilst under they checked her teeth and the vet nurse when I collected Betsy said there were Spurs starting. She is only 5 months old. I didn't think to ask her how to prevent them getting worse. Do I just need to feed her more hay? Her and Bertie get through a fair amount of hay but they do get q lot of pellets (well they did until Bertie started his diet, pellet intake has been reduced recently). I don't want poor Betsy to have to endure lots of dentals and my bank balance won't be too happy either :(
Click to expand...

Reducing pellets to a minimum, approx and eggcup full a day, will encourage more hay eating. Hay/grass should be the main part of the diet. Personally I believe that a healthy adult Rabbit does not need a pelleted feed at all. Certainly not every day. I think a diet that consists of a wide variety of hays, grass, fresh and dried forages, fresh and dried herbs and occasionally a small amount of leafy greens is the optimum diet for a healthy adult Rabbit. The occasional pellet could be offered as a treat :)
 
I have little experience, both my older rabbits had their first dental about 5 months ago to remove tooth spurs. They've both always been good hay eaters and only receive an egg cup of pellets a day alongside herbs or a small amount of a select few vegetables, but I've since been making sure they have at least two different types of hay. Their regular hay is the ings hay from hay for pets but alongside this they will get some other types such as excel herbage, timothy hay, orchard grass hay etc as I read eating short, long, thick, soft etc hay is best for dental health.
 
Thanks for the quick reply Jane :) I will reduce the pellets even more as I think they get approximately 3 egg cups between them both a day (this is a guess as I use a scoop). I feed them kale too but not a lot of grass at the moment as my garden is looking very sorry for itself and the grass has died off!! We live in a built up area and a lot of the green spaces are used by dog owners so I don't forage. During summer I do get a lot of dandelion and bramble which I feed them. I get farm hay. I will pick up some different types of hay from pets at home and I'll perhaps get some readi grass too.
 
Thank you for the reply Liz. I will definitely look at a variety of hay. I have always just thought that hay is hay and there can't be a lot of difference, but obviously not! I shall get more :)

I used to have a pear tree and the rabbits used to munch on branches. I no longer have a tree but if I were to find and give them fruit tree branches, would this help with Spurs or does this only help with front teeth?
 
beki said:
Betsy was spayed today. Whilst under they checked her teeth and the vet nurse when I collected Betsy said there were Spurs starting. She is only 5 months old. I didn't think to ask her how to prevent them getting worse. Do I just need to feed her more hay? Her and Bertie get through a fair amount of hay but they do get q lot of pellets (well they did until Bertie started his diet, pellet intake has been reduced recently). I don't want poor Betsy to have to endure lots of dentals and my bank balance won't be too happy either :(
Click to expand...

Did they deal with the imminent spurs, or were they too small at this time to do anything about?

Hay and readigrass, or fresh grass will wear down the teeth significantly. I have had this completely turn around dental issues in rabbits, so it's definitely a very good thing to feed more of.

Cutting down pellets and/or veggies will assist in hay/grass eating. You may not have spurs to deal with in future if you follow this plan :thumb:
 
No they didn't deal with the Spurs. I didn't ask the siZe but they did say they were just starting so aren't causing a problem and just to watch if she has any trouble eating.

I will invest in a bigger selection of hay for them both.

Betsy hasn't pooed yet nor eaten since being home (she pooed and ate at the vets) She is probably stressed though, she is indoors, and the baby won't stop crying! Baby should hopefully be asleep soon and I will attempt to calm Betsy and tempt her with tasty treats!


I've got to keep Bertie away from her until I know she is pooing which probably is t helping!
 
beki said:
No they didn't deal with the Spurs. I didn't ask the siZe but they did say they were just starting so aren't causing a problem and just to watch if she has any trouble eating.

I will invest in a bigger selection of hay for them both.

Betsy hasn't pooed yet nor eaten since being home (she pooed and ate at the vets) She is probably stressed though, she is indoors, and the baby won't stop crying! Baby should hopefully be asleep soon and I will attempt to calm Betsy and tempt her with tasty treats!


I've got to keep Bertie away from her until I know she is pooing which probably is t helping!
Click to expand...

You have your hands full! I hope you manage everything and have a peaceful night :)
 
beki said:
No they didn't deal with the Spurs. I didn't ask the siZe but they did say they were just starting so aren't causing a problem and just to watch if she has any trouble eating.

I will invest in a bigger selection of hay for them both.

Betsy hasn't pooed yet nor eaten since being home (she pooed and ate at the vets) She is probably stressed though, she is indoors, and the baby won't stop crying! Baby should hopefully be asleep soon and I will attempt to calm Betsy and tempt her with tasty treats!


I've got to keep Bertie away from her until I know she is pooing which probably is t helping!
Click to expand...

I hope Betsy is feeling brighter this morning.

With regards to Hay, you will find a good selection here. They do sample packs too:

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/edibles/hay-grasses.html

As for dried Forages :

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/birch-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/blackcurrant-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/coneflower-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/dandelion-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/plantain-150g-the-hay-experts.html

https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/yarrow-the-hay-experts.html

https://galensgarden.co.uk/shop/dried-herbs

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301239

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/snacks_supplements/natural_plant_snacks/herbs/301187
 
Thanks for the links Jane.

Betsy seems a lot better this morning. She has pooed, although the poos are very tiny, and I have just given her the morning dose of metacam the vet sent back with me. I think most of the metacam ended up in her fur as she struggled a bit though hopefully a good dose went in her mouth. I'm going to bring Bertie indoors soon To keep her company, he is lonely outside
 
beki said:
No they didn't deal with the Spurs. I didn't ask the siZe but they did say they were just starting so aren't causing a problem and just to watch if she has any trouble eating.

I will invest in a bigger selection of hay for them both.

Betsy hasn't pooed yet nor eaten since being home (she pooed and ate at the vets) She is probably stressed though, she is indoors, and the baby won't stop crying! Baby should hopefully be asleep soon and I will attempt to calm Betsy and tempt her with tasty treats!


I've got to keep Bertie away from her until I know she is pooing which probably is t helping!
Click to expand...

You've probably already tried Readigrass?

Hayexperts are now doing a 'green oat' readigrass, which is excellent for wearing down teeth and delicious :)
 
I have used readigrass before but they don't stock it locally so it's only when I go to a particular garden centre which has a pet shop that I pick some up. I never think of buying hay online !
 
beki said:
I have used readigrass before but they don't stock it locally so it's only when I go to a particular garden centre which has a pet shop that I pick some up. I never think of buying hay online !
Click to expand...

You can find a much wider variety online xx
 
beki said:
I have used readigrass before but they don't stock it locally so it's only when I go to a particular garden centre which has a pet shop that I pick some up. I never think of buying hay online !
Click to expand...

You can often get places to send you samples, for example Galens Garden - they are always very helpful! Though I know it can be a bit of a faff ordering online and contacting people when you've enough going on!
 
Boo had a minor spur that didn't need treatment at their check ups in July. Joey & Mouse were deemed to have good teeth. 2 weeks later Joey went in to stasis. Vet thought it was due to a minor spur so he had that burred. All bunnies were back at the vets for vaccs this week & no spurs evident in any bunnies mouth. I'm relieved as they already had a diet of 95% forage & hay so there wasn't much room for change.

I guess what I'm trying to do is offer reassurance that from my experience (albeit limited) tiny wee spurs can resolve themselves easily with the right diet. When Joey had his spur burred I was gutted at the time thinking he would be resigned to being a dental bun with lots of stressful travel to vets & GA's. Happy hay shopping:)
 
When Blossom had a vet check up with her yearly jab (she was 1 then) the vet noticed a small spur so I increased hay and reduced pellets. She had her first ever dental in January just gone and she's nearly 5 years old now. I'm sure the extra hay helped keep her teeth down but she does have access to grass and endless hay too :wave:
 
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