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Mini Lop with reoccurring Gut Statsis and Teeth growing spurrs

Hi everyone,
I'm new here, I would like to find out if anyone else has been in my situation, my poor mini lop, is back in hospitalisation after only 6 weeks, as his teeth keep growing too fast and spurring into his gums. This is causing him to stop eating and going into gut stasis. He hasn't after 1 day and 3/4's pooped as yet really worried that this is the end. I think it did take two days last time to get him to poop... so hoping he will tonight. Anyway when hes safe he can then get his teeth cut again but we only did this 6 weeks ago. The vet said his teeth look slightly bent so may have to cut every month. Happened to anyone else, this is going to be very costly every month to do this, but I love him so much and obviously want the best for him.

Any advise much appreciated.

Thanks

Martine
 
Hi Martine. Welcome to RU & sorry to hear your bun is struggling with dental problems. So he is staying at the vets whilst they make him strong enough for an anaesthetic to have his spurs trimmed again? Several members have rabbits in need of regular dentals & some have been able to eliminate or reduce the need for dentals by moving to a hay only diet. Your vet is the one best advised to let you know their prognosis & how best to manage the situation long term.

Is he a good hay eater? Has he had an skull radiographs to assess his tooth roots? The plan to make his dentals more frequent sounds reasonable if he is struggling to this extent & then going in to stasis. Some bunnies may give more subtle signs they need a dental - drinking more water, a change in food preferences etc
 
hi! welcome to RU :wave:

something like this should go in the "health" section of the forum, but one of the forum mods will likely move it there for you shortly.

I'm really sorry to hear about your bunny, its an incredibly stressful and difficult time for all of you. I went through something similar, and it was very draining both financially and emotionally.

out of interest, what is his diet like? perhaps something can be changed within it to help lengthen the process between dentals. not saying you are doing anything wrong either, but even with the perfect diet perhaps something can be adjusted to suit the situation.

with something like this, it would possibly point to breeding defects. lops and minis/dwarfs tend to have very rounded and short muzzles, and there just isn't the room for the teeth to grow. it can cause roots to become elongated, teeth to grow into their jaw, or just grow incorrectly. its extremely unfortunate.

I would really recommend getting some x-rays done of his jaw. it would give huge insight to how they are growing and what's going on. if he's unable to have a general anaesthetic, they might be able to get some while he's awake, or just made slightly drowsy.

do you have any medications for him? I know for my bun (Snoopy) he was on almost permanent randititine and another gut stimulant to help keep things moving. along with that, he had a low dose of metacam since his teeth were (more than likely) growing into his jaw. unfortunately he was a very poorly bunny and along with his teeth being not as they should, be suffered from stasis plenty, which didn't aid his cause either. it might be something to discuss with your vet.

unfortunately, some bunnies have to have monthly dentals. many here on RU have bunnies who need dentals every 4-8 weeks or so. its a very tiring process, but many of them live healthy & happy lives.

depending on the x-rays, it may or may not be an idea to have his back teeth removed...its a very big operation I will admit. but, they can survive wonderfully well without their back teeth, you just have to make some adjustments to their diet. I'm sure another RU member can provide some insight into that, as I'm not too knowledgeable there.

fibre is incredibly important to bunnies and helps keep tummy moving, it might be worth offering some fibrefirst sticks from science selective. mine love them, if he is struggling to eat hay, then I would suggest offering a large amount of them to help him. http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/fibafirst-rabbit-2kg

fibreplex may also be an idea, but once again I'm not too sure so I'm hoping somebody else can run by and give a yay or nay :) https://www.vetuk.co.uk/rabbit-supp...ibreplex-for-rabbits-and-small-rodents-p-1180

along with that, I know for Snoopy having probiotic in his water did amazingly well for him. once I used that, stasis happened a little less. and when he was in stasis, some warm water with the probiotic would sometimes sort him out http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/proc-probiotic-100gm

unfortunately, my little Snoopy passed away. however, many many other bunnies have lived to tell the tale of dental issues, and pooped in its face ;) its not an ending for them unless it really is the kindest or there is nothing that can be done. but, I believe there are plenty of other options still currently left on the table. if he is fit and healthy apart from this, I believe more can be done.

if money is an issue, there may be funding you can apply for, or some vets will do payment plans.

I wish the best to both you and bunny, and another welcome to RU :)
 
Hi everyone,
I'm new here, I would like to find out if anyone else has been in my situation, my poor mini lop, is back in hospitalisation after only 6 weeks, as his teeth keep growing too fast and spurring into his gums. This is causing him to stop eating and going into gut stasis. He hasn't after 1 day and 3/4's pooped as yet really worried that this is the end. I think it did take two days last time to get him to poop... so hoping he will tonight. Anyway when hes safe he can then get his teeth cut again but we only did this 6 weeks ago. The vet said his teeth look slightly bent so may have to cut every month. Happened to anyone else, this is going to be very costly every month to do this, but I love him so much and obviously want the best for him.

Any advise much appreciated.

Thanks

Martine


Hi there Martine and welcome to the Forum :wave:

You don't say whether it's the incisors or the cheek teeth, but I am going to assume it's the cheek/back teeth - is that right?

Rabbits can have all sorts of issues with their teeth, and especially mini lops as they have cute little flat faces. But back in hospital after only six weeks is very sad and I can understand extremely worrying for you.

Diet plays an enormous part in wearing a rabbit's teeth down. Here's some info about hay and grass and the way it contributes to teeth wear ..

http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/2011/10/07/grass-hay-tooth-wear/

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/grass-hay.asp

It may be that a rabbit that doesn't eat so much hay can be persuaded to eat readigrass, which is also good for teeth wear. In addition, fibafirst sticks contain timothy hay and will also help in that way, and can be substituted for food:

https://supremepetfoods.com/fiba-first-2/


The other thing you could consider is finding a vet who would be able to deal with the back teeth without anaesthetic. This is called a 'conscious dental'. Many people have contacted me privately to ask about this, as when the dentals get too frequent the rabbit can't recover from the anaesthetic. It's also costly - dealing with the rabbit's teeth consciously costs the same as a normal consult.

How old is your little fella?

There's some important info here about gut stasis, because as you know, it's important to keep a rabbit eating and their guts moving as much as you can. Perhaps also syringe feeding with recovery food (or mashed up pellets) and some organic baby food like Ella's Kitchen.

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv/basic

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf

Thinking of you and good luck xx
 
Hi there Martine and welcome to the Forum :wave:

You don't say whether it's the incisors or the cheek teeth, but I am going to assume it's the cheek/back teeth - is that right?

Rabbits can have all sorts of issues with their teeth, and especially mini lops as they have cute little flat faces. But back in hospital after only six weeks is very sad and I can understand extremely worrying for you.

Diet plays an enormous part in wearing a rabbit's teeth down. Here's some info about hay and grass and the way it contributes to teeth wear ..

http://www.therabbithouse.com/blog/2011/10/07/grass-hay-tooth-wear/

http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/grass-hay.asp

It may be that a rabbit that doesn't eat so much hay can be persuaded to eat readigrass, which is also good for teeth wear. In addition, fibafirst sticks contain timothy hay and will also help in that way, and can be substituted for food:

https://supremepetfoods.com/fiba-first-2/


The other thing you could consider is finding a vet who would be able to deal with the back teeth without anaesthetic. This is called a 'conscious dental'. Many people have contacted me privately to ask about this, as when the dentals get too frequent the rabbit can't recover from the anaesthetic. It's also costly - dealing with the rabbit's teeth consciously costs the same as a normal consult.

How old is your little fella?

There's some important info here about gut stasis, because as you know, it's important to keep a rabbit eating and their guts moving as much as you can. Perhaps also syringe feeding with recovery food (or mashed up pellets) and some organic baby food like Ella's Kitchen.

http://anyflip.com/dvpt/hzvv/basic

http://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/ROWinter10p7.pdf

Thinking of you and good luck xx

This also is your vet rabbit savvy? And have they previously taken any skull xrays to show extent of dental disease also cycling the roots for elongation

I've requested your thread to be moved into the health section so it doesn't get lost amongst all the general chat
 
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