Dental problem. Help please

Hi, I have a 4 year old mini lop. he has always been a stasis prone bun & has a hay, dried plantain & fresh dandelion only. 3 days ago he stopped eating so it was off to the vet for the usual meds. However, this time the recovery was different. He perked up & looked much better & was passing poo but was reluctant to eat his hay. The vet I saw said he could see a couple of spurs on his bottom teeth but there was no redness or obvious skin damage so he didn't think it was causing a problem. I disagree with this as I know it doesn't take much to cause a feeding problem with even small spurs. I'm back at the vet in the morning to get this sorted hopefully before things get any worse. I would really appreciate any advice as I have never had this problem with a rabbit before. Thank you

I'm sorry your little one is struggling. You're completely right,minor spurs can cause some buns to stop eating whilst others (my bunny for one) will chomp away with a massive ulcer caused by spurs. Teeth are hard to examine thoroughly in a conscious rabbit. A dentalsounds like a good plan. I hope it all goes well for him tomorrow

juls65 said:

Hi, I have a 4 year old mini lop. he has always been a stasis prone bun & has a hay, dried plantain & fresh dandelion only. 3 days ago he stopped eating so it was off to the vet for the usual meds. However, this time the recovery was different. He perked up & looked much better & was passing poo but was reluctant to eat his hay. The vet I saw said he could see a couple of spurs on his bottom teeth but there was no redness or obvious skin damage so he didn't think it was causing a problem. I disagree with this as I know it doesn't take much to cause a feeding problem with even small spurs. I'm back at the vet in the morning to get this sorted hopefully before things get any worse. I would really appreciate any advice as I have never had this problem with a rabbit before. Thank you

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I agree with you - this can happen definitely. How savvy is your vet?

I should ask the vet to sort out the spurs, and if your vet needs to administer a GA for that, then I guess you'll have to book an appointment for that. Some vets can deal with spurs by doing a 'conscious dental" but a lot of vets prefer to use GA.

My vet has written this blog on malocclusion of the cheek teeth:

https://www.twickenhamvets.com/rabbit-dental-problems-part-1-malocclusion-cheek-teeth/


In the meantime, try and keep the food going in to make sure he doesn't go into stasis before the dental.

How did your bunny get on today?

Firstly, thank you for your replies. Visited the vet this morning & had spurs clipped off & since being home Sooty bunny has been munching his timothy hay, had a good drink of water & poo is looking fairly normal & plenty of it so I am hoping he will continue to recover well now. He is such a forgiving bunny as no matter what happens to him , vets or medicines etc, he always comes back for some fuss & nose rubs. It was his 4th birthday today too

Hoppy Birthday Sooty - what a fab present to be able to munch hay again. Thanks for the update

juls65 said:

Firstly, thank you for your replies. Visited the vet this morning & had spurs clipped off & since being home Sooty bunny has been munching his timothy hay, had a good drink of water & poo is looking fairly normal & plenty of it so I am hoping he will continue to recover well now. He is such a forgiving bunny as no matter what happens to him , vets or medicines etc, he always comes back for some fuss & nose rubs. It was his 4th birthday today too

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Happy Birthday Sooty

This is such a good update :thumb:

I am glad the dental helped your bunny. He is lucky that you are in his corner.