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Vitamin D and teeth problems

Linuxete

Warren Scout
Hello. My rabbit Sam is having quite an issue with his teeth. They seem to be getting loose. This summer our vet had to remove 2 of them. And he's just almost 2 years old. So really young to have such an issue.
X-rays show no problems with his bones or teeth at all. His tooth roots aren't elongted, no abbcess or any other visible problems. So right now I'm not sure what to do to help him.
He's not eating any pellets. Also not very interested in hay and only wants to eat dills, dandelions, clover, plantain, some types of salad. I've tried to only give him pellets and hay, but then he would just starve and lost a lot of weight, so had to go back to his old diet. I've tried many pellets: Oxbow, Fibafirst and some other local brands, but he refuses to eat them.
He's also an indoor rabbit so I was wondering about Vitamin D and UVB lamp for him. Maybe it could help with his teeth problems.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

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I would not give Vitamin D supplements without knowing if a bunny is deficient or the correct dosage with your vets OK.
Have you considered supplementing his diet with a recovery food? Some bunnies will readily take it from an oral syringe or even from a bowl?
Others on this forum have a lot more expertise that I have and it is likely one of them can offer you some suggestions/advice.
Sending you and Sam some positive vibes for a good outcome.
 
It sounds like there is some pain on eating certain food - hard pellets and hay- and he prefers softer greens.
Have you tried soaking the pellets? It will make them easier to eat if he doesn't have to chew them as much.
I would also be tempted to do some top up syringe feeds if he is losing weight.
Grass is softer than hay - it could also be chopped up into smaller pieces.
Higher calcium food may be beneficial (eg cabbage) as rabbit teeth continually grow.

Has he got any pain relief?
Have you had any other advice from your vet?
Is he weeing and pooing normally?

There is some useful information on diet and calcium here:
https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits/calcium-and-rabbit-food
There are other pages with more information which may be useful as well.
 
Sorry to hear about Sam. This is only an idea but have your tried him on Muesli. I know when some rabbits are brought up on it they won't eat pellets. It is worth trying. I buy Russell rabbit for one of my older boys, Wagg don't do Muesli anymore and Chudley's is awful now. I hope you can sort his problem out.
 
I tried to give him soaked pellets, but he wasn't interested. Also tried some Muesli, but he refused to eat it. He likes to eat pea flakes and they are way harder than any pellets, but he eats them.
He was on pain meds, but it made no difference for him. So he's not on them anymore.
I wasn't planning to give him any Vitamin D supplements, I know it's quite easy to overdose. I was planning to buy him a UVB lamp to help him get more Vitamin D.
He's not losing any weight at the moment, he gained it back.
I was just wondering why would his teeth be falling out so quickly? My vet thinks it's a dietary issue and he needs more vitamins.
Sam had his dental done a week ago and he's already showing signs of some discomfort when eating. So I'm a total loss right now. I just don't know what should I do?

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Rabbits use different actions for chewing different types of food - so flat pea flakes which crumble relatively easily is different from a lump of hard pellet or the action needed to grind hay.

I wouldn't use a UV lamp as it may cause other issues (eg with his eyes), and I'm not sure if it would be the right wavelength to help with calcium metabolism. If there is no issue with sludge in his urine, you can increase the calcium in his food using the previous link from Frances Harcourt Brown (a rabbit specialist vet). Rabbits excrete excess dietary calcium in the urine, so if he is active and drinking well, there shouldn't be an issue with increasing dietary calcium naturally. Vitamin D won't really help if his calcium intake is too low anyway.

From FHB's link:
'Rabbits that are kept indoors and not exposed to sunlight may not have enough vitamin D to help them absorb calcium from the diet. This won't matter if the diet has enough calcium in it but will matter if the diet is low in calcium.'

Higher calcium foods include broccoli, carrot tops (ie the leaves), alfalfa, dandelions, parsley, any form of cabbage (kale, spring greens, sprouts, etc)

Have full blood screens been run?
Is there any sign of a jaw abscess or infection?
What advice has your vet given?
 
No, there's no abscess or any infection. He's had X-rays to check that. He's eating dandelions, clovers and dills, they are quite high in calcium. Our vet said that we should try to supplement his diet with some vitamins to see if that helps. Because nothing else is showing on his X-rays and his bones and teeth look completely normal in their density, does not seem to be lacking any calcium.
We haven't checked his blood this time, but he had them checked the other time and everything was perfectly normal.

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