SamTheBunny
Young Bun
I previously posted on here about my rabbit Bear's weepy eye. After a few weeks the vet eventually concluded that he had a blocked tear duct due to sharp spurs on his back teeth. They filed them off and his eye improved but I was still having to drain it almost daily with some gentle pressure below the eye, as instructed. This has persisted since it began back in March, however they said it would probably be an ongoing thing that we just have to manage.
Recently though, my mum and I noticed that he had become very skinny and you could feel all of his bones rather easily. We decided to take him to the vets to have it checked as a precaution just incase. She wasn't able to conclude what was wrong as he was acting perfectly normally and seemed fine but he did have some sharp spurs again. However, she wanted to rule out any other causes of the weight loss as he was still eating first, so we dropped him in today for a blood test. They came back normal so they went ahead with the dental and he came around fine afterwards so that was good.
I spoke to the senior vet afterwards about it and he explained to me that the reason for his persistent dental problem is that he was fed an unsuitable diet when he was with his previous owners (we got him and his brother back at the start of november), meaning he was fed a muesli diet and became calcium deficient as a result because he was able to be selective. This caused his bones to soften and his teeth to grow strangely and misalign, so they aren't wearing down. I was so upset to find out about this because it is so easily avoided and now he has to deal with this every day. We have decided (with the vets) that the best course of action from now on is to take him in a weigh him every two weeks to monitor him before it gets bad (which luckily it never has as we've always caught it before any soft tissue damage has occured in his mouth).
Now I need to get his weight back up but i'm not entirely sure how to go about this effectively. Has anyone else been in this situation or have any advice as to what I should do? I thought about feeding him critical care with baby food (as he really likes it) but I'm not sure if that would work or if it is safe. He has lost the 400g within about 2 months so it was quite a rapid loss, almost 1/6 of his weight.
Thank you in advance, Poppy and Bear
Edit: I forgot to mention that the vet said that this will be permanent and there is probably no way of reversing the effects of his previous calcium deficiency. However, if anyone has any suggestions as to how i may be able to at least improve it then I would love to know.
Recently though, my mum and I noticed that he had become very skinny and you could feel all of his bones rather easily. We decided to take him to the vets to have it checked as a precaution just incase. She wasn't able to conclude what was wrong as he was acting perfectly normally and seemed fine but he did have some sharp spurs again. However, she wanted to rule out any other causes of the weight loss as he was still eating first, so we dropped him in today for a blood test. They came back normal so they went ahead with the dental and he came around fine afterwards so that was good.
I spoke to the senior vet afterwards about it and he explained to me that the reason for his persistent dental problem is that he was fed an unsuitable diet when he was with his previous owners (we got him and his brother back at the start of november), meaning he was fed a muesli diet and became calcium deficient as a result because he was able to be selective. This caused his bones to soften and his teeth to grow strangely and misalign, so they aren't wearing down. I was so upset to find out about this because it is so easily avoided and now he has to deal with this every day. We have decided (with the vets) that the best course of action from now on is to take him in a weigh him every two weeks to monitor him before it gets bad (which luckily it never has as we've always caught it before any soft tissue damage has occured in his mouth).
Now I need to get his weight back up but i'm not entirely sure how to go about this effectively. Has anyone else been in this situation or have any advice as to what I should do? I thought about feeding him critical care with baby food (as he really likes it) but I'm not sure if that would work or if it is safe. He has lost the 400g within about 2 months so it was quite a rapid loss, almost 1/6 of his weight.
Thank you in advance, Poppy and Bear
Edit: I forgot to mention that the vet said that this will be permanent and there is probably no way of reversing the effects of his previous calcium deficiency. However, if anyone has any suggestions as to how i may be able to at least improve it then I would love to know.
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