Molar spurs

bananarama · Nov 12, 2018

Hiya,

I was wondering if anyone had any advice for molar spurs?

My bun is currently having them filed down for the 2nd time this year. At £250 a pop it's getting really expensive

Anyone have any advice on slowing down the growth of the spurs? He's on really good stalky timothy hay, and I've reduced his pellets down to barely anything now.

Also, does anyone know an alternative to Critical Care? I can't find the apple and banana one and he absolutely hates the regular aniseed one.

Zoobec · Nov 12, 2018

As you say, hay/grass is the best thing for keeping teeth in check. My bunny had a dental earlier this year, I’m now feeding him on a large variety of hay to keep him interested and encouraged to eat the maximum amount possible. Frosty’s favourites include sweet green hay and five a day hay from nature’s own, burns green oat hay, nature’s touch wild hay and oxbow orchard grass. He likes alfalfa king Timothy hay too, but he loves the others equally I would say.
He’s recently tried samples of the Timothy hay.co.uk Timothy hays and gave those his seal of approval too!
You can use pellets made into a mush, and you can try mixing in mashed banana or fruit flavoured baby foods, Ella’s kitchen ones are widely recommended on here :thumb:

Shimmer · Nov 12, 2018

I would also mush up his regular pellets and add a bit of baby food.

Any food with tough fibres will help to keep the teeth worn down. So any hay, grass, plantain, bramble, apple twigs and leaves, etc rather than softer stuff like dandelions will help. Sometimes there's not much more you can do, and the time between dentals can vary quite a lot over the years, depending on diet and how the teeth change with age.

£250 sounds expensive for a dental - I used to pay about half that for regular dentals, although it was a few years ago. Can you negotiate? Sometimes they can be burred down further as well to reshape the dental arcade (rather than filing off just the spurs), which will increase the time between ops.

MightyMax · Nov 12, 2018

Shimmer said:
I would also mush up his regular pellets and add a bit of baby food.

Any food with tough fibres will help to keep the teeth worn down. So any hay, grass, plantain, bramble, apple twigs and leaves, etc rather than softer stuff like dandelions will help. Sometimes there's not much more you can do, and the time between dentals can vary quite a lot over the years, depending on diet and how the teeth change with age.

£250 sounds expensive for a dental - I used to pay about half that for regular dentals, although it was a few years ago. Can you negotiate? Sometimes they can be burred down further as well to reshape the dental arcade (rather than filing off just the spurs), which will increase the time between ops.

I agree with Shimmer - twigs, leaves, bramble leaves etc are all good fibrous stuff.

However, I've found that in cases where a rabbit needs repeated dentals, it gets less and less easy for them to eat hay, however much you cut down pellets or try to encourage them. The teeth get to a point where it's just not possible for them.

Two things you can try - readigrass, and Fibafirst sticks. Those sticks have hay in them, and they are meant to help wear down the teeth. You could substitute the pellets for fibafirst sticks.

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

Regards the cost of dentals, I use vets who are able to perform the dental without anaesthesia. This means that not only is it just the cost of a consultation, but there is no 'recovery time' for the rabbit.

Critical care - I haven't had a rabbit who likes it! I usually whizz their pellets up with some Organic Baby food pouches such as Ella's Kitchen, and that makes it eatable - you can use apples and bananas

Thumper98 · Nov 15, 2018

My girl bun is the same - molar spurs over the years to the point that she's got very few upper teeth left. So i am in sort of the same boat as you...

What is working for her, and has been a game-changer for her really, are Protexin Profiber pellets. They have lots of the fibrous stuff that rabbits get from hay and is good for bunnies who aren't eating a lot of hay. This reduces or prevents soft stools - which is what happens when they dont get enough fiber.

I still feed Critical Care - but i syringe her so she doesn't have much of a choice! She doesnt like it and will actually tilt her head upwards and firmly shut her mouth tight, poor girl.

Molar spurs

bananarama

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Zoobec

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Shimmer

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MightyMax

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Thumper98

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