Bramble is getting his spurs done on Monday

[kirstyol]

Bramble is finally going in for his molar spur filing on Monday, we had to wait a while because the vet didnt think they were bad enough. He last had them done when he was neutered back in September and he didn’t have a great recovery.

I dont know if the poor recovery was due to the neuter, the teeth filing or the anaesthetic itself so I am worried he will react badly again. The worst part is that I am working Tuesday, although the other half will be here to keep an eye on him. He doesn’t drive but the vets is not far away if he needs to take him (he was there daily after his neuter).

I guess I am just looking for tips on how to help him recover. I will get fiberplex and painkillers from the vet again to keep his tummy going which is what he needed last time, but he absolutely hates being force fed and I will make sure I have all his favourite foods and banana to mix his medicine with (thats the only way he will take it, he spits it back out if you syringe it). 

Also the vet asked me to take a packed lunch for him, i didnt have to do that last time. Should I just take some leafy greens and hay? He usually gets his pellets at night anyway and i would guess he wouldnt want to eat those anyway if his mouth is sore.

Obviously I know his teeth need done, but I am just so worried he wont recover well. I had so hoped he wouldn’t need them done again. The vet said since he was so young they might not come back but they have.

[Bam]

Leafy greens are good, and fragrant herbs, hay is of course a must. A piece of carrot keeps comparatively well and may be enticing, apple too. Not huge chunks, of course, but just so he gets sth into his stomach before surgery. Maybe they don’t know when in the day they’ll do the procedure so he may have to wait and it’s best if he eats sth. I even brought Yohio a few sunflower seeds when he went in for the same type procedure a week ago or so.

A neuter is of course more invasive + the rabbit needs to be under for a longer while to have both the neuter and the teeth done. So chances are he’ll fare better this time. He’s older now too and might be physically stronger. I fully understand that you’re worried though.

My Yohio was not a happily bouncing bunny after his dental, he actually fell over in his carrier from sitting =/ I kept him in the carrier all evening so he wouldn’t hurt himself or hide somewhere where it would be hard for me to keep an eye on him. He drank a lot from his bowl during the night probably because the cool water was soothing to his sore gums, so an extra bowl of water is probably good (if you normally use a bottle). But he came around the next day and returned to his usual happy-super cuddly self again. I had to syringe feed him CC though and give him Metacam. I also gave simethicone and did tummy rubs, he had a bit of a gas issue due to the spurs.

Best of luck to you and Bramble!!!!

[Sarita]

Take it all and let him decide what he wants to eat. I always take greens or hay for Bobby when he goes to the vets.

Bobby also bounces back quickly after his dental trims – they use iso gas and mask him. Metacam is always a good idea too – some rabbits are more sensitive than others.

[kirstyol]

Thanks. He doesnt do a bowl of water at all, he kicks it over every time, he even sat in it once! I will put a bowl in just in case but I highly doubt he will use it. I plan to keep him in his cage when we get back till the next day. He has an XL dog crate attached to his big pen so its enough room for him, but like you say he wont be able to run and hide anywhere.

I think food wise, I will just take a bit of everything he likes.

[Bam]

Yohio too is terrible with his water bowl normally, unless I use a really heavy one with smooth walls that he can’t get a grip on, he will bang and throw it around and I have to mop up the water =)

[kirstyol]

I have a spare ceramic food bowl now since I had one for his cage and one for his pen, he now lives in a dog crate attached to the pen full time so I only use one. I guess I could half-fill the other one with water and see if he uses it. Of course I will make sure he has his usual bottle too just in case as I recon he will still kick it over, or maybe sit in it again!

After his neuter/teeth trim he wouldn’t take any water at all so I just did wet veggies until he started drinking again a few days later and he seemed to be ok like that. I just hope he is better this time than he was last time, really don’t want to have to watch him like that again it was heart breaking.

[Marianne]

Often it is the anesthetic itself that causes rabbits to recover poorly. It’s likely that your bunny had a poor recovery because of the anesthetic, they are very sensitive little creatures, and sometimes even the stress of being hospitalized is enough to cause changes in their appetite. In my experience neuters bounce back pretty quickly as the procedure itself is not very invasive (compared to a spay). Bring veggies and treats for him, anything that might entice him to eat. Appetite stimulants and GI motility meds can also be prescribed by the vet, along with pain meds to keep your bunny comfortable. Maybe ask them to load him up with some extra subcutaneous fluids before he leaves hospital so he’s well hydrated.

[kirstyol]

He was really bad after his neuter, we had daily vet visits for a week plus painkillers, motility drugs and antibiotics as a cover for an infection just in case. After the first week the vet told me if he hadnt improved by the monday he would need to come back in so they could try and figure out what was wrong with him and possibly do another procedure or something. Thankfully over that weekend he got a lot better and didnt need anything else done at the vets, but it has me worried that he will have a similar experience with the anaesthetic this time round.

I am going to discuss my concerns with the vet on monday and ask for the motility drugs again just in case he needs them, he will get painkillers anyway they told me.

[JackRabbit]

I’m guessing fiberplex is the same as Critical Care? I know some people swear by canned pure pumpkin (tasty and lots of fiber) for mixing with Critical Care. Couldn’t hurt to have some on hand.

[kirstyol]

Yeah, its a high fiber food supplement. I have never been able to get canned pumpkin (I’m in the UK, maybe thats why, we dont eat a lot of pumpkin here), but I have been able to get Bramble to take medicine by mashing it in with banana. When he was first neutered we could syringe feed him but after a few days he started spitting it out and kicking and scratching to the point where i was sure he was going to get hurt. The banana seemed to work well though so I will make sure I have some on hand and anything else i can think of to try. Hopefully I am worrying about nothing but it definitely doesnt hurt to prepare. Plan for the worst, hope for the best as they say

[JackRabbit]

Sending easy and fast recovery vibes! {{{{{Bramble}}}}}

[Little Lion Head]

I don’t have any advice, just wanted to send some ((((((vibes))))) let us know how it goes!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Also sending some ((((Quick Recovery Vibes)))) to Bramble

[kirstyol]

Thanks guys, he is in first thing in the morning. Not too sure when I will get him home but I will keep you all updated. I am going to get his packed lunch ready for the morning then give him his dinner and head to bed, I will give him some salad in the morning too, he usually gets his salad at night but I know he should have something in his tummy before the anaesthetic and you definitely cant rely on him eating hay.

[kirstyol]

Well I dropped Bramble off at the vets, poor thing was terrified in the car. I had to take him myself because the other half had the doctors, usually he sits on his knee but because I was on my own I had to sit him on the floor in front of the passenger seat. He perked up when we got to the vet though, strange bunny seems to quite like it there, as long as they don’t cut his nails that is.

I spoke to the vet nurse about my concerns with his poor recovery last time and she said she will speak to the vet and suggest that they give him the jag for motility, they don’t do it routinely for dentals but with his history she thinks its worth giving him it. She said they might keep him a little longer because of his history to make sure he is really ok, but as I pointed out it didn’t help last time. I was told he was jumping about in the kennels trying to make friends with all the animals, eating and drinking well and generally being a happy bunny, it lasted until we got home where he promptly flopped down in the corner where he pretty much stayed for a week, only getting up to eat tiny amounts, he didn’t drink at all for the first few days.

So now I am just waiting for a phone call to say I can pick him up, the vets is only a ten or fifteen minute drive away so I will go as soon as I get the call.

[Little Lion Head]

(((((vibes))))) for you while you worry all day! Let us know how he is doing!

[kirstyol]

Thanks LLH – its been five hours since i dropped him off and i am still waiting for news. Hopefully i will hear something soon.

[kirstyol]

The vet just called, Brambles dental went well but he is still sleeping so I can’t pick him up for another two hours at least. Apparently he is lying there bobbing his head as if he is listening to music or something – crazy bunny. I am glad to finally get news that he is ok, I just hope he eats when he wakes up so I can take him home, would hate to think of him there overnight

[Bam]

((((((Bramble))))))

[kirstyol]

Thats Bramble home. He hasn’t been doing too well unfortunately, the vet nurse had to syringe feed him and he hasn’t pooped since waking up. I have rescue plus to syringe feed him, but since he had some not long before leaving the vets I have to wait a while before giving him some then give him some more before bed. I am going to try the mashed banana trick before resorting to syringe feeding because it distresses him (and me) too much for it to be anything other than a last resort. He looks so sad, sitting in the corner with his head down but I Have given him all his favourite foods to hopefully entice him to eat on his own he has smelled the veggies but not eaten them, at least he knows they are there i guess.

[Sarita]

Did you get some metacam?

[kirstyol]

They said he wasnt showing any pain response and that removing spurs should not cause pain so they didnt give me anything. I do have some meloxicam at home though and if he is not eating better by morning he is to go in first thing to vets and they will give him something. I think he is just still drowsy more than anything, this is pretty much exactly what we went through with his neuter, hopefully it wont go on as long this time. I am just going to go and make up his rescue plus and try and encourage him to eat it in the hope that we wont need to syringe feed, but if we have to we have to i guess.

[Little Lion Head]

(((((Bramble))))) eat for your momma!

[Bam]

(((((Bramble)))))

It’s no fun to syringe feed a less than enthusiastic bunny, but if it has to be done –

Yohio didn’t get Metacam the first time he was in for spurs, but he didn’t eat on his own until we got some, like 3 days later. It worked like magic, actually.

[kirstyol]

Well we had to syringe feed him last night after all, he wasnt showing any interest in any foods at all, even the banana/rescue plus mix. It was like magic though – literally the second we put him back in his cage after feeding him he ate a few leaves. He ate around half of his dinner and did lots of poops. I left him with a bowl of rescue plus mixed with banana over night along with lots of veggies and he actually ate most of it by the time i got up at 5am.

He is still a bit lethargic and not really hopping about all that much but he is eating/drinking/peeing/pooping and grooming himself – he had no choice but to give himself a good bath last night, he was covered in the rescue plus he had spat out! We have a check up tomorrow with the vet but it all looks good to me. he is just a little sleepier than normal i think.

[Little Lion Head]

Yay!! So happy to hear! !

[LittlePuffyTail]

((((Healing Vibes))))

My vet always gives Metacam. I know my mouth sometimes hurts after the dentist has been poking around.

[Bam]

I’m glad to hear it, Kirstyol!! Yohio too always had to clean himself after every serving of CC since he got so much on him, and I thought that was a good sign + a good activity for a recovering bun =)

[kirstyol]

I figure if he has to wash some of it off himself then its more of it getting into him, the poor thing was a mess though it was all dribbling down his chin and pretty much all over him since he sat in the bit he had spat out!

He is doing well today and the vet is pleased with him, we dont need to go back until his next check is due in three months, although obviously if there are any problems I will take him before that. I have just to give him the remaining doses of the rescue plus, although I think I might keep some back so I have it in case we need it in future. He is actually eating really well today, he ate pretty much everything I gave him last night and is starting to eat little bits of hay.

He had a great time at the vets, he made friends with a large dog and a tiny kitten in the waiting room, then was very pleased to find that the vet had a student with her so he got fussed over by two people. He actually sat so still for the student, as if he knew that she was just learning. He is still not hopping about all that much but I am not too worried about that, as long as he eats and poops.

[Bam]

Great news!

[Author]

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