Bunnies with bad teeth

[kralspace]

ack, so much to learn, but so much fun.

My failed foster attempt (ok, his teeth are so bad, I couldn’t stand to think of letting him go so he’s in his furever home now), Toby’s front teeth were so badly overgrown and actually intwined that he couldn’t even open his mouth very wide. Now they’re clipped short and he  eats diced veggies with gusto.

Reading about how their digestive system works, both here and in the Urban Rabbit book has me worried about the fact he doesn’t seem to be able to eat much hay since he can’t bite with the front teeth. His droppings are brown but plentiful, not very big, but he’s a very small bunny compared to the other 2.

I thought about dicing up the hay also, but wouldn’t that defeat the need to have the long strands of fiber to help push his digestion along? How do others with dentally-challenged bunnies deal with this?

thanks,

mom to 3 now

[osprey]

Limited knowledge here, but this is my understanding of teeth and hay.  Cutting into small pieces is bad for two reasons, one is the cutting of the long fibers that you mentioned, the other is that picky bunnies will often only eat the long strands and leave the "fines" behind.  I think that most of the chewing of hay is down by the molars.  If you watch a bunny eat a long strand of hay it almost looks like a kid eating a long noodle, the lips are pushing the hay back into the mouth, but the molars are crushing it on the way down.  As long as this bun can pick up the hay, either with his lips or shortened teeth, I think the chewing is down my the molars further back.

 

[Bunnies4ever]

Hey osprey…that’s not limited knowledge, that’s A LOT of knowledge! I have watched my buns eat their hay and it’s just like you said. I usually buy flakes for my buns and the strands are so long that they don’t fit into their litterboxes, so I do cut them in half, not anything smaller. They also make that “munching” or “biting” sound when they eat their hay. Sometimes it’s so loud, I have to turn around to look at them to see what they are doing!

[kralspace]

I agree, yall have given me a LOT of information. I’ll have to watch closer and see if he’s doing the spagetthi thing with the hay. I know my three aren’t too keen on the timothy hay I buy, even tho it’s fresh, green and smells great to me anyway.  They go after the alfalfha and even the coaster bermuda I use in their litter boxes.

thanks for all the help

Kathy

[skunklionshow]

My Leo got his teeth done in July.  The outcome has been improving.  However, from the few weeks after his surgery, he ended up dropping a whole pound!  This was despite my force feeding him. 

He’s doing better now and has been eating his veggies very regularly.  He did have some major hay issues b/f getting his teeth done.  The vet had me put him on motility meds to keep his digestives moving despite not eating his hay. 

He will be going back in next week for a follow up from his teeth surgery.  They are going to check that his teeth are coming back in more evenly.  However, he does have some long term effects from his bad teeth.  The vet says that it may take nearly a year to get his jaw back to normal.  B/c he’s teeth were so bad for so long, it started to affect his jaw and causing nodules in his gums.  What a freakin’ nightmare!  I’m glad to report he’s doing much better.  I still give him critical care every few days to put his weight back on him.

[osprey]

Poor Leo!  Can you give him alfalfa hay with his tooth problems?  We often give alfalfa hay to underweight buns to get them to put on weight.  It is higher in calories than grass hay.

 

[kralspace]

poor Luey! Exactly what did they do during the tooth surgery? Did they remove any teeth or just severely cut them back? Toby has an appointment Tuesday to be neutered and I’m going to ask her to take a good look at the front and back teeth while’s he’s out. This vet has more experience with bunnies than the local one that just clipped enough off the front teeth so he could open his mouth.

Were you able to feel the nodules yourself? Toby has very round cheeks compared to the other two and I’ve worried that somethings abcessed or something. Just like having kids in the house again, isn’t it?

[5cats1bun]

I have to cut Rocky’s teeth every week, yes every WEEK. The vet showed me how to do it. When I first got him that was the first thing he had done, his bottom teeth were growing up his nose and his tops were starting to cut into his tounge (he was abviously so well cared for before i got him). I use nail clippers. maybe your vet could show you how. it’s a 2 people job though.

[Sarita]

Sounds like you might consider having his front teeth removed if they are that bad – lots of rabbits live full and healthy lives without their front teeth – I would talk with your vet about this. This is of course something to discuss with your vet. But Osprey is right too about the back teeth pulling and chewing the hay. If in the end you do decide to pull those front teeth you might have to cut up his veggies – you would truly be surprised at how rabbits can adapt though (of course it helps to have owners like you to help them along too).

[kralspace]

thanks all, I’ve thought about checking into the dental surgery, did they take Leo’s out completely? Having had soft teeth all my life, fully half pulled out and lots of dental surgery, I sssuuurrrreeeee feel for the bunnies and their teeth troubles.

[BinkyBunny]

I just wanted to double ditto that they don’t need incisors to eat hay, bunnies can actulally pull in the strands to their back molars with their lips.

[skunklionshow]

Leo had his follow up tooth check last night.  For his original surgery he had several teeth trimmed and most of his left side (if I recall) had to be filed down.  I had brought him to the vet initially for a check up prior to getting neutered.  One of my complaints was that he always had drippy eyes.  The vet said his mouth was a real mess!  He seldom ate hay or veggies prior to his tooth surgery.  Now he’s a hay and veggie junkie.  Though we did get a whole lb on him eventually, I still worry about his weight.  We bought a food scale, so I can keep track of his weight to ease my mind.  Anyway, w/ his follow up the vet said she was very impressed w/ how great his mouth looks.  She was very concerned that we would have to plan another tooth trim for November.  Yeah!  One more cost I don’t have to worry about…for now.

The vet said that drippy eyes and moist chin are good signs that teeth are a problem.  If the chin isn’t moist, it might be dried up crusty/crunchy fur bits.  Yes it is the incisors (front teeth) that bite through food (i.e. apples, carrots, celery).  I actually remember that from a school house rock like cartoon.

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