Rabbit dental help

[Pinkbun]

Hi rabbit lovers
I have two rescue dwarf buns, Bonnie and Clyde. I understand that the dwarf rabbits are prone to dental problems but I’d like to ask for help and suggestions on food/treats which have had success with grinding the teeth. Clyde the boy rabbits teeth are fine, I’ve never had an issue with him since I got him. But Bonnie has always had issues. Her teeth are angled inside her mouth and I don’t see her eat as much hay as Clyde does. I am unsure why. Bonnie was in yesterday as her teeth had grown long again. It was only revealed to me yesterday that the teeth were angled inside her mouth and growing into her checks. Her top front incisors grow so fast That they break the bottom incisors (because of their length). I’ve decided to buy some readigrass for Bonnie (as I remember reading good reviews on it) and burgess barn dried hay. I also bought some selective fibafirst treats.
But I’d like to ask if anyone has any experience with a rabbit with dental problems can you please help (as I’ve never had a bun with dental problems) if you can suggest any products / treats to use I’d be grateful as each time I send Bonnie to get her teeth filled, it costs £60. She’s only 3 currently so a long term solution would be grately appreciated!!!!!!!!

Thanks in advance
Sarah

[Wick & Fable]

I suspect that it may be a combo of Bonnie’s lower hay appetite and perhaps her teeth are not as aligned as they should be, so they all do not grind at the same rate. This is common with dwarf breeds because they have a squished face, so this can result in their teeth being misaligned, which is not good for getting them to all grind down! I’m unsure how to visualize “angled inside her mouth”, but if you see visually they’re different than Clyde’s, who has no dental issues, it could be a misalignment. My Wick’s bottom jaw doesn’t match up with his top (bottom incisors do not match up to top, and there’s an underbite, so the bottom go over the top teeth). He goes once a month to get his done, but recently that’s changed (see below).

I am envious that your teeth filing is only £60! Wick’s are over double that, ugh.

The best thing you can do is find ways to encourage chewing. If she is a wood chewer, find some toys to keep her occupied. I recently found with Wick that having more hay locations drastically increased his hay consumption. He used to only have 4 (a pile in each litter box), but now he has 8 locations (4 in his hutch where he sleeps), and he eats a lot more hay now. I suspect that him having multiple stations to visit is more engaging and he gets excited by that “foraging” aspect. It also helps because he sleeps where many hay stations are, so when he wakes up, or if he gets startled awake, he’s surrounded by hay to eat until he wants to fall asleep again. Wick used to get dentistry done once a month, but this past interval was 2-3 months, and the only change was the doubling of hay stations. I also noticed his poop stayed larger more consistently, so it definitely goes to hay consumption.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Karrakov]

So I had a great deal of dental trouble with my Benny. When he got to be about 7 months he got stasis and we realized it was because his teeth had gotten so long that he couldn’t eat enough hay, and he was in pain so stopped eating, drinking and got stressed so stopped pooping. We trimmed his teeth and hoped that it wouldn’t happen again if he got enough grinding toys and treats. Loaded up his cage with toys to chew and he ate hay constantly, but a few months later we were back getting his teeth trimmed. Second time around we learned that his teeth were very crooked. After a few trips to trim his teeth and a few bouts of stasis, the vet told us that we needed to consider an extraction. I was incredibly against it and nervous. It cost $1100 at my vet, but here’s the thing: trimming was $150 every 4-6 weeks, so after a year of trimming I’d be spending more than $1100 anyway. The problem with misaligned teeth is that they will never be normal, they will always cause a problem. So I went ahead with the extraction. It was an intense surgery with a bit of recovery time and of course a big bill, but Benny is 100X better. At first I had to chop his veggies super small but he really quickly adjusted and eats fine now. I can’t give him a whole leaf of romaine, but if I rip into a few pieces he has no problem. So basically, I’m pro extraction when it comes to misaligned teeth. Teeth issues can cause a lot of other issues, not to mention it causes the bunny pain. If it was just trimming I’d be hesitant but since they aren’t straight I would suggest talking to your vet about extraction. Bunnies acclimate very quickly and can live completely normal without their front teeth. Hay and chew toys just won’t fix the problem.

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