Lotta needs to have her incisors removed :-(

Hi girls,

2 weeks ago I took Lola and Lotta for their Mixy jab and whilst there they both had a check up as they are new to me (from a pet shop). Lola was fine but Lotta's teeth were overgrown. She cut them and said that unfortunatly some rabbits have problems with their teething growing so quick.

Anyway, took them back today (excatly 2 weeks later) for another jab and she check them out again. Again, Lola was fine but once again Lotta's teeth are way overgrown so she has advised me to book her in to have her incisors removed.

Am gonna phone up tomorrow and book an appointment for next week :-(

My poor baby girl :-(

Jenny x

Awww, it IS worrying, isn't it? :: But my little Binky has had his incisors removed, and he still eats just like he did before (better!). I thought I would need to fix him soft food and everything, but he proved me wrong! He simply learned to shift the food to the sides of his mouth and use his molars. He actually eats better without his incisors than he could with his horrid curly misshapen ones. So I am sure that your bunny will get along JUST fine!!!!! xxxxx

Thanks hun, fingers crossed she wil be like your Binky :-) Will let you know when it happens xx

Will be watching anxiously for an update! Sending LOADS of vibes for Lotta, and a huge noserub to her! xxxxx

Jack had hers removed. She did end up with molar spurs afterwards which apparently can be something to watch for with toothless buns but that was mainly as she took ages to adapt to eating (she has always been fussy). She gets on fine now, eats slower than the two boys but that's probably because they're greedy gits!

All that happens now is she needs her veggies cutting small ish so she can fit them in her mouth (she still tried to gum whole carrots though bless her :luv:)

It was a scary op for us and Jack did develop a nasty post-op infection in her tooth roots but the vets didn't diagnose it even though it was pus-y and smelled rotten. Just keep an eye on her and she will adapt fine to being toothless I'm sure

Jack is fine and happy now by the way bless her

hiya- Foxglove has had her incisors removed and has to have her molars burred every 6 weeks and is doing fine. I cut her veg leaves eg spring greens into strips but apart from that she eats hay and pellets normally. and she still chews stuff - things just get gummed instead! Oh also if they don't get the teeth out fully first time they can regrow - that has happened with Foxy and she has had them done again - my vets do it free of charge coz is their mess up for not getting the whole lot out.

Thanks everyone for the advice and words to make me feel better. Will be phoning for an appointment today so hopefully it will be sometime next week.

Will keep you posted.

Jenny x

My buns who had their incisors removed managed much better post-removal! My vet said mallocluded teeth are basically useless anyway, just get in the way and can put rabbits off their food when they start getting too long. One of mine had to have his burred weekly as they grew back enough to cause problems so quickly!
Mine adapted fine, the important thing is not to suddenly switch to lots of soft food, or they may get molar problems. Encourage a normal high fibre diet with lots of hay - I chopped some up and left some long so they had a choice. I used to feed the chopped timothy hay but I'm not sure you can get it anymore, it was like Readigrass (but tim hay). Readigrass can be fed but not in too high amounts due to the high calcium & protein content.
I let the grass grow a bit longer in the bunnies' patch in the garden and they managed that fine, that encourages wear too. I'd pull up some long grass daily for them (don't use mown grass, and remove any excess from the cage if they leave it too long)
Veg that encourages the molars to wear is good - mine got chopped carrot as a treat, but then it was dark leafy veg like spring greens (cut into strips, about 6-8" x about 1/3" wide), carrot tops, curly kale, romaine lettuce (again, in strips), as well as stuff like dandelion leaves - stuff which needs 'grinding' by the molars rather than 'chomping' like soft stuff (carrots, fruit). I cut down on pellets to encourage hay consumption, but apparently the Science Selective pellets are shaped for good molar wear, mine got a mix of mostly these with a few Excel pellets (because my vet used Excel, I wanted their tummies to be used to it incase they needed to be admitted in an emergency and I had no time to grab the SS) and then a few porridge oats if they started to lose weight.
By switching to this diet, my incisorless bun with bad molars went from dentals under GA every 4-6 weeks, to not needing one in 6 months! And the other two never needed one, one of them had slightly longer molars but not enough to cause problems.

Generally for rabbits with severely mallocluded inciors removal is the best option and they can make a very swift recovery from the operation. When I had Inca's teeth removed I was warned to expect to syringe feed him for 4-5 days post-op.....the little monkey was eating within 15 minutes of arriving home.

They do need their food specially prepared into 'bitesized' pieces as they can no longer slice it up themselves but you will be amazed what they can fit into their mouths once they have grasped using their lips to grab things.

My vet always stitches the gum after removal to close the cavity but I know some other vets don't and this can lead to a prolonged healing time and infection at the removal site, well worth asking what your vets stance on this is.

I asked my vets what the regrowth statistics are like and they estimated 1 in 10 will need further surgery. Often however it's just the peg teeth that regrow rather than th incisos themselves as the pulp is much harder to access and destroy in these small teeth. If this is the case then sometimes there re other options than repeat surgery.

HTH.

I hope she'll be OK, it's worrying, but it'll be better for her