back teeth spurs :(

Hey guys im after some advice about my bunny, ollie. Ive had him about 4.months and not sure how old he is as he is a rescue bun but we think between 1-3. Anyhow when we got him he quite quickly stopped eating, took him to vets and his back teeth have quite bad spurs on them cutting into his throat. We got them removed and tried to get him onto more hay, hes not a fan, anyhow two months later and hes back at the vet with more spurs . Apart from the expense thats another general for him to go through within 8 weeks . The vet reccomended weaning him to a hay only diet, so I was wondering if you guys have any info on it and any idea as to how successful it is for back teeth, im desperately worried this is going to end up an 8 weekly issue .
Lve robyn and the gang xx

Hi Robyn

Sorry to hear Ollie is having this problem Hay, hay and more hay can do great work with dental buns but you often find they are the pickiest hay eaters

I have been fortunate enough to have never had a dental bun (*touches wood* ) but there are lots of members on here with lots of experience!

You say he isn't keen on hay. Have you tried lots of different kinds? Sometimes you need to try lots of different ones before you find one they really love, and other buns like a bit of variety.

After having a non hay eating bunny for nearly 11 years, I now have two total hay monsters! Their favourites are:
Alfalfa king Timothy hay - expensive but of the highest quality I've ever seen. It's GREEN!!
Burns green oat hay
Woodlands (I think!) carrot and apple Timothy
And they love the Ings and meadow hays from the hay for pets website.

Hopefully someone with dental bun experience will be along soon

hi robyn

I have a bun that is on a 8 weekly dental cycle. if we get him eating lots and lots of hay we can extend it to 12 (and once even 16 weeks).

So now each day he gets lots of tasty hay and grass, literally10 nuggies (excel) and a very small amount of greens.

Grass is excellent for getting the theeth worn down - better than hay in fact but not as easy as you might think to keep supplies up! (not readi grass)

Key - is finding a Hay that they like......our fussy monster will only eat Oxbow organic - which he eats tons of....but is pricey.....although much cheaper than dentals!

What breed is your bunster?

H8 guys thanks for the replies . Ollie is a lionhead ive been told they are prone to this. So far ive just fed him hay from a local bale ad lib and once a day greens once a day he shares a small bowl of pellets with his mate. In the spring I plan for them to be out in the day with constant access to a run, but with the weather we need to wait til its a bit drier to build it. This is really worrying as it costs us £74 a pop plus the worry of a general every 8 weeks. If I could get it to 12/16 weeks financially that would be easier. Well I guess game plan goes as.....get him onto hay and grass only asap, try and find a cheaper vet solely for dentals (I love my vet and they are very rabbit savvy but if this is going to be a regular thing ill try and find a cheaper one), and get hutch and run complete outside for lots of grass munching!! Thanks guys xx

I hope you can make a difference with his diet.

Which pellets are they on? SS are *supposed* to be better than Excel for teeth as they are longer and cause a more natural chewing action, wearing more of the teeth. But they should really be on so few it makes little difference.

Farm hay is brilliant as long as they are eating plenty of it. A mix of grasses in the hay is ideal as that, again, causes slightly different chewing action and better tooth wear.

I wouldn't be too hasty to change vets, we had two buns this summer need their first dentals completely out of the blue.  Each one was around £140   Fortunately (knocks head) neither of them have had any problems since. They're both part-lionhead too, but not extremely squishy-faced...

I too have a dental lionhead - he has had dentals problems all his life and he is now 9 years old. I have found that the time between his dentals has varied. He has gone 6 months with no problems but he has also gone 2 weeks between dentals! It is worth having a conversation with your vet about anaesthesia. Bruce can often has his spurs done under a light sedation rather than a full general anesthetic and I notice that when this happens my bill is significantly cheaper and Bruce recovers much more quickly. As Sparky said, I would not be too quick to change vets. We have a very rabbit savvy vet here and she knows my pair really well and so can often make suggestions for treatment based on her knowledge of the rabbits and also my knowledge as a owner.

Also Katie's advice about grass is good: I think Bruce goes much longer between dentals when he has been nomming in the garden than on hay alone.

I would suggest feeding a mix of hays. My pair get hay for pets Ings hay and also their timothy and rye. Both are quite long cut which encourages chewing and teeth wear and they are very different textures one is soft and they other quite thick and stalky. It is asking your hay supplier whether they have different textures bales based on when/where the hay was cut.

Luckily, our lionhead Rory is a total hay monster or was until last week! His teeth have been fine. We are in the USA so our hay supplies are different. We make sure it is a green and sweet smelling hay. His preference varies. He is a total house bun so he doesn't get any grasses.

I've heard from many here that varying the type of hay is good since different hays and grasses have different lengths and textures.

Glad to meet you!

Hi there, I'm so sorry to hear your bun is having dental issues

I can only echo the above advice. I'm lucky enough that neither of my two have ever needed a dental, but I do keep a close eye on my little guy, Mojo, as he has a tiny little face and I'm convinced there's some nethie in him somewhere. He's a total Heinz 57

I really hope that the hay diet helps and you can go a bit longer between dentals

I hope it goes well for you too hun, I have a lionhead and we are keeping a close eye on his teeth. Whilst he is fine at the moment, the vet says we will have too monitor the situation and he will probably need treatment at some point. Not happy about that

Hugs

Jo xx

I hope it goes well for you too hun, I have a lionhead and we are keeping a close eye on his teeth. Whilst he is fine at the moment, the vet says we will have too monitor the situation and he will probably need treatment at some point. Not happy about that

Hugs

Jo xx