teeth removed

My 4 year old rabbit Leonora had to have her four front teeth removed today as they were continually growing and had to be burred down every four or so weeks. She had them removed this morning, the bottom ones were huge, couldnt believe how much was in the jaw, the top ones broke off but the vet (a lovely lady) managed to get some more out and hopes she has got enough to stop them growing.

She usually lives mostly outside with the choice of coming inside a barn and lives with two guineapigs. The problem is that she will not eat when caged so I have brought her into a stable with the guineas and she is quite happy in there. The vet said she needed to be brought indoors for the night to get over the op. She is inside in a dog crate with the guineas and is having to be syringe fed every two hours with metacam twice a day. She has been home three hours now and wont eat anything at all. I have given her soft grass and celery tops which she loves as if she manages to eat then she wont need syringe feeding.

Would love some advice as to what to expect and how long she will be sore for. I am worried about her and the guineas being inside for too long as they will have to back out to the stable soon and its quite warm in the house. I also suspect Leonora won't eat while she is incarated in the crate!!

Have you been given pain relief for her Hun?

What food does she normally have?

If she starts eating a small amount she will still need to be syringe fed until she is eating almost normally. Her little digestive system is going to need all the help it can get.

She is going to need a good dose of pain relief too twice daily.

Has she passed any poo at all?

No, not that I have seen. The vet said to give her more metacam tonight and food every two hours. (although not through the night!) So I will give her another one before I go to bed plus her metacam and hope she will feel a bit more comfortable in the morning and perhaps nibble something. The vet said if she hasnt done any droppings by tomorrow to take her straight back .

I think I am going to try and cool the room down a bit too. thanks for replying

Hello and welcome!
If she hasn't eaten and/or pood in the morning she needs to be seen by the vet again.
Have they given you any other medication?

She has had her metacam this morning, and some critical care. She has not pood or eaten that I have seen. I have put her back into the stable together with the guinea pigs. She looks happier in there and is trying to wash etc. I have given her fresh grass, dandylion leaves, grated carrot and apple but apart from nibbling on a dandylion leaf she has not eaten that I have seen. I have rung the vet and will continue the critical care food, and then if still no eating on her own will ring the vet after lunch. Will try and get some parsley this morning, but to be honest she is not that partial to parsley. Thanks for your advice. I keep popping down to watch her to try and catch her eating. It would be a great relief if she did

Loads of vibes that Leonora starts to eat soon.

Hoping everything goes well for Leonora

How is Leonara today? Has she managed to have a nibble yet?

Sending lots of vibes her way

How is she today? Update?

How is she today hun? Any poos?

Lots of love to both you and Leonora, bless her brave little heart. Yes, please do keep us updated hun.

Hugs
Jo xx

Well she did start eating on her own after the syringe feed and I thought yippee,  but since then I havn't seen her eat despite picking the choicest new shoots of grass which she had been eating.  I found her a sow thistle which she usually loves. So I went shopping and came back with carrot tops, celery  ( the soft tops), greens, parsley and melon.   She still didnt appear interested (the guinea pigs thought it was their birthday!)  So I talked to the vet again and she said continue with the syringe feed and obviously pain killers and take her back in tomorrow morning if no sign of poo.  It is a bit depressing  Just hoping by tomorrow there will be something positive.........

Have any of you had similar problems?

What level of metacam is she having?  Quite often this is under prescribe da.  It could be that she is in pain still.

she is having .4 ml. Think it was based on weight. I just have one measure left now. Today she is out in a run and is eating dandylion leaves and groundsel. She is having to learn how to manouvre it in her mouth now she doesnt have the front teeth and it looks like its easier to eat things shaped like the dandylion leaves. I am going to shred some cabbage to see if she likes that.

She is still not interested in the food I bought her yesterday, and prefers the cheaper option! I am not quite so worried now as she is behaving more like the Leonora I know. But what a performance.

Has she pooped?

0.4 ml seems a very small dose. How much does does she bring to the scales?
Bertie comes in at 2.7 kg and had 1.0 ml twice a day! I will see whether I can find the dose calculations on my post of Bertie poorly.
Found it and hope sixer is ok with me copying the part.
Also check with your vet about increasing the dose!
Sixer wrote:Re the metacam dose. If Bertie weighs 2.25 kg then under Katie's and John Chitty's doseage he could have a 11.25kg dog dose twice a day. 

A 11.25kg dog dose is 0.74ml so Bertie can be given up to this amount every 12 hours. Certainly I think Bertie can have more than he currently is getting.

I hope that there has been some improvement today xx

I hope Leonara is doing better? How is she today?

Sending vibes

She does seem happier today, and has been nibbling. I suppose she has to learn to eat without her front teeth. I put her out in the sun today as she has never been a caged rabbit and she has been moving around a lot more. I will see how she is tomorrow and maybe ring the vet re the amount of metacam. thanks for your help

Ha really silly question.
Do you cut her food. Vernon has no front teeth and he will eat parsley as well as other herbs as they come and also manages his hay. But salad leaves and vegetable need to be cut in bite size for him.
I definetly would ask the vet about the pain relief. There is more detail on the dose calculation on page 4 in Bertie poorly post in the infirmary section.
They might want to consider a gut stimulant to get her bowels moving. Metocloperamide or Ranitidine could be used.
Sending vibes for Leonora.

I am so glad she has improved hun, I am sending lots of loving vibes and she will be in my prayers. Please keep us updated as to how the little love is progressing.

Hugs
Jo xx

well its not good news at all I am afraid yesterday I realised she was not looking so good and I could smell something nasty on her breath. I took her back to the vet, saw a different one, and was told she had infection where the teeth had been removed. She had also developed a runny eye. So I ended up with antibiotics for her teeth infection, antibiotic creme for her eye. More metacam for pain relief and Critical Care. So yesterday we had to start on all this stuff. At 10 p.m. I gave her her metacam and last feed and wasnt at all happy with her breathing. She appeared very snuffly. This morning she hadnt moved at all and her breathing was not good so I took her back to the vet. We both agreed that poor Leonora had had enough and I didnt feel it was kind to prolong the treatment when she had started to suffer. So I am afraid we had to have her put down.

Aw no

I'm so sorry

I am so sorry sweetheart, I wish there was something I could do or say. I hope you are all right.

Hugs
Jo xx

Does make me wonder if I should have just kept on having them trimmed, but it was nearly every three weeks