Routine Dental Work

It's getting to 'that time' again, where, if history is anything to go by, within the next month Mr Mo will be needing a dental but of course we will have the big stasis bout etc first.

Mum took the dogs up to the vet today for a routine appointment and I asked her if she could work with the receptionist (who is also a vet nurse), and see if they could work out when Mojo last had a dental - derive from that any sort of similar time frame/pattern - and book him in for a 'routine' dental whenever they felt it would be due. The vet nurse told Mum they couldn't do this.

I would have thought though that with Mo developing the 12 week pattern recently they would? I am in two minds, I'm either going to:

1) Ring and speak to the bunny vet and get her opinion on booking him in for 12 week dentals.

2) Get his teeth checked on every nail clipping, and if she spots spurs then book him in. The only trouble with this is, I am afraid his teeth are going to play up in the time between getting his nails done this time and when he needs them done again (I'm expecting him to need a dental at some point in August).

I wish I could 'wait for the signs' like they advise, but Mo is such a complex little thing it really is hard to spot when he is off because he'll do his very best to hide it. Usually, when I begin to notice things he's entering the '12 hour decline' and gets into stasis and quite poorly between that time and getting his teeth done. This is not practical because they normally admit him, which equals double the bills but also I hate for him to have to get into such a state when we could just avoid all of that. Also, 12 hours is not always enough time to book the time off work, get him in etc and he often starts with the eating strike late at night, so then I worry about him all through the night and it's a mad panic to get him in to the vets that morning, a day of worry etc etc.

Sorry for the essay - I think what I'm trying to say is, based on the fact he is developing a clear pattern of every 12 weeks or so, do you all think my vet should be agreeing to at least look at his teeth around this time and do a dental if needed?

Thanks guys - I'm such a nightmare sometimes

Quick post - at work

I would phone and talk to the vet yourself! I can't understand why they wouldn't do it!

Put your case across

I agree with Thumper hun, please let us know how it goes.

Hugs
JO xx

Yes, it's common sense. Even the vets I was with with Loll, who were not the best with rabbits by a long shot, agreed to check tushies if there was a patern developing.
Have a good chat with them and remember: YOU are the one who knows your rabbit best, YOU are the one having to deal with the eating issues and YOU are the one paying the damn bill!

woodwench wrote:Yes, it's common sense. Even the vets I was with with Loll, who were not the best with rabbits by a long shot, agreed to check tushies if there was a patern developing.
Have a good chat with them and remember: YOU are the one who knows your rabbit best, YOU are the one having to deal with the eating issues and YOU are the one paying the damn bill!

Dito

Well said Woodwench love!  Please keep us posted on what they say hunny. 

Hugs
JO xx

I have daisy done every 8 weeks because I know that he will need it and we are in a routine.

I think you should speak to the bet hun and explain your concerns abx why you want to take that course of action.

Let us know how you get on x

Holly and the guinea pigs have their teeth checked every two months.  At the moment touch wood, they are all good.  Lots of cuddles on their way.

Hugs
Jo xx

Thanks guys

I am going to give the vet a ring tomorrow and book them in for a manicure with the vet I want to chat to - can kill two birds with one stone that way. I'm pretty sure she'll be happy to do this once she's heard my reasoning. She is familiar with Mr Mo (and all the vets bills he rocks up at that place!)

They're booked in for Thursday evening.

Will let you all know

Good luck hun xx

Hope all goes well love.

Hugs
Jo xx

Fingers crossed! Let us know how it goes

Thank you guys

Not sure if it's because we've been 'on the topic' recently, but I am now 'alert' with his eating. The past couple of days he refused a Fenugreek Crunchie (he's not the biggest fan, but normally takes them). He's still been eating everything, poops look normal and he did take a crunchie again tonight. He was throwing binkies in the garden earlier...

I'm just ready and prepared (hopefully just overly-anxious). If anything declines much further I think I'll take him up sooner as I don't want it to get to the poorly stage.

Fingers crossed I'm worrying for nothing and he makes it through to Thursday just fine!

Mr Mo is booked in for a dental tomorrow morning. His poops are starting to get small and he's not eating many pellets - all of the tell tale signs. He's on Metacam today to hopefully keep him eating. How well does this work in your experience guys?

I found with my Bobby, who was a bit less severe than Mr Mo but otherwise was very similar to him, that the moment he started to go off his food and I suspected it was dental related, I got him on the Metacam and also on Zantac and Emiprid.
One is an ant-acid to stop the sickly nauseous feeling when food consumption goes down and also helps with easing the emptying of the stomach and the other is a bowel stimulant which helps with both keeping the bowels moving to prevent blockages but also then makes them feel hungry again so they eat.

I also on occasion brought out the critical care and gave a small amount, sometimes the sight of the packet and syringes was enough to start him eating but when I did give him some it was to know that he had eaten.
I also found this method helped him recover faster, as if he didn't have any assistance he would stop eating after the surgery because his teeth still hurt and his mouth was sore.

In Bobby's case there were 3 teeth that were causing a lot of the problems and at my suggestion my vet readily agreed to remove the problem ones and that really helped, dentals went from once every 3 months to 9 months!

Thanks for all the advice

He is still nibbling grass and I'm tempting him with some other yummies too - herbs, carrot tops, fresh dandelions etc. I am going to go down now and offer him some dried herbs (thankfully it's my day off so I can keep a close eye on him). I might also try putting a bowl of CC down and seeing if he laps some up.

He is into the vets first thing tomorrow at 8.30. I will definitely ask them to let me know what exactly is going on in his mouth and if there are any longer-term solutions like you suggested. I think it is his back molars that are the trouble. Was Bobby's molars or incisors, or both?

It was just molars. The only negative for having them removed is infection in the empty root space can be quite common and also difficult to treat.

Also once a tooth is removed, due to rabbits having open rooted teeth, 1 of 3 things can happen; the root can close and the tooth never grows back, the tooth regrows in its original position or the tooth can regrow but guided by the corrected teeth either side of it, it grows in a better position and doesn't cause so many issues.

Having a tooth removed is a much more painful procedure for the bun than just a regular dental, I recall phoning my vet 24 hours after getting him home from the first extraction to say that I had come in from work and he still hadn't eaten a thing, and she gave me a morphine based drug to give him on top of the Metacam, Zantac, Emiprid and CC which allowed him to start eating again.

That first time he had an extraction he did develop an infection in one of the roots, but I think this was due to him having an eye infection and a blocked tear duct as well. The infection is very difficult to clear as they can only get to clean the tooth out properly when the bun is under GA. As it was the first upper molar my vet did her best with a swab but it was a couple of injections of a penicillin based antibiotic topped up with 6 weeks of Zithromax a low-dose, long acting antibiotic (which is peppermint flavoured, which Bobby didn't seem to mind).

But it was worth it, the daily cuddle to give him his Zithromax helped develop our relationship. And subsequent dentals were better and I think he had 2 more extractions, although 1 was a regrown tooth from a previous extraction and he never had any problems with those.

In your sig is Mr Mo the one on the right?

That's really interesting and definitely something to consider discussing with my vet.

Yes, that's him. Fluffy little guy

I thought so, he's got the slightly shorter jaw which my vet told me is a partial contributor to dental disease. It means there is slightly less room for the teeth so they squash together a bit more, so to loose one or two makes more space in the mouth.
Having the shorter jaw also means the eyes and the tear ducts are closer to the tooth roots so they are more prone to be irritated by the roots and develop infections.

He is a little cutie though, what breed is he?

I've always thought his tiny head/jaw have played a part in his dental issues.

We're not 100% sure as he is a rescue bun - there's definitely Angora in him (his coat is an absolute nightmare (in that pic it's about 1/4 of it's true length and thickness) and that thick, matty texture that Angoras have!). Possibly Angora/Lionhead or Angora/Nethie. He has a Nethie face but his ears are too big

Maybe all three? Who knows!

Great post bunny-mummy-lizzie love.  You certainly learn something new on here every day.  

Hugs
Jo xx

He's all dropped off and ready to go - he was still nibbling this morning but his food consumption has definitely gone right down and those nashers definitely need some help!

Willow was not impressed when she realised she wasn't going into the carrier to go for a mooch around the garden

I love long haired bunnies, I think Angoras are so beautiful.

Hugs
Jo xx

Patrik Anastas wrote:Incorrect diet can be blamed for or is a contributing factor to the majority of common rabbit dental diseases i think.

You're not wrong at all there.

However, Mr Mo receives the correct diet - mainly hay based with a very small portion of pellets included. He gets plenty of fresh grass in an attempt to wear his teeth down, and the majority of his 'treats' are dried herbs/hay based as well. Any other treats are fed very sparingly