Horrible teeth :(

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

Breed: Dwarf Hotot
Age: 1 1/2 yrs
Weight: 2.3 lbs


Ok so now I have a problem, I have another post in the show section but I wanted to post this here. All the rabbits I got from the show,have settled in, started eating well and have taken everything in stride. At the show I checked them over but I forgot to look at the two bucks, I mean Icheck them outbut not fully.

Well the older buck, out of the two,has horrible teeth (I was checking them each out today since it was my weekly grooming day). I've never seenteeth so bad. His front to have grown so much that they've hooked towards the back and the lost a bottom tooth and his other bottom tooth has now grown in front of his front teeth. The picture is bad since its late and I'm in a panic until I get him to the vet tomorrow.

He eats, drinks, and poos just find like nothings wrong; but I did notice a bit of wet fur around his mouth at the show but chalked it up to his water crock in his carrier, stupid me.

I'm calling first thing in the morning and setting an appointment with the vet tomorrow asap. I checked his mouth out to see if there were any apparent abbesses or any other injury caused by this, I can't see anything but it doesn't mean he's clear. It looks like it was MONTHS of none treatment. And none of her show rabbits or even the others I bought have anything like this, theirs are perfectly normal and not a tad bit overgrown.



Here's a pic, I'm leavingthem bothlarge to seeif anyone can see themclearly enough:

On our right side of his mouth (his left side) where there's a lot more white is really from his bottom tooth in front of his top teeth,nearly touching the top of his mouth.

That's the best I can do with the pics, I just need to know, if anyone can tell enough, if the vets can trim that back or if it has gotten too out of hand?

I feel so awful for him. I'm so upset right now over this whole thing right now. :grumpy

 

[Haley]

Poor guy! He has tusks! The vet should be able to trim it back but might have to put him under anesthesia to do so. I know with many rabbits who have malloclusion that severe, vets recommend removing the front teeth completely. I know Fowlerville is not too far from me but I cant remember in what direction. If you need a good rabbit dentist I highly recommend Dr. Clarkson in Ann Arbor. He removed the front teeth on my bunny Max, and has taken care of several abscesses for me.
Im so glad you are getting him to the vet tomorrow. Im sure he has not been eating and must be in so much pain if those things are rubbing up against his mouth
If you want more info on rabbits with malloclusion, be sure to check out the Teeth section in the RO Library.

 

[Haley]

Here is a great article for you to read:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-6/tusks.html

And the link to the Library-Teeth section for more info: http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11901&forum_id=10

 

[tonyshuman]

I would have a vet trim them. It's possible to trim them yourself, but even really experienced bunny owners have accidentally broken a tooth trying to do that. If you have to do it yourself, ie the vet is too far away, etc, I would try to cut them off with a rotary cutting tool like a Dremel instead of using clippers. You'd want to put something in his mouth too to keep him from sticking his tongue in the way. Really just best to have the vet take a good look and do the trim. Poor guy!

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

Resolved! I emailed his breeder and turns out he's a cage puller and she's had to trim a few of her's herself. I've never done a rabbits but I've floated my horses teeth (not like it's the same) so I spent a good hour with a small cutter and a steady hand and here's how he looks now:

I'm going to clip two more tiny edges so they're flat across but I'm giving him a break to relax a bit.I was careful to clip and not crack or break any of the teeth and nowthey're back to normal length and he's aLOT happier.

I'm going out to buy a few more toys for his cage to keep him active on something else then the wire. But now I can sleep at ease tonight and so can he. :biggrin:



**edit to add that it looks odd in the pic since he only has the one bottom tooth.

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

tonyshuman wrote:

I would have a vet trim them. It's possible to trim them yourself, but even really experienced bunny owners have accidentally broken a tooth trying to do that. If you have to do it yourself, ie the vet is too far away, etc, I would try to cut them off with a rotary cutting tool like a Dremel instead of using clippers. You'd want to put something in his mouth too to keep him from sticking his tongue in the way. Really just best to have the vet take a good look and do the trim. Poor guy!

Yep I used a rotary cutting tool and we kept his tongue out of the way. He was really good and quiet about everything. I called one of the on-call vets for small animals and they seem like they don't have the experiance with rabbit teeth and problems like that, but it could be me just being overly careful with someone like that having to put him under anesthesia.

 

[tonyshuman]

That's good to hear that you didn't use a clipper or something. They can make the tooth crack down the middle all the way to the gumline!

Your guy may need to have his top right tooth removed, since it looks like the tooth opposite it (the bottom right) is gone. When they're gone, the other tooth can't get worn down and big tusks like that develop really often. It's not easy but it might be best in the long run.

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

Now is there a chance of his bottom tooth growing back? There is still what looks like a base of a tooth there and that most of it just broke off...

 

[tonyshuman]

OIC. If there's still at least some of the tooth root there, it may grow back. In the pic it looks like there's no tooth at all there.

 

[Haley]

Even the tiniest shard of a tooth will most likely grow back. My Max had all of his front teeth removed and the vet must have missed a speck of tooth because he now has a mini tooth on top that i have to trim once a week.

Just be very careful, even with a dremmel the tooth can crack and you will have a much worse situation on your hands. I trim my rabbit's tooth myself with a dremmel but only because my vet is an hour away and it just doesnt make sense to drive there once a week for a trim. My vet instructed me to put a wooden tongue depresser (or something like a popsicle stick) behind the front teeth so that he cant move his mouth, and always be sure he is in a bunny burrito so he cant squirm around. I cant imagine the damage if you nicked the mouth with a dremmel..that's why Im so nervous when I do it. Another thing is to keep the dremmel moving and don't hold it on one spot for too long or you will smell a smokelike smell as it heats up which can be painful for the bun. I keep a syringe with water on hand and rinse the tooth as I go along.
Looks so much better though, I imagine he feels a lot better as well! Make sure he has lots of hay to help with his teeth but you will probably have to do this regularly (I dont get the part about biting the cage, I think this is more of a genetic thing).
Nice job though

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

Update:

His face has watered pretty good throughout the night, most likely due to all the stress and discomfort. So I put him in the sink with luke warm water, no shampoo, and just washed his feet and eyes a tad bit. (he really did seem to enjoy it)

So I have him still with me wrapped up in a towel and looked at his teeth a bit closer. It looks pretty good to me, the missing tooth looks like it has the whole root and very bottom of the tooth still and the gum around it looks very healthy so I think there should be a good chance that it grows back then.

In the mean time he is still eating/drinking and overall (though he's still getting used to us) being a very happy health bun.

 

[mistyjr]

How can you prevent this from happening again?

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

mistyjr wrote:

How can you prevent this from happening again?

I'm not sure how to prevent it fully(I'll leave that up to someone with more knowledge ), but I bought hay cubes, and so dangle toys so he has something to do. Plus I'm not sure how much time he was kept in his cage at the breeder's barn. His new cage is 24x24 but he spends a good 11/2 to 2 hours playing in the playpen.

Plus I moved his food to two different corners so he can move around and hunt for it (when he's not being held, we're going on over and hour that he won't leave my arms or the towel now lol)

 

[missyscove]

Isn't malocclusion a DQ in rabbits? I'm surprised the breeder would sell him to you without disclosing something like that. Personally I'd be pretty angry.

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

She seems pretty sure that it was not a breeding problem but more around the lines of cage pulling. It is a DQ but it I guess is ok since he'll just be a stud. She has already set aside a buck from her next litter to replace him (he's not leaving but she is going to begiving me another free ofcharge).I was (still am) mad more or less just because of the amount pain he must have been in.

 

[Haley]

I would check with breeders here on the forum but I have never personally heard of rabbits having that severe malloclusion from chewing on their cage. That seems very strange to me. If I were you I would talk to other breeders before you breed him...dont want to risk passing that on to other rabbits.

 

[missyscove]

Haley wrote:

I would check with breeders here on the forum but I have never personally heard of rabbits having that severe malloclusion from chewing on their cage. That seems very strange to me. If I were you I would talk to other breeders before you breed him...dont want to risk passing that on to other rabbits.

:yeahthat:

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

missyscove wrote:

Haley wrote:

I would check with breeders here on the forum but I have never personally heard of rabbits having that severe malloclusion from chewing on their cage. That seems very strange to me. If I were you I would talk to other breeders before you breed him...dont want to risk passing that on to other rabbits.

:yeahthat:

Well he was my first that I was going to breed to the sr. doe; but until all of this works it's way out I'm going with my other buck. (granted, I'm not breeding for another month or so to let them all settle in) But I'm going to be figuring it all out.

 

[CoolWaterRabbitry]

I googledmalocclusion and the first link to pop up was

http://www.rabbitsforpets.com/rabbit-malocclusion/

Causes of Malocclusion

Malocclusion in rabbits is either inherited (hereditary) or acquired.

Inherited malocclusion is more likely to happen with dwarf breeds of rabbits. They have been bred with small heads so the rabbit’s teeth may not sit correctly in their small jaw.

Acquired malocclusion happens when teeth aren’t ground down over time, or an accident, or even excessive pulling on the wire of their cage, changes the alignment of the incisors.
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Now granted I'm going to ask around with the other breeders I've been talking to and continue looking, but I'm not quite sure how this all happend now. Could be either one.:?