Hi
So I have a male rabbit, just turned 6 years old this month named Dusty.
Back in early March he had to undergo dental surgery for spurs growing into his cheeks along with GI stasis from the teeth problem. Upon arriving to pick him up from surgery, my vet informed me he also had a “calcification of the mandible and osteomyelitis” that he was unable to correct because he didn’t know how? He was put on meloxicam, TMP/SMZ, and Baytril for 20 days. Then I brought him for a follow up to ensure he healed ok after the surgery recovery. Vet said that other than that calcification he saw in X-rays, he believed he was a completely healthy rabbit and he could be taken off all medicine.
Fast forward to May when he’s been off any medication for about two months now and I noticed he began to grind his teeth and drool a little. I looked at his teeth and noticed there was a long one sticking out so I set up an appointment for what I thought was going to be a tooth trim. By the end of the exam, after my vet inspects my rabbit, tells me I don’t need a tooth trim and that we should discuss putting him down in three months!?
He said that his jaw felt a little inflamed from the issue he saw back in March and that if I would like to, I could have him perform another surgery to fix that problem.. which confuses me a little because while he was under surgery for his teeth this same doctor told me he did not know how to correct this problem so he didn’t at the time.. However, later in the appointment the vet changed his mind and told me that he actually won’t perform the surgery because of his age (he just turned 6). So he put him on meloxicam and baytril for 20 days and told me I should plan on putting him down by the end of the summer!!
Obviously devastated, when those 20 days of medicine were up, I called and asked what to do now medication wise. I had more baytril left over but I didn’t want to continue to give it to him without doctors word because he had told me that the baytril could cause stomach problems. The doctor just gave me another refill of baytril and lowered his dose of meloxicam to 0.5 from 0.7 and said he would put in 3 more refills and then I should bring him in to be put down.
So Dusty has currently been on baytril and meloxicam for 29 days now and I have not seen him improve.
In the days since going in for the “tooth trim”, I watched his jaw get so much worse than it ever was. I attached photos of how he looks now and it’s heart breaking. He acts exactly the same as he always has, he still runs and jumps and eats and poops and acts exactly like a normal heathy rabbit would but I know he has to be in pain even with meloxicam in his system because he is completely covered in drool.
I guess I am just at a loss for what to do right now, my vet won’t do the surgery, the medications don’t seem to be working and my vets only suggestion has been put him down.
So I have a male rabbit, just turned 6 years old this month named Dusty.
Back in early March he had to undergo dental surgery for spurs growing into his cheeks along with GI stasis from the teeth problem. Upon arriving to pick him up from surgery, my vet informed me he also had a “calcification of the mandible and osteomyelitis” that he was unable to correct because he didn’t know how? He was put on meloxicam, TMP/SMZ, and Baytril for 20 days. Then I brought him for a follow up to ensure he healed ok after the surgery recovery. Vet said that other than that calcification he saw in X-rays, he believed he was a completely healthy rabbit and he could be taken off all medicine.
Fast forward to May when he’s been off any medication for about two months now and I noticed he began to grind his teeth and drool a little. I looked at his teeth and noticed there was a long one sticking out so I set up an appointment for what I thought was going to be a tooth trim. By the end of the exam, after my vet inspects my rabbit, tells me I don’t need a tooth trim and that we should discuss putting him down in three months!?
He said that his jaw felt a little inflamed from the issue he saw back in March and that if I would like to, I could have him perform another surgery to fix that problem.. which confuses me a little because while he was under surgery for his teeth this same doctor told me he did not know how to correct this problem so he didn’t at the time.. However, later in the appointment the vet changed his mind and told me that he actually won’t perform the surgery because of his age (he just turned 6). So he put him on meloxicam and baytril for 20 days and told me I should plan on putting him down by the end of the summer!!
Obviously devastated, when those 20 days of medicine were up, I called and asked what to do now medication wise. I had more baytril left over but I didn’t want to continue to give it to him without doctors word because he had told me that the baytril could cause stomach problems. The doctor just gave me another refill of baytril and lowered his dose of meloxicam to 0.5 from 0.7 and said he would put in 3 more refills and then I should bring him in to be put down.
So Dusty has currently been on baytril and meloxicam for 29 days now and I have not seen him improve.
In the days since going in for the “tooth trim”, I watched his jaw get so much worse than it ever was. I attached photos of how he looks now and it’s heart breaking. He acts exactly the same as he always has, he still runs and jumps and eats and poops and acts exactly like a normal heathy rabbit would but I know he has to be in pain even with meloxicam in his system because he is completely covered in drool.
I guess I am just at a loss for what to do right now, my vet won’t do the surgery, the medications don’t seem to be working and my vets only suggestion has been put him down.
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