Lower Incisor Removal

[ohbunnies]

I haven't been on this thread in quite a while.

To update: I lost one of my Holland Lops to a severe case of GI stasis last month. She was three years old. After suffering from it several times, she developed the worst case our vet had ever seen. The emergency vet on duty at the only emergency clinic in town had no experience with rabbits so, at 10pm when we realized pineapple juice and gas drops weren't helping, we were told to wait it out until 8am. Fat Pants passed over the Rainbow Bridge right after we dropped her off at our rabbit-savy vet. I'm still coping.

To add to that, our other Holland, Fat Pant's mate Chubs, developed a large lump on his lower left jaw. I took him to the vet immediately, and despite not showing any signs (still had a healthy appetite, was running around normally, has a new girlfriend that he adores), he had the worst case of an infected abscess that our vet had ever seen.

Why is this all happening now, I asked myself. So, I brought Chubs in for surgery yesterday morning. They completely removed his lower incisors, so they will not grow back.

I'm trying to figure out why they wouldn't remove all incisors at this point- because his upper ones won't wear down without lower ones, will they? They mentioned possibly having to have his upper teeth trimmed once a month, and I just don't think that is going to work. I don't like the idea of my poor baby boy being put under once a month for teeth trimming.

Does anyone else have any experience with this??

He's home now, with a bald face and stitches on his jaw and chin, separated from Squirrel (his new Lionhead friend) in a kennel space but is still in their room. I feel so bad, because he is so anti-people as it is. To go through all of this, and then only having to go back for teeth trimming seems extreme to me.

Any suggestions?

 

[Maureen Las]

Normally both the upper and lowers are removed for the exact reason that you cited. Rabbits can pick up food with their lips and move it back to the molars to grind food. I don't know why your vet did what he did ?

 

[ohbunnies]

I'm going to call the vet on Monday to see what he was thinking. I'm stressing out now because I'm not taking him to get his teeth trimmed, end of story. He has been under too much stress as it is and this seems like irresponsible planning. Ugh.

Normally both the upper and lowers are removed for the exact reason that you cited. Rabbits can pick up food with their lips and move it back to the molars to grind food. I don't know why your vet did what he did ?

 

[Maureen Las]

Well I just reread this thread and realized that I was thinking b that his lower incisors were removed due to a malocclusion rather than a jaw abscess.

Your vet probably was just concentrating on the abscess and getting the teeth out because of it.
I can tell that you are a very concerned and good rabbit owner so I am telling you that I am not sure about this vet. Like so many they seem to know and act on part of the problem but not all of it. Unless they are actually trained in exotic animals they get a minimal experience in school ( hearsay)
Your rabbit should be on antibiotics right now for the abscess despite the fact that the teeth were removed. Abscesses are notoriously difficult to eradicate with just surgery but with strong antibiotics can be eliminated.
I have been gone from this site for a long time so I am having difficulty posting links to it. I want you to either go the library on this site and read everything on it on "abscesses" but before that google "Successful Eradication of Severe Abscesses in Rabbits with penicillin" by Marcy Moore.

The use of sub q bicillin has saved many a rabbit and now it is often given with another oral antibiotic to deliver a stronger punch. Abscesses are difficult to treat because they are walled off and many antibotics cannot penetrate to the core.
print out the article and give it to your vet .
I have gone through all of this with vets here in southwest Wi as I live in a small city. I finally have a knowledgeable one but it took years of me having to learn a lot on my own on this site and others. Don't worry about the uppers right now because you can have them removed later and yes it is stupid to have to bring the poor bun in every month for trimming .
Maureen
if worse comes to worse you can get bicillin in the refrigerated section of animal antibiotics at Fleet farm and learn how to do this on your own. But hope fully your vet will do a little research

 

[ohbunnies]

He was put on antibiotics before surgery and I was told to keep him on them until i bring him back in to have the stitches removed. He is going in on Monday to have the wound looked at because it started to swell again and I think he has more infection.

The vet that usually sees him specializes in exotic and small animals. The two new vets that saw him this time are a husband/wife team and the wife does work with small animals. Which is why I was so confused about what was going on after, because she did tell me that she hates having to put rabbits under anesthesia because it's so risky.

He had a bad abscess that had spread to his jaw bone, but showed no signs until late in the infection.

I have a feeling this is just the start of his problems... I'm very stressed about it. He has one dose of antibiotics left so I'm hoping we can get this taken care of and they can figure out what's wrong with him. I'm also requesting my normal vet.

Thank you for your reply.

Well I just reread this thread and realized that I was thinking b that his lower incisors were removed due to a malocclusion rather than a jaw abscess.

Your vet probably was just concentrating on the abscess and getting the teeth out because of it.
I can tell that you are a very concerned and good rabbit owner so I am telling you that I am not sure about this vet. Like so many they seem to know and act on part of the problem but not all of it. Unless they are actually trained in exotic animals they get a minimal experience in school ( hearsay)
Your rabbit should be on antibiotics right now for the abscess despite the fact that the teeth were removed. Abscesses are notoriously difficult to eradicate with just surgery but with strong antibiotics can be eliminated.
I have been gone from this site for a long time so I am having difficulty posting links to it. I want you to either go the library on this site and read everything on it on "abscesses" but before that google "Successful Eradication of Severe Abscesses in Rabbits with penicillin" by Marcy Moore.

The use of sub q bicillin has saved many a rabbit and now it is often given with another oral antibiotic to deliver a stronger punch. Abscesses are difficult to treat because they are walled off and many antibotics cannot penetrate to the core.
print out the article and give it to your vet .
I have gone through all of this with vets here in southwest Wi as I live in a small city. I finally have a knowledgeable one but it took years of me having to learn a lot on my own on this site and others. Don't worry about the uppers right now because you can have them removed later and yes it is stupid to have to bring the poor bun in every month for trimming .
Maureen
if worse comes to worse you can get bicillin in the refrigerated section of animal antibiotics at Fleet farm and learn how to do this on your own. But hope fully your vet will do a little research