Necro can't eat.,

[ChandieLee]

Hey there.

Yesterday I posted about Necro's teeth. They are very long; up to his nose. I was advised to get him to a vet, and I've been trying so hard to do that, but I'm having some problems. (Just for the record, he had been eating up until this morning.)

1. The vet that I would normally bring him to are not open.

2. Every other Rabbit Savvy vet are either not excepting new clients or are very far from me.

3. Distance wouldn't be a problem if I had tranportation; my dad is out of town, my mother doesn't drive and my brother doesn't have insurance on his car anymore, so he can't drive.


The only possible way to get him to see a vet is to wait til' tomorrow, or Monday. I'm really really hoping to get him in tomorrow.

Until then... would it be a good or bad idea to syringe feed him?
And if it's okay, what would I feed to him?


Sorry if I seem all "URGH." I'm very frustrated by this whole situation.
It's not a good day.

Thanks.

Chandielee

 

[Pipp]

Poor bunny!

Lots of liquids is good -- I find diluted juices to be a godsend for Pipp- and you can't go wrong with canned pumpkin.

Depending on his usual diet, you can throw a mix of veggies and a little fruit in a blender and see if he'll eat that from a spoon or plate (it's hard to hand feedwithout a big feeding syringe). Or grind up some of his pellets in a new (or VERY clean) little coffee grinder, or put the pellets from the bottom of the bag in a strainer and shake out the pellet dust and mix that up with water and maybe a little pumpkin or banana. (In both cases, let the pellet dustsoak for at least 10 minutes).

And/or you can try some baby food.

Good luck!



sas :clover:

 

[ChandieLee]

Thank you very much Pipp!
Very much appreciated.

 

[Bunnicula]

When you do get to the vet, you might want to ask if they have any Critical Care available. It is a powder you can mix with water to syringe feed a bun. Then you'll have it on hand. My vet is always happy to make sure I have that on hand (it's not that expensive and keeps for quite a while), and he's great about supplying syringes, too.

Keep us posted on how Necro is doing.

-Mary Ellen

 

[ChandieLee]

I think we might have more problems :?

I just syringe fed him and I noticed that Necro's upper teeth are quite long as well; they actually kind of curl into his mouth.

I've given him plenty of things to chew on. Do some bunnies just not like chewing on things??

 

[Pipp]

This sounds like Necro has a incisor malocclusion. It's his front teeth, right?

Some bunnies need their teeth burred or clipped regularly no matter how much they chew. How old is he and what's his breed again?

Check out the info in this Library thread:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11901&forum_id=10(Teeth)

He's going to need it taken care ofsooner than later.

Is he eatingthe blender food or pumpkin, and is he drinking?



sas :?

 

[ChandieLee]

Necro is 9 months old and he is a Netherland Dwarf.

It's actually his bottom teeth and top teeth; his top teeth have gotten long enough to curl into his mouth and his bottom teeth have reached his nose.
He is still drinking, and he's having a very hard time eating. I put some blender food out for him and it seemed like he could barely get it into his mouth because his teeth were in the way So, I syringe fed it to him. He really didn't fight the syringe much, so I'm thinking he was really hungry.
I know I need to get him to the vet. So, I'm going to call tomorrow morning and see if I can find anyone I know to bring me.

 

[binkies]

Poor baby. I know how it is trying to deal with that kind of teeth. I found myself hand feeding Ivory on more than one occasion. It seems like one day she was fine and the next she couldnt eat a thing and it was a scramble to the vet for a trim.

 

[ra7751]

Hi,

Malocclusion is quite common in the flat faced buns like ND and Holland Lops but can be seen in all breeds. It can be caused by a number of problems. The absolute best way to handle this problem is by extracting the offending teeth on both arcades and get all 6 incisors. It is a rather involved surgery that requires a highly skilled vet (the roots are very long and the teeth are usually tight) and will require about 72 hours of intensive husbandry after the procedure. If you check our blog and read about Noah....she had her incisors removed. It was difficult but in the end, well worth it both to us and to her. We have several others waiting for extraction now.

The next best thing is to cut the teeth with a dental dremel. Our namesake, Sabrina, learned the dremel was a good thing and would eagerly allow it without sedation. It would probably be better to sedate and get a better cut. We routinely clip our malocclusion buns teeth with a small pair of side cutter pliers. It does carry some risk in doing it this way but I have learned to do a pretty good job. The cut will not be even. And it's possible to shatter and/or split the tooth into the gum which can lead to an infection or a worse occlusion issue when it regrows. You also have a concern of cutting the tongue, lips or both if you aren't careful. Without extraction, plan on trimming the teeth regularly.

In your case, I would seriously consider extracting those teeth since that is usually a "forever" fix...but sometimes if a bit of the root is left, it will grow back but it is usually one of the "peg" teeth. Being sedated would also allow a fantastic opportunity to get a good look at those molars since they can also become maloccluded and results in a very painful condition known as molar spurs. Due to the time required and the procedure, the rabbit should be intubated for this procedure and very few vets can successfully pull that one off.

I see you mentioned giving him something to chew on. Look back on some of my other posts regarding teeth issues. Chewing on something like woodhas nothing to do with wearing the teeth. Those pretty little pumice stones and wooden toys are cute but don't really do anything for the teeth. It is the "tooth on tooth" action when chewing and that is where hay comes in. Hay is chewy and requires a lot of work to fold up as a rabbit will do. It's when the teeth contact each other is where the wear happens. But if the teeth are maloccluded, they don't contact each other and don't wear down no matter what you give them.

This conditionis something that, as you already know. should be handled ASAP. I think you have received excellent advice on emergency husbandry. But above all...hydration is much more important than food at this point. If a vet can't work on those teeth, at least see if they will administer fluids sub-q even ifNecro continues to drink on his own. We have used baby food, canned pumpkin and Critical Care with our dental issues. Best wishes for a successful resolution for Necro.

Randy

 

[ChandieLee]

Howdy.

I called the vet this morning- another complication. :grumpy:
The vet that I would normally see is out until Monday... and she's the only Rabbit Savvy vet there. So, for now, I have an appointment set up for Monday at 10:30 A.M.
Now, I don't know if waiting until Monday is the smartest idea, but it seems like I don't have any other choice. Like I've already said, other vets that could take a look at Necro are kind of far from me and I have a serious lack of transportation.
I am at loss for ideas right now.

 

[Leaf]

I think your best bet is to follow some of the feeding advice here, and go in on Monday.



Good luck!

 

[ChandieLee]

Hey. Sorry for the delayed update.
I took Necro to the vet. He does have malocclusion.
She trimmed his teeth, and he's doing much better
I'll have to take him in every so often to have them trimmed.
Thankyou, everyone, for your support and patience. I tend to over-worry about things.

Chandielee

 

[Pet_Bunny]

So good things worked out fine.

You're a good bunny mom. Glad Necro is much better.