Refusing hay after dental work and mouth ulcer.

[BabyButtons23]

Hello, just looking for some advice about our bun, Buttons.

Last week he was refusing his hay but still happily eating pellets / rocket etc.

After 3/4 days we took him to the vet and he was put under anaesthetic and spurs were found and removed, as well as a mouth ulcer. He was given metacam for dogs and we were advised that if he didn't start eating quickly to take him back in.

He started eating right away, but refusing hay still. I figured maybe due to his ulcer we could assume he wouldn't want hay right away (I can't imagine eating anything rough and crunchy when I have a mouth ulcer!) and so he has been having fresh grass instead, as well as his greens and pellets. He was still offered hay every day but refusing. His poops are smaller and darker than usual, and there have been poops every day.

But it's now 1 week since his treatment, and although he is eating he still isn't back to normal. We thought maybe he was just being fussy, we've tried about 6 different types of hay and he will have a sniff and nibble then move on.

When he is eating he seems to have a problem dragging the long strands into his mouth the way he previously would (like the way you look when you suck in spaghetti lol) he seems to nibble a bit and then it breaks so it's like he can't hold onto it.

At the moment our intention is to go back to the vet tomorrow, but just looking for any advice or ideas in the meantime.

Sorry it's so long!

 

[JBun]

It could be the mouth ulcer is still bothering him, and may take some time to heal depending on how bad it was. If this is the case and he isn't still getting metacam, he may need more til the ulcer heals. Or if he is still getting metacam, the vet may need to bump up the dose.

Infection is also a possibility, so vet needs to rule that out. Also when burring teeth down this can affect the bite when chewing and cause jaw pain if the bite is off and not aligned correctly. If so, the bite would need to be adjusted by burring the teeth a bit more.

 

[squidpop]

Since his poos look small, so his gut doesn't slow down you could try to get more fibre into him by grinding hay in a coffee grinder/spice grinder and mixing it with banana or apple. That's what I did for one of mine to keep him from going into GI stasis when he was refusing hay. Also, you could try to give him fresh grass, its the closest thing to Hay for getting fibre into the diet and it might be slightly easier for him to chew.

 

[BlazeBunnies]

I agree keep up with the grass. Get him to the vet as soon as possible. He could be in pain and might need a higher dosage of medicine.

 

[squidpop]

There does seem to be some controversy over what the correct dose of metacam is in rabbits, with some studies indicating that many vets may be under-dosing. This link mentions it if you read the last 3 paragraphs. http://vgr1.com/metacam/