Wet chin again?

[vdel]

Hello - my first post here and I have to ask a question about my rabbit's health. I've googled until I feel crazy! Anyway, Cuddles is apx. 7 years old, a male mini-rex. He eats mainly pellets, carrots, and parsley. (He refuses hay of all types and those are the only fruits or vegetables he will eat.)

Apx. a month ago, his chin was wet so I took him to the vet. He was "put under" and a spur was removed from a back molar. They also trimmed all his other teeth while they had him under. He seemed to recover from that well. He's been eating normally (well, normally for him) and has had no other symptoms.

Until today. His chin is wet again! I took his water dish out and dried his chin, just to make sure he hadn't just had a drink, but no. He's doing this odd chewing thing with his mouth ( when there appears to be no food there) and his chin is wet again.

Any ideas what this could be now? Of course, I will take him to the vet if he has the problem still tomorrow, but meanwhile just wondering if anyone has an idea what it could be.

TIA!
Vicki

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

It is probably tooth problems again. Rabbits do have teeth that constantly grow and they need a diet that can wear them down. His diet really isn't the best for wearing down the teeth, so molar spurs could be a continuing issue.

There could be other things going on in his mouth as well. Another vet visit is in order to make check it out. X-rays would be a good idea to check the tooth roots and get a better idea of what is going on in the mouth.

 

[vdel]

Hm. Yeah, I guess it could be again, but it would be strange after having the surgery just a month ago. His diet hasn't changed in 7 years, so not sure why he'd have problems so suddenly and repeatedly?

I'm pretty sure they did x-rays. I think I remember them being on the bill.

I didn't think to mention that he does have a lot of things he chews on (wooden and plastic toys, heavy cardboard tubes, mineral block, hard treats, etc.).


Weird.

Thanks!

 

[Sweetie]

Plastic toys are not really good for rabbits as they can cause problems in the GI tract and other areas in the rabbit. So I would take those away. Leave the other toys as they can wear down the incisors, front teeth.

Have you tried taking him outside to munch on grass? Really timothy hay and other hays are great for rabbit teeth and they do keep them trimmed down so that the teeth don't need to be trimmed every month or so.

Prince had molar spurs, had them trimmed down and always had hay to munch on and never had an issue with his teeth ever again. I don't have Prince anymore, as he passed away last Wednesday August 31st. Sweetie and I have his ashes with us and we will always remember him.

But if you can, get him to eat grass or any kind of hay, except alfalfa unless he is younger than 6 months.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

Yep, I'd bet that the lack of hay is making these issues worse if not causing them all together. Bunnies *must* eat hay. If try Orchard grass hay. Try feeding less pellets and then hay. He'll get the idea when he's hungry, and he won't starve. Otherwise, his teeth will just keep growing.

 

[vdel]

I'm not worried about him starving, but I know if he doesn't eat it can cause serious problems with his digestive tract. I once gave him a different brand of pellets and he didn't eat for 2 days! I tried mixing the old in with the new and he actually picked out the old brand and only ate those. I left the new ones and, again, he went 2 days without eating.

The only hay I've seen in stores here is Timothy or alfalfa and he won't eat either one. It will lay there until it's dusty and then we throw it away. (And yes - we did try giving him fresh hay every day, throwing out the old daily, but he wasn't eating any of it so it seemed pointless) I do see on the internet that Orchard Grass should be available at the store - I will look into that. It's just that everything I've read is so insistent that rabbits must eat Timothy hay!!

Surely other people have rabbits with picky tastes? Mine can't be the only one?

He hates being outside. He runs for cover and cowers there until we bring him inside. He never tries to eat anything when he's out there.

He also does not like being picked up or held. It's torture to catch him, so he has a 5' x 5' pen and seems content to stay there. We do force him to let us catch him now and then and let him out, but he seems so miserable, hiding under things and shaking. He doesn't run around or play. He's just really not a people rabbit. He wants us to get his food, water, and treats and is not shy about letting us know when he wants them. We are his humble servants.

Re toys: the House Rabbit Society suggests hard plastic toys. The store sells them for rabbits. He does not seem to be ingesting them (I find the pieces all over the floor and vacuum them up.)

His chin was dry this morning, so maybe he just had something stuck? or??? I don't know. Checking him frequently and will head for the vet if it continues.

Also, his teeth had not grown much in the past 7 years. The vet was surprised the one back molar spur was causing a problem as it was so small. They did do a little filing of some of them, just because they had him under, but said he didn't really NEED to have them filed down. I am sure they did not suddenly grow back so much in less than a month that they are causing problems.

Thanks all!

 

[Tuckerbunnies]

I would say his spur may have grown back and he needs another dental. We have a number of dental buns and some have to go every so many weeks for spur removal off back molars.

 

[Pipp]

I have a dwarf like that. She won't touch a strand of hay. And it took a lot of work to get her to eat a different brand of pellets. She said she'd rather starve than eat that crap. Silly rabbit.

She never did eat hay, although I could get her eating a bit of fresh grass which was just as good. Although it had to be pulled fresh grass and not the stuff in trays, she'd just dig it up and eat the seeds. (Carb junkie).

She also only ate carrots and parsley.

She started having molar spur issues at 2 (and it was a tiny tiny spur but she still acted like she was at death's door, the little diva that she is). They got more frequent until she was needing surgery every two months.

She ended up doing the not eating thing on a long weekend, no vet, so I tried giving her some metacam (the spur was rubbing on her cheek or tongue) and a lot of veggies and lo and behold the spur broke off on its own.

Since then I've been trying her on every veggie and weed on the planet to increase her repertoire, cutting back on her carrots and pellets just enough to keep her healthy but hungry.

Green curly kale has been the best bet (and great for the teeth), and a few herbs like cilantro, although she's VERY fussy. (EG: she won't eat romaine lettuce, only green leaf, and no English parsley, only Italian). Broccoli leaves are also popular. (Cauliflower, green cabbage, a bit of chard, beet greens, celery leaves, etc, are deemed acceptable).

To get her to eat the better pellets (Martins Timothy Adult, which is an 'extruded' pellet and great for the teeth), I kept mixing the two together and slowly decreasing the ones she liked and increasing the new ones (which at the time was Oxbow, which she really hated), eventually she started eating them.

Hope this helps!


sas :clover:

 

[vdel]

So glad to know I don't have the only extremely picky rabbit in the world! We've been through every vegetable available. I printed a list from the House Rabbit Society and tried them all! Carrots and parsley. That's it. AND if the parsley smells like cilantro (sometimes they put them close together in the store), he won't eat it. Ugh . . .

Every two months?! Yikes! I hope it doesn't come to that for us. I love him and expect to have expenses, but $200 every 2 months would be difficult to bear.

I will look for the pellets you mentioned and maybe try changing again. As I said, he's able to pick out the ones he likes and leave the rest. Astounding! LOL Maybe he'd start eventually. The only pellets he'll eat now are the cheapy ones from WalMart. I've tried most other brands in the store and ended up giving them away on Freecycle.

The good news is although his chin was sopping wet when I posted this, it's now dry, so I guess whatever the problem was, it's gone or better. I do keep checking, though, and if his behaviour changes or he seems ill or not eating, we'll head for the vet for sure!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Pipp]

The spur(s) may have broken off or maybe it was heat-related? That's another 'wet chin' thing.

I'd still try cutting back on the carrots and pellets and let her be hungry.

I had a terrible time with Pipp not eating anything but treats after her first tooth trim and took her back to the vet. He examined her carefully, asked a lot of questions and finally pronounced very solemnly that it appeared she had 'SBS'. "What's that?" I asked? "Spoiled Bunny Syndrome," he says.

And he was right! After I stopped coddling the little diva and cut back the treats, she wised up and started eating the stuff she didn't 'love'.

Tell him its for his own good. (And yours, given the vet budget!)


sas :bunnydance: