abscess caused by bad teeth

[danihel]

Hi,
My bunny’s molars on one side started to grow awry. He won’t eat hay or anything green. I give him grated carrot with quarter to a half of a grated apple and Supreme science selective rabbit senior-pet food but since before yesterday he pretty much started to avoid the pellets. His front teeth were in a horrible shape too. I spread powder made of one calcium tablet over the grated carrot with apple and the next day he had diarrhea (although I’m not sure it was related).
The vet said he has suspicion that there is already abscess caused by the teeth injuring the inside of his mouth. The standard procedure is to whittle his teeth under full anesthesia but he is about 8 years old.
Anybody could give me any advice about what else can be done, what should I do or share his/hers experience about similar situation?

 

[squidpop]

I wish I could help. This has not happened to me but reading this older post however might help you. But warning first— infections are hard to treat in rabbits and with older rabbits you have to be realistic, treatment will be very hard on an older rabbit. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/dental-disease-older-rabbit-39960/

 

[danihel]

Thanks very much for reply and for the link.
So I guess if he has an abscess the only way to go is to have the teeth taken care of. What scares me most is that he has to undergo anesthesia. I really wish to know better how risky that is for an older rabbit.
Please anyone has experience with bad molars and surgery? Do the teeth always have to be pulled out if they cause injury or can they just be trimmed? Does he have to undergo full anesthesia? How long would it take until they grow back? Will I have to syringe feed him until then? Doesn’t it mean he will develop problems with the rest of his teeth if he won’t use them?

 

[squidpop]

Maybe someone who has had a dental bunny will answer shortly. But they do not always have to have their teeth pulled, sometimes they just file. I think when they pull teeth its usually because the root of the tooth is infected. If teeth are pulled they never grow back. Rabbits seem to be able to eat just fine after their teeth are pulled. As far as anesthesia goes, I've read a lot of posts where older rabbits had their teeth worked on and they lived through the anesthesia part just fine, I think vets have gotten a lot better at applying the anesthesia than they used to be.

I think with an abscess treating with the right antibiotics are really important. I'm always reading posts to see what antibiotics people used on abscess and which one worked the best. I really think antibiotics are the key to successful treatment.

Sometimes vets treat abscesses by cutting them open and draining them, then they leave them open, the rabbit winds up with a big open hole on the side of its face and the owner has to clean it out everyday and pack it with manuka honey ....for months. This is a good medical page to read showing someone packing a abscess with manuka honey http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Bacterial/abscess_management.PDF

There is someone on this forum who is treating a rabbit for abscesses at the moment, good information and good photos. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f27/lump-under-chin-79646/