Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
Making new thread for a new member whose bunny has a broken jaw. They need advise and help @Elahenajafi
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Broken Jaw ~New member
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Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
@Elahenajafi, here is a link for what happened with my bun. He has since made a full recovery
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/pain-medicine.103486/
https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/pain-medicine.103486/
Elahenajafi
Active Member
Hello friends, it's been almost 2 weeks since my rabbit fell from a height and after the visit and the CT scan, the vet diagnosed that he has a broken jaw in several areas. The medicines he is taking are pedilact, calcium and vitamins, and the doctor has not prescribed any painkillers now. I'm very worried about him because he doesn't even eat alfalfa leaves, even if I mix a little with water, he doesn't eat at all and mostly eats water and grated carrots and apples.
Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
My advice would definitely be to insist that your vet to prescribe meloxicam or some other type of pain killer. When my bun didn’t have pain meds, he tried to eat but couldn’t very much because it was extremely painful. At that time, he could eat a bit of apple but had a much harder time eating other stuff till he got the pain medicine.
Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
Can you get oxbow critical care shipped to you? If you can, you might be able to syringe feed it to him so he’s getting more in his stomach
LolaE
Well-Known Member
So sorry to hear, Elahenajafi, about your bunny. Painkillers definitely sound like a good idea, and syringe feeding, too. Very important he eats enough so he doesn't go into stasis; that would make matters much worse. I hope he improves. Fingers crossed for you.
Have you offered hay? What was the result with his jaw? Was there permanent damage? Selective eating could mean there is a dental issue going on (related to that jaw being broken). Carrots and apples are very high in sugar and could lead to GI issues. Does he eat anything else?
@john.thorpe1952 wrote:
I will certainly help if I can,and I'm sure some of the members who have direct experience with this problem will be able to offer help too.If you don't mind me asking so I can get a better picture of what happened,how old is your rabbit,what sex,what is the normal diet apart from alfalfa? Does he/she have pellets of any sort and are they being eaten.I wonder if the jaw injury is making eating a bit painful,and whether you might try moistening the pellets withwater or a herbal tea such as comomile to make them easier to eat. Did you see a vet(I assume you did) and did they take an x ray to determine the extent of the damage?If your rabbit is tame and used to being handled (which is always a good thing to encourage),will he/she take food from your fingers?Sorry for all the questions,but as you can appreciate,it isn't easy when you can't see the animal directly.
I will certainly help if I can,and I'm sure some of the members who have direct experience with this problem will be able to offer help too.If you don't mind me asking so I can get a better picture of what happened,how old is your rabbit,what sex,what is the normal diet apart from alfalfa? Does he/she have pellets of any sort and are they being eaten.I wonder if the jaw injury is making eating a bit painful,and whether you might try moistening the pellets withwater or a herbal tea such as comomile to make them easier to eat. Did you see a vet(I assume you did) and did they take an x ray to determine the extent of the damage?If your rabbit is tame and used to being handled (which is always a good thing to encourage),will he/she take food from your fingers?Sorry for all the questions,but as you can appreciate,it isn't easy when you can't see the animal directly.
Elahenajafi
Active Member
Thank you very much for your attention. I will explain completely from the beginning. My rabbit is 4 years old and he is a male. Everything was fine when he fell from my wife's hand to the ground and a little blood came out of his mouth. I quickly took him to the vet who did a CT scan and said He has a fractured jaw. After this incident, he is not able to eat because of the pain he feels. He only likes carrots and bananas, but his doctor said that he should not eat fruit at all and only alfalfa leaves. He also has a plate that I soften in water. But he doesn't eat it either! Because of my concern, I soaked the alfalfa leaves with water and when it was soft, I put it in his mouth with my finger and he eats like that, but he still wants to run away very quickly. I am from Iran and unfortunately I don't have access to a good plate. Thank you for patiently reading my text so far
If there is any help, please guide me and do you think his jaw is burning? Because after 1 month, let's go and take a CT scan
Elahenajafi
Active Member
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john.thorpe1952
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I saw that others had also replied,before I did,and have mentioned some of the things I was going to say-presumably you will have seen those,which I wasn't aware of at the time.As they rightly say,the fruit and carrots are sugary and may cause gut problems.Does he have any complete pellets which you can moisten? In an ideal world you'd use a syringe feeding powder,but if this isn't available,moisten the pellets and mix really well to make it liquid enough for him.Put it through a fine sieve to get any bits out which might block the syring,and try syringe feeding him.If he's not very tame or scared,you'll have to be patient,but it is critical to get some fibrous food inside him,without hurtinghis jaw further.like the others I saw,I think pain relief is an obvious need,and making sure he's not stressed or cold.Talking to him all the time you're handling him is also a goodthing,calmly and quietly to let him know you mean him no harm.If you can find any vegetable baby food in jars,this could be a good substitute for the powdered syringe food,although it may have some sugar-check the label.again,put it through a sieve to getout any lumps which might block thesyringe.ask your vet for a feeding syringe if you haven't already.I do appreciate that it isn't always easy to get things we might take for granted,when youare living inanother country,and please don't think anyone's being patronising when we say these things-we're just tryyyying to be practical in what might not be ideal circumstances.
Elahenajafi
Active Member
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Elahenajafi
Active Member
Thank you very much for your attention. I will explain completely from the beginning. My rabbit is 4 years old and he is a male. Everything was fine when he fell from my wife's hand to the ground and a little blood came out of his mouth. I quickly took him to the vet who did a CT scan and said He has a fractured jaw. After this incident, he is not able to eat because of the pain he feels. He only likes carrots and bananas, but his doctor said that he should not eat fruit at all and only alfalfa leaves. He also has a plate that I soften in water. But he doesn't eat it either! Because of my concern, I soaked the alfalfa leaves with water and when it was soft, I put it in his mouth with my finger and he eats like that, but he still wants to run away very quickly. I am from Iran and unfortunately I don't have access to a good plate. Thank you for patiently reading my text so far If there is any help, please guide me and do you think his jaw is burning? Because after 1 month, let's go and take a CT scan
If there is any help, please guide me and do you think his jaw is burning? Because after 1 month, let's go and take a CT scanAttachments
Elahenajafi
Active Member
I am very happy that I have found good friends abroad who are so kind and compassionate and help me. I really had tears in my eyes because of all your love
. The hay gets stuck. Do you have a picture of it so I can take it? I appreciate all your efforts
Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
If you have any hay that he ate before his accident, maybe you could cut it into .5-1 centimeter long segments to see if he could eat it. You can hand feed hay segments to see if he can eat them. The important thing is to make sure he’s eating at least enough where he can poop.
I’m also posting photos of a feeding syringe, the type of critical care I used (don’t know if you can get it but I hope so), and pain medicine (meloxicam) which I used for my bunny.
I’m also posting photos of a feeding syringe, the type of critical care I used (don’t know if you can get it but I hope so), and pain medicine (meloxicam) which I used for my bunny.
Elahenajafi
Active Member
Thank you very much. Yes, the photo of the syringe and medicine came and I saw it
He doesn't eat alfalfa at all, even the leaves, that's why I've been touching his mouth with my finger for several days, I don't know if it's the right thing to do or not?!
Today, I will prepare this syringe and give him powdered tablets with water
I will also give you a photo of the plate
Only his poops are very few, maybe 10 to 20 a day
Elahenajafi
Active Member
I'm sorry, did your rabbit have a broken jaw? And is he completely fine now? I mean, I hope that he will be fine like the first day? 
Elahenajafi
Active Member
Moonshadow
Well-Known Member
My bun had a broken jaw too. It took him between one to two months to heal enough to eat normallyI'm sorry, did your rabbit have a broken jaw? And is he completely fine now? I mean, I hope that he will be fine like the first day?
