Constant chewing with no food in the mouth

[hln917]

Shades hasalot of dental issues.Shehad her upper and bottom incisors removed last year and in July had 5 molars removed. Her molars are just not growing correctly. She's very stubborn and refuses to eat hay. We even cut it up to 1-2 in for her.

Last week we took her back to the vet again to have another molar filed down b/c it was hitting her cheeks. The vet only prescribed Metacam for 3 days and no antibiotic. Didn't seem the cheeks were infected. She normally bounces right back and did eat her pellets the next couple of days but not as much as she normally would. She came down for her oats yesterday morning but as of last night she wouldn't leave the room. We gave her a dose of Metacam last night. This morning we tried to syringe feed her CC but she wouldn't take it. (Normally even with her teeth issues, she would still take it willingly, she did drink water though.) Just now I noticed she's constantly chewing like she has food or hay but their is nothing in her mouth. She'll stop than she'll continue chewing again. Not grinding but chewing.

Not sure if it's her molars bothering her or maybe statis. She's also moulting but we don't feel any hardness in her belly. We also gave her a dose of gas med this morning. I'm taking her back to the vet tomorrow morning but in the meantime is it safe to force feed her CC if it is statis?

 

[Sweetie]

Does it look like she is cleaning her bottom, then you are seein her do a chewing action? If so she is chewing her cecals, the night stools that have the nutrients in them for their GI tract. It is good that she is staying hydrated. If he isn't eating, then I would go ahead and force feed the Critical Care so that he has some food in his system. Oh does he get any veggies? If so will he eat those?

 

[Pipp]

You'll have to force feed the Critical Care if you're giving her Metacam, it always has to be taken with food and never given to dehydrated rabbits.

They may have nicked her a bit or had the brace open too wide and it's more uncomfortable than usual.

And if she didn't have food in her stomach when she had the Metacam, she could have a tummy ache as well.


sas :clover:

 

[Pipp]

PS: Try and find a brand of 'extruded' pellets (I believe Kaytee makes one) and also bits of veggies like kale, fresh grass, herbs, etc, might help keep her teeth ground down.

 

[hln917]

Thank you Sweetie and Pipp for responding. She also refuses to eat any greens. I've laid out all types of green for her to pick and choose and she refuse them. She is eating Oxbow pellets. What would be the difference between that and and "extruded" pellet? The vet said we can try Alfalfa if it's the only way to get her to eat hay.

Last nite and this morning she was in a loaf position and didn't want to move. This afternoon she did a 360was a bit more active. She ran into a room she's normally not allowed to go into and started jumping up on the couch and tear up some wrapping paper with her sister Cappy. She also came downstairs tonite and was begging for treats. She still hasn't touched her pellets but does has an appetite. We syringe fed her CC and water and she willingly took them. Perhaps her molars are still sore like you mentioned Pipp. We'll keep an eye and see if she touches her pellets overnite, otherwise it's back to the vet tomorrow. He's 88 miles away and I hate to stress her during the ride.

Here's a pic of her tonite. She's definitely confusing us.....

 

[Sweetie]

She is adorable. Yes it does sound like she is having molar issues. Maybe there are spurs on the molars, hence molar spurs. The vet would be ableto trim them down for you.

Does she not want to eat a certain type of hay or is it all hay that she won't eat? Hay and fresh grass are the ones that will keep the teeth trimmed down.

I had a bunny that had molar spurs and had to have them trimmed down, since then he didn't have any problems with his teeth.

 

[hln917]

Sweetie wrote:

She is adorable. Yes it does sound like she is having molar issues. Maybe there are spurs on the molars, hence molar spurs. The vet would be ableto trim them down for you.

Does she not want to eat a certain type of hay or is it all hay that she won't eat? Hay and fresh grass are the ones that will keep the teeth trimmed down.

I had a bunny that had molar spurs and had to have them trimmed down, since then he didn't have any problems with his teeth.

Thanks Sweetie. She did have one of her molars filed down last week. She stop eating hay about a year ago. Once in awhile we'll see her with a piece of hay in her mouth.

We just went up to check on her and she was eating her pellets~ yay!! She also ran over and showered hubby with bunny kisses all over his face. Guess we'll just have to monitor her again in the morning.

 

[LakeCondo]

I hope she's still doing well. Does she chew on anything? Have you tried giving her sticks?