crusty fur around chin and mouth

[Holland_Lop]

russell began his teeth probelms about 8 months ago when I came home to find his entire left side of his face soaked. He got his teeth trimmed, and with a large variety of fresh veggies and hay Ive managed to keep his teeth trimmed. The other day I noticed that under his chin the fur is matted and crusty. I tried to wipe it clean but hehis very hard to hold down. Im thinking it has to do with his teeth. I know that a few times before I noticed that he seemed a little drooly, with his mouth leaving the things he was playing with wet. Im really upset because it seems as though he will need to get his teeth trimmed every 6 months. It breaks my heart to have to put him through surgery so often. anyone else dealing with a teeth issue?



p.s

im bringing him back to his vet this weekend.

 

[ra7751]

The trimmings might be more like once a month or so. If you have a skilled vet, it might be in your rabbit's best interests to have all 6 incisors surgically extracted. Two of my rabbits have had their incisors extracted due to malocclusion. Even though the surgery is rather difficult, both came thru in great shape (with appropriate narcotics post op). Certainly extraction should be considered if this is a chronic problem.

Randy

 

[tonyshuman]

Is the problem with Russel's front teeth or the molars in the back? I do think that taking the front teeth out can be a good idea, but it can be a bit more complicated to remove the molars. Unfortunately when bunnies have tooth problems they are usually genetic. In some cases one good trim can get the teeth back in order and they won't have tooth problems again. For most other bunnies, they'll have to have these frequent trimmings for the rest of their lives, unless they're moved. It sounds like you're doing the best you can with non-surgical stuff, and that's really all you can do.

Does he get hay? Sometimes fresh grass can be good too.

 

[Holland_Lop]

he does get unlimited hay. he's always munching on it. ive taken him to the vet every 3 months or so to get his teeth checked since his first episode in jan. he's only a year old, so he's only had his teeth trimmed once. when he saw the vet 4 months ago she thought he would only need his teeth trimmed once a year. His eyes are fine which were a sign the last time he needed a trim. Now its crusty fur around his mouth that is making me think he could be drooling.

it is his molars, they come in pointed i guess so they need to be trimmed down so they dont cause pain.

he's still drinking and eating normally. and always munching on hay and fresh veggies. it's just a bummer to bring him in so often because he gets so worked up and nervous. plus, its not good to put them under all the time, which it looks like he'll need to do every 6 months.

thanks for the advice/concern

 

[ra7751]

Same thing applies to molars....but they are even more challenging to extract. I would suggest getting an x-ray of the jaw and let's take a look at those molar roots. There could be something going on in the making the molars (or pre-molars) malocclude. Could be genetic or could be nutritional. Spurs can be very painful....as you see. What type of hay are you using? Type, cut, etc. What are you feeding him as far as rest of the diet. But I think an x-ray would be very helpful in determining what is going on in there. And if the rads are digital, you can post them for us to view.

In the hands of a skilled vet, sedation is not usually a problem. I have sedated baby cottontails with no problems. I also have some dental issue rabbits that have been sedated many times with no problems. If your rabbit does get stressed during a trip (and I have been fortunate that all but one of my rabbits have no problems with travel)...talk to your vet about some light sedation that you can administerprior to travel.

There are two things to consider when doing something like this. First is what is best for the rabbit. If he is easily stressed, it might be better to get the offending teeth out to prevent him being stressed on a regular basis. And since I have seen this before, it will be more often than every 6 months. Next is cost. While the upfront cost may be rather large, if you add up all the costs involved in floating teeth over time, it might would be more cost effective to get the teeth extracted.

Randy

 

[Maureen Las]

His teeth probably need to be filed or trimmed; rabbit teeth grow extremely fast and usually trimming molar spurs can be as often as every 6 weeks; I had a bun with extensive teeth issues andI know from experience that once or even twice a year is usually not enough.

It is usually a chronic condition... if the the incisors are the only issue having them all removed should put that problem to rest, however, you want to be sure to find a vet /dentist who is very experienced with doing these procedures and has the the correct tools and knowledge of anesthesia for a rabbit.

 

[tonyshuman]

To be honest, for a bunny that's just a year old, taking out the molars might be the option that costs less in the long run and has less suffering. It's a serious procedure, but considering that once he recovers, which will be much quicker than for an older bun, he won't need any more tooth work, that would be a great benefit.

Usually we see this kind of tooth thing come about at age 4+, unless they've got a "heavy genetic load" of bad teeth. For instance, if you got him at a pet shop, he may have been poorly bred. Many (not all) of the bunnies sold at pet stores are bred by non-professional breeders--what some would call backyard breeders. A more professional breeder will choose not to breed bunnies that have bad teeth or whose offspring have bad teeth because they don't want bad teeth genetics in their lines. People who breed to sell, not to show bunnies, often do not choose to remove bunnies with bad teeth from their breeding stock. For this reason, speaking in broad generalities here, pet store bunnies of the smooshed face bunnies (lops and dwarves) often have bad teeth. Of course there are some pet stores that sell bunnies that were bred by professionals, and some professionals are not good about removing bad teeth genes from their lines, and some very well-bred bunnies get tooth problems later in life, and some pet store bunnies were bred by responsible people that do keep the bad teeth out of the lines, etc. I'm just painting this in broad strokes. I hope you understand what I mean. A lot of bunnies in shelters too were once pet store bunnies that got surrendered to the shelter when they were no longer wanted.

What I'm trying to say is that it is rare for a bunny to have tooth problems that require trims monthly or every 6 weeks at age 1, and it probably will not go away. He is young and will heal faster from tooth extraction surgery than an older bunny. The cost over time of getting repeated tooth trims too could amount to more than getting the molars all extracted right now as well.

 

[Holland_Lop]

Right now he's eating a small hand full of pellets in the morning, unlimited kaytee timothy hay and sometimes i also give him oat hay. In the evening he gets a large salad containing 3-4 different veggies that include; brussel sprouts, parsley, cilantro, raddichio, kale, swiss chard, romaine, dill, and occasional small piece of apple, banana, or blue berry as a treat.

I got russell at a fair where there were a ton of bunnies locally bred. Some were for show, some were relatively inexpensive because they explained to me "they arn't for show" Russell wasn't the cheapest, but he wasn't the most expensive. I chose him out of the bunch because he seemed the most calm out of every one I held. (which now he has turned into quite the mad man haha)

when he was about 5 months old is when the teeth issues started. The vet said he'd need them trimmed every 3 months. When he was 9 months he got them checked and they appeared to be fine. So now im getting him checked again on a suspicion that he is having trouble once again. The vet that I bring him to is extremely knowledgeable and unbelieveable with rabbits. I certainly trust her, and I will certainly ask about having the teeth extracted to prevent consistent trimmings.

Im going to keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't need his teeth trimmed, and his crusty fur is caused by something less serious.

does anyone have an idea as to why his fur would have gotten that way if he didnt have to do with his teeth?

 

[tonyshuman]

Thanks for all the info. Sometimes we see fungal infections of the skin around the mouth of a bunny, usually started by drooling, but they can be caused initially by water bowls or veggies. Another option is rabbit syphilis but he would probably have some nose, eye, and/or genital crusties as well.