Malocclusion Experience

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SkippysMom

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Joined
Jan 25, 2008
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Location
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Hello! I'm very new to this, but joined at the recommendation of naturestee. I met a bunny in a shelter nearby and am interested in making her a companion to my other bunny, Skippy. The only problem is is that this little sweetheart has malocclusion. My husband thinks she's 'defective' and doesn't want to adopt her. I love bunnies and she seems sweet, but I want to know more about her condition and any possible remedies before possibly adopting her. I've heard that there is a surgery to help ease this bunnies eating troubles and lead to a better life. Anyone out there have any experience with this - benefits, costs, quality of life, dangers? We have qualified vets in our area and I have a call in to one to ask more questions, but any information or advice you could provide would be very helpful. Thanks for your help in advance!
 
So this bunny has front teeth that don't line up and will need regular trimming or removal?

I don't have any personal experience, but I know we have several members who have dealt with either regular teeth trimmings or incisor removal.

From what I've gleaned from reading about others experiences, a bunny with bad incisors can live a very happy life.

With regular trimming, the incisors can be kept at a healthy length so the bunny can eat properly. Trimmings done with a dremel like tool are safer and work better as there is less chance of cracking the tooth and causing an infection.

Taking the incisors out means you don't have to take the bunny back for regular trimmings. The initial cost and trouble is higher, but can result in a happier life down the road. Food will have to be cut into little pieces as they won't have incisors to do the chopping for them.

I'll let others who have first hand experience chime in with their stories.

--Dawn
 
Hi, I have a little boy that needs regular teeth trimmings every 6 weeks.

I think he's living a very good life...he eats very well, and with the regular trimmings, he's a "normal" rabbit!

I chose this option (for the time being) because my vet only charges $10 to get it done!

To help with the natural process of grinding down teeth,I offer him different types of hay, since different types require different grinding techniques! He's actually due for a trimming this Monday, but I think his teeth look great ever since he's been exposed to different hay and chew toys :)

Hope this helps,

Kathy
 
I have a boy whose front teeth have been completely removed. The rescue got them removed right before he came to live with us, so I don't have any experience with the procedure itself, but I can say that it didn'ttake him long to learn how to suck food to the back of his mouth so he can chew it.

I have to feed him separately from his companion, as she is able to eat faster and was eating all his food, causing her to get chubby and him to lose weight. He's not had any otherproblems since and doesn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact I don't think he knows he hasn't got any frontteeth, because he'll chase a whole carrot around the floor for ages, like, 'Maybe THIS time I can pick it up!'


 
My Sooty has to get his teeth cut every three weeks. He eats fine and when i first got him they were so bad and i didnt even know because he was eating and acting fine :shock: When i dropped him off to get nutered we looked over him and i wanted to die they were horrible. I was going to include the link where i had pics but i cant find it so i will attach a pic of his teeth. HE goes every three weeks and I am going to make an appointment soon to talk to a vet about taking the teeth out, but am scared about doing that.



With a rabbit that needs his teeth trimmed you have to be aware of things like abcesses and possibly getting them removed, or having to keep getting them trimmed. These things are things to think about before adopting a rabbit that you are knowingly going to have to get his teeth trimmed. I wouldnt change in Sooty and I love him to death, that is why we are looking into getting them removed so that i dont have to worry about any abcesses or problems.



First let me say that he is a happy baby and would have never known that he has a problem with his teeth he eats pellets fine, veggies fine, drinks water fine. So here is my babys face.

HPIM1873.jpg


This was a pic with 5 weeks from the last time he had them done. We are at 3 weeks in between and it cost me 16.00 every time.

HPIM1572.jpg


This is them when they are done.

HPIM1573.jpg




Here is also a thread that has some more pics of Jadeicing's Dallas with no teeth, some questions answered about teeth removal, and a link to the teeth section. There are also some other members here that should be able to tell you more about teethless bunnies, or teeth trimming bunnies. I hope this fact doesnt keep you from adopting the rabbit, but just some food for thought sot hat you know what is entailed when getting this bun.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=30526&forum_id=1




 
Hi SkippysMom! I'm so glad you joined!

I should see if I can get some pics of Beansprout for you guys to see, or maybe Boz (another member here) can when she goes in to the shelter tomorrow. She's a volunteer too.

Beansprout is a mini lop at the shelter I volunteer at, maybe 6 months old and is still growing. One of her bottom incisors sticks straight out of her mouth. The upper incisors go behind the lower, not in front of like they're supposed to. The vet clipped her teeth when she first came in, and just a few weeks ago I had to send her back in because her upper teeth were so overgrown that she couldn't close her mouth. I think she'll need her teeth ground down every 2-4 weeks. She still eats even when her teeth are bad, she just sucks stuff in through the side of her mouth. And she likes hay.

Julie from Soulmate Rabbit Rescue and I offered to help out with paying for an incisor removal surgery, but the shelter vet said she didn't need it. Of course, this is the same guy that said Luna was 100% healthy, while my vet thought she looked so bad she did blood tests to see if she had major internal problems! (BTW, turned out to be molar spurs and malnutrition.)

I'll pm a couple other people that have experience with this. And if nobody at the Sheboygan Animal Hospital has done an incisor removal surgery, I can get you the info for a veterinary dental specialist that works with rabbits.

A few other notes, if the teeth are clipped instead of burred or ground down, it can sometimes cause damage to the tooth roots, causing them to grow strangely and cause more problems. I recommend skimming through the dental thread in our Library:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11901&forum_id=10

And you're more than welcome to introduce us to Skippy, if you want!:)
 
Hi SkippysMom....Welcome to the forum. We deal with dental issues here all the time and have numerous rabbits with several issues. The namesake of our rescue, Sabrina, suffered from both incisor malocclusion and molar spurs. The first time we trimmed the teeth with her, it was under sedation. Needless to say the expense was considerable plus the increased risk (at that time sedating a rabbit was considered very risky) was tremendous. She eventually learned to allow a dremel to trim her teeth. While a dremel makes a smooth trim..if the rabbit jumps, the bit will cause severe trauma and bleeding. We have also clipped the teeth with clippers. It is less costly but also carries risk. It is possible to shatter a tooth below the gum line and that is a prime target for infection.

Our shining star in dental issues is Noah.....if you check our blog on this site, you can read her story. She is a blue-eyed Hotot that was "set free" and got hit by a car. Her jaw was broken and that resulted in severe malocclusion of all the incisors and one side of her molars. We debated on having her incisors removed. We finally decided to do so. We knew the teeth we so damaged that the roots were growing in unusual ways and that sets up an impaction which leads to a very serious mandibular abscess. The surgery to remove all six of the incisors is difficult and only the elite of the vets can perform this surgery. Due to the length of time for the procedure, it is best to intubate the rabbit for better control of breathing. The roots are very long and difficult to remove. When we brought Noah home, just looking at her...I was very concerned if I made the correct decision. We had to step up the pain meds. She didn't eat for nearly 4 days....which we had expected and planned for. She started by sipping some water and then taking some pellet mush. And within days she was back eating normally. It did take her alittle while to adjust to not having incisors since they pick up pellets and tear greens with the incisors. They have prehensile lips likea horse and quickly learn to pick up pellets with their lips. The only other husbandry modification is that veggies and fruits must be cut up into small pieces since they have no way to tear them. In Noah's case, despite my early concerns, we now know that we did the best thing for her. No more teeth growing thru her lip, no more drooling and no more pain. Today, she is very happy....very healthy....and doesn't have the stress of those regular sedations for incisor and molar trims. We have several others that are in the process of becoming healthy enough for incisor extraction. It is stressful for a few days...but we feel it's worth it.

Randy
 
Hi there and welcome!

Really, dealing with malocclusion isnt bad if youre willing to either a) take her in for regular trimmings or b) have the incisors removed.

From my own personal experience, I say if you can afford it just to have the incisors removed. Its so much easier in the long run on both you. I have a boy, Max, who had a very large abscess in his jaw so we went ahead and removed all the incisors and the peg teeth (the two teeth behind the top incisors). Max eats like a horse. He can eat his pellets and hay just fine by using his tongue and lips to grab and his molars to chew. He just needs me to cut up veggies for him.

Id say if youre interested in her you should definitely go for it. If you cant afford or dont want to put her through the surgery now you can always just have them trimmed and consider the surgery later.

We're definitely here to answer any questions you may have!

Haley

PS. If you'd like more info, check out our Library thread: Teeth
 
Hi Skippy,

If you decide to get Beansprout (which is an incredibly cute name, by the way!)and you find out you can't get a good vet for this in Sheboygan, Angela asked me to provide you with the information about the veterinary dentist that I took my little girl Sherry to.

He was wonderful! His name is Dale Kressin, DVM, FAVD, Dipl. AVDC. His primary clinic is in Oshkosh, but he also works in Milwaukee one day per week. If in the future you need more specific info, let me know. Also, based on what I've read in this thread, I think either my vet or Julie/Treasured Friend's vet could do this procedure. A "regular" vet would be less expensive, I think.

I hope you're able to get Beansprout! :)
 
Hey, Welcome! I'm not much help with the whole teeth thing, but I can tell you I think Beansprout is a very pretty girl! It looks like you got a lot of replies already though. :)

Oh, and Like naturestee said, I also volenteer at the shelter. When I wasthere today herbottom teeth were sticking straight out, but she gladly took atreat from me! She was begging for atreat! I didn't getnaturestee's message about a picture till after I was there today though.
 
Because several different idiots have left their different gender gerbils together, had too many babies, and dumped them all on the shelter.:X

Doesn't help that two babies were missexed and caged together, resulting in two more little gerbil babies.

Want some? There's like 4 or 5 same gender gerbils in every tank. They're really sure this time. You can have a whole gerbil colony! I'd be tempted if my cats weren't too smart for the gerbils' good.
 
My little Zilligan goes to have his teeth trimmed every 4 to 6 weeks, depending on how fast they grow. He was born 2/03 and came here 2/06. For 5 years, ever since he was a baby, he has had his teeth done. My Vet would rather not remove them so....off we go, every 4 to six weeks. Zilly doesn't seem to mind getting them trimmed, at all. He eats just about everything without any problem....except for carrots and a few opther fruits & veggies. He cannot bite into them so, I grate them for him...and I mash his banana...slice his grapes & apples, etc..
 
naturestee wrote:
Because several different idiots have left their different gender gerbils together, had too many babies, and dumped them all on the shelter.:X

Doesn't help that two babies were missexed and caged together, resulting in two more little gerbil babies.

Want some? There's like 4 or 5 same gender gerbils in every tank. They're really sure this time. You can have a whole gerbil colony! I'd be tempted if my cats weren't too smart for the gerbils' good.
Click to expand...


I'd take some if I could. I already have threeEven though Ihave roomfor, atthe most three more... I have a another20 gallon tank.I always bring stuff in for them too.. Last time I brought TP rolls stuffed with Toiletpaper. They went nuts! They loved it.

Getting off subject..

Yes Beansprout is a doll isn't she? She's always begging for attention when you go by her cage. :p
naturestee, I might get in this week before Thursday. Don't know yet though. I might go in thursday too.



 
A BIG thank you to everyone who responded. You given me a lot of good information that will help in making my decision. I have yet to hear from our vet, so I don't know her thoughts yet. I will keep you all posted about what we decide. Again, thanks for all of your insights. You were definitely helpful!
 
I have to tell you that Roger came in, last April, needing his teeth done. I took him twice to have them done. He & Zilligan went together. The second time I took him, his teeth did not have to be trimmed!!! Roger had been eating so much hay that his teeth were almost normal. Mind you, they are not the straightest but, I have not had to have them trimmed since that first trimming. I do keep an eye on them to make sure that they are staying at a normal length.
 
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