My Bun's in the Operating Room!

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Izhang

Izhang

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Sorry if this is off topic, but I'm kind of panicky right now. My bun's at the vets right now getting his teeth trimmed. We thought it would be a pretty normal procedure, but because he hasn't ever got a dental exam before, they warned me that they might have to do some extractions...

And yeah, lo and behold, one of his molars is loose and they really want to extract it. I gave them permission, but now I'm worried about surgical complications because I haven't read up enough on it. I'm super worried that he might never be able to chew right.


 
Many rabbits have teeth extracted and are just fine. In the long run it is better to pull problem teeth as they can cause re-occuring infections/abscesses.

If they pull one molar, the MUST pull the opposing molar. With out an opposing tooth to grind against, the tooth will grow unchecked as rabbit teeth are open rooted.

We have several members who have rabbits with no incisors and some with no teeth at all (molars or incisors). Food has to be cut in smaller pieces for them, but they still manage a healthy diet and to live healthy and happy lives.

-Dawn
 
Yeah, I heard about having to pull two molars at once. I asked the vet about it and she told me that depending on the position of the molar, it's not completely necessary. :/ I didn't want to make her sound like she didn't know what she was talking about, so I didn't press her more.

I took Shadow to a Vet teaching hospital. The bill might come out to be about $400, does that sound about right?
 
I've never had one of my own buns have dental surgery, so I'm not sure what the average prices are for the surgery.

I'm sure other members who have had bunnies with dental surgery will be along and can tell you if the price sounds right :)

-Dawn
 
I don't know about the price, but I know my vet teaching hospital is more expensive than my regular vet. They are VERY good, though, so it is worth it sometimes.

Here are a few videos of a bunny getting teeth extracted if you can handle it:

http://www.youtube.com/user/FastUpOnRabbitCare

The fosterer for the bunny in the video is a forum member, and many other forum members have had this happen to their bunnies, so I'm sure some more good advice will be coming.

Make sure she gets good pain meds--buprenorphine or tramadol are good choices--not just metacam (meloxicam). Bunnies may need to be syringe-fed for a few days after an oral surgery too. He should probably get a course of antibiotics as well--injectible and/or oral. They do need to get the opposing tooth if there is one--some of the top molars don't have opposing teeth.

Removing an infected molar isn't that difficult and there isn't a lot of blood involved, so don't worry about that. The infection that made the tooth need to be removed does need aggressive and immediate treatment, though, to save the rest of the teeth.

Good luck!
 
We have had many bunnies go through much more extensive dental surgery and come through just fine. Even totally toothless bunnies can still eat just fine, with a few dietary adjustments.
 
Where did you take Shadow and who is the vet? Our program director is in Gainesville and I can ask her about their reputation. Or you can just email her yourself at [email protected] . Put something like "Dental Vet in Gainesville" in the reference line. I know she would be happy to answer any questions. Kathy is a wealth of knowledge on these issues. Tell her Patti sent you.
 
I took Shadow to University of Florida Small Animal Hospital, since they have a Veterinary school. Dr. Hall is the name, but I don't recall her first name. Thanks Patti for all your help. I'll email Kathy directly.
 
Shades just had her molars extracted last month. It was supposed to be a simple filing down of the molars but then I got the phone call that they had to do extraction. She came out fine and eating her greens and pellets normally. She wouldn't touch hay for about a month but hubby just told me he saw her eating hay last night!

The bill came out to about $165. only because they only charged me half for the anesthesia. Full cost would have been about $225.

Sending good wishes to Shadow and keep us updated.
 
Well it's been two days from the extraction, and Shadow seems to be doing just fine! He's happy, alert, and incredibly active, as he seems to remind me all the time by chewing on his cage door. I had a great experience with the staff at UF and Dr. Natalie Hall... the bill actually came out to be only around $285. They did charge me for the full anesthesia and the one molar extraction was $100, plus medicine and all that.

Shadow hasn't been eating hay though. Will he really not eat it for a full month? My vet said to encourage him to eat it as soon as possible, and that we may have to bring him in again if he doesn't start eating it soon (as in within a day or two.) Right now he's on Critical Care and some greens.

The medications I've been instructed to give him are antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and pain meds. The instructions say to keep him on them for seven days, but I know bunny stomachs can be very sensitive. Would anyone recommend stopping the antibiotic early?

Thanks for all your help guys.
 
I wouldn't stop the antibiotic early. Just like with humans, a bunny needs to complete the complete course of antibiotics prescribed.

I glad Shadow is feeling better and you were happy with your vet!
 
What you can do to offset some of the impact of antibiotics on his tummy is to start feeding him some acidopholus/benebac or some other probiotic for horses/goats/small animals.

Make sure you feed them at different times. Give him the probiotic as far away from the antibiotic dose as possible. That way you will get maximum effect from it.

-Dawn
 
I'm glad Shadow is recovery nicely! The amount was alot less that what you expected, guess you can buy Shadowget welltoys with the money you saved!:p

AfterShades' extraction,we fed her critical care andmashed up pellets with pumpkin. Shestarted eating pellets on her own within a day.She wouldn't touch hay for over a month, just pellets and greens.Just this week, we noticed she's slowly eating hay again. Not sure if the toughness of the hay bothered her. Baci also stopped eating hay for acouple of months since he started having molar problems. What we did with him wasmix upAlfalfa (his fav) with the timothyhay and he'lleat it that way.
 
I just priority ordered some fresh hay from Farmer Dave's since my local feed store didn't have any timothy hay in stock, and the Oxbow Botanical is running low. I ordered 1st and 2nd cut timothy, since I think the toughness of the 1st cut might be what's bothering Shadow. He keeps picking up the hay, chewing on it, and then doing this head tilt motion upwards a few times before dropping it.

I called Dr. Hall and she recommended that I cut back on the Critical Care to see if he'll eat some hay. He just looks so hungry and sad that sometimes I can't help but to give him some greens! Also he lunges at the Critical Care too, and tries to take the syringe from me.
 
Cutting back on the Critical Care may be a good idea. Keep an eye on Shadow to see if he is eating hay. If not, give him a feeding. Shadow seems very enthusiastic about his Critical Care. Are you feeding the apple-banana? Sparky just went through a mild gut slowdown and she loved eating her apple-banana.
 
I thought the Critical Care smelled orange-flavored but when I looked closely at the ingredients, it listed papaya and pineapple. Just goes to show you how well human noses work. :p
 
Critical care I think has some probiotic in it, so as long as he's on that, an additional probiotic isn't needed. Once he's back to normal food, though, adding a probiotic would be good. I get ProBios from a farm supply store. They have small animal, large animal, goat, horse, and all sorts of formulations. I've tried the horse form and the small animal one. Horse is in a gel, small animal is a powder. If you don't think he'll like the taste, the powder is probably best as it can be mixed with something tasty like canned pumpkin. Another good one that's found at pet stores is Bene-Bac. It's in a gel form, in small tubes or a large tube for dogs/cats, and sometimes you can find it as a powder for small animals. My guys don't mind the taste of either, but somebunnies do.

It's much better to add a probiotic than to stop an antibiotic early, especially since Shadow had infected tooth roots.
 
Update!

Shadow's doing well and has started to eat some hay! Not a whole lot, but he's nibbling at it more often than he did before his surgery. I also started giving him pellets again, and he gobbled those up as usual. :)

I plan on keeping him on his antibiotics for the full week, but keep giving him a little bit of supplemental Critical Care until I can find time to get Bene-Bac. I've got a huge test on Monday so everything is put on the hold til then.

If he's eating pellets and hay it should mean that he's no longer feeling a lot of pain, correct?
 
Eating pellets and hay is always a positive sign. Is Shadow still on metacam? If he is, then that may be taking care of any pain he has. When you take him off the Metacam, make sure he continues to eat. Great job taking care of Shadow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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