Points on molars

[daisyandparsley7]

Hi everyone. I went to the vet today and they said she had small points on her molars (2 ). They suggested getting them off..... So 35 bucks and 5 minutes later she's all good. They said it could be a one time thing but now I'm worried. She had a vet appointment last year from the shelter when she was rescued and it said on her record her teeth were normal. She is a picky hay eater so I'm not sure if that caused it, but she loves her veggies. My other rabbit had even smaller points that my other vet said she was not worried about but he eats his hay and veggies like a champ so I'm not that worried about him.

I guess my main point or questions are how will I know if she gets them again? Will it just be food changes because I didn't see any this time...although she is new to me. I know her foster home said she eats a lot of hay but she doesn't seem that crazy about it with me even though it's the same hay she was on. And has anyone had rabbits who just had to get the points ground off once?

 

[missyscove]

Not eating, eating less, or being picky about what she eats would be a good sign of a possible dental issue. Every rabbit physical exam should include a look in the mouth. Most vets use either a speculum or an otoscope cone to do this. As prey animals, rabbit are pretty stoic and will hide when they're in pain well. Offering a few different varieties of grass hay can help them wear their teeth down better as different varieties require different chewing motions.

 

[evesuttle]

^ agree with everything said here.

My rabbit recently got the points shaved off his teeth and the vet was fairly certain it will happen again but not sure how often. it could happen only every 2 years or could be every 6 months so you definitely need to keep a close eye on it.

You can watch out for eating less food for being less active due to pain in the mouth but that can happen quite late on. My rabbit had a constant drool on one cheek for the week before we got it done so you can feel his cheek/mouth for that (careful not to mistake recent drinking water for drool).

I'm able to check my rabbits front teeth very easily but I can't check his back teeth at all so frequent vet check ups are the only way to know for sure. Though I'd love to get my hands on one of those lit up microscope things they use to take a look at home.

Similarly, my rabbit is reluctant to eat hay or grass so we're doing the only thing we can - cutting down on his pellet food so that he has to eat hay when he gets hungry in between meals. He's still really reluctant to eat hay though but that's him just being a diva.