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rabbit: aquired dental disease

22 10:02:49

Question
QUESTION: My vet has determined that my rabbit, who is on occasion teary, has acquired dental disease. He attributes this to his small frame and cute somewhat smushed in face. While my rabbit continues to tear in one eye on and off, but not enough to cause any fur damage from wetness, (his rabbit mate does a good job of keeping the teary eye clean), i'm wondering at what point should we take action on this.

My vet was pretty vague about what procedure would be performed to fix this problem. Will the teeth be removed or is it another sort of surgery? Is it best to wait till the tearing is a continual thing before this? How do I know my rabbit isn't in some sort of pain at the moment from the dental issue?

Thank you, any help and info on this diagnoses would be great.

ANSWER: Dear Henry,

This is a chronic problem, but I would NOT do anything about it such as removing molars.  This will not guarantee a solution, since the scarring may do as much to occlude the tear ducts as the molar roots themselves.

It's good that your bun has a loving mate who keeps her clean.  Because truly, that's about the best you can hope for.  This is one of those nasty, chronic things that comes from breeders creating rabbits with morphologies that are not conducive to their good health and longevity.  :(

Unless she shows any sign of infection, there is nothing more you can really do.  Just love her and spoil her and hope that her mate will keep her nice and clean.  If she doesn't develop infection, there's no reason she can't live a long, happy life, even if she has teary eyes.

Hope that helps.

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Is this condition causing my rabbit pain? how can i tell.. is there anything I can do to lessen the pain. I'm worried my rabbit doesnt eat as much hard food as before.

Also, my vet wants to flush the tear ducts with contrast and do an xray - do you suggest doing this procedure?

Thank you!

Answer
Dear Henry,

If there is infection in the bone, this might be causing the bunny pain.  But otherwise, it's hard to tell.  If he is eating less, it's possible he's sore.  You might ask the vet about giving him some metacam, which might also reduce inflammation enough to open the tear ducts.

Has the vet prescribed any antibiotic/corticosteroid ophthalmic drops, to see if these will help open the ducts?  I'd ask about this.  A tear duct flush might well be a good idea if the ducts are not completely occluded.  But if they are, the flush won't do any good.  

Radiographs of the head will allow the vet to assess the condition of the teeth with more accuracy, and to see if there is any osteomyelitis (bone infection), so I would agree to that.

I hope the vet can get your little guy in better shape.  But be *sure* this is a vet who is very experienced with rabbit tear duct flushes and rabbit medicine in general.  You can find rabbit-savvy vet listings here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

Hope that helps.

Dana