My bunny wont eat

Question
Our 18 month old lop eared cross called Jazz started drooling heavily and went off his food nearly 2 weeks ago.  The vet decided the small front top teeth behind his big ones were the cause and needed to be extracted.  Since this op, his eating has been slow and poop virtually nil.  I guessed he would be very sore still to eat so I didn't worry for a few days (as he's drinking well).  However, it's been over a week and he's still not eating nearly enough food.  Pellets he won't touch unless the're wet and mushy and he'll only eat veges sometimes and then not very much at all.  Seems to change from day to day what and how much he'll eat.  He's losing condition and I'm very worried.  I rang the vet back who said there is absolutely nothing else wrong with his mouth/throat and that he should be eating.  What can I do to get him back to normal?  Desperate!

Answer
Dear Julie,

Granted, I did not see your bunny's teeth before the vet did the extraction.  But I will say that I have *never* seen a rabbit whose peg teeth (the tiny incisors behind the main one) were the main cause of a drooling problem. It's not impossible, but it's extremely rare.

This problem is far more often caused by *molar* spurs, and I would not necessarily trust the vet who did the extraction to be straight with you if he's brushing you off this way.  Please find a different vet here for a second opinion:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and, hopefully, much better treatment of your bunny.

He probably needs not only *pain medication*, but treatment for dehydration and GI slowdown.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

for things you can do until you get him to the vet for some proper care, checking for surgical complications that the first vet doesn't seem willing to look for, etc.

I hope this helps, and that you can find a different vet who will take your bunny more seriously as a patient.

Dana