Bunny had 2 teeth pulled

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
   6 months ago you gave me great advice after my 7+ year old Netherland Dwarf bunny had a tooth pulled.   He had stopped eating most of his treats, and the vet found a loose tooth which was pulled.   Late the first night after surgery, he started eating.
    After he stopped eating many foods again 2 days ago, I forced some fluids on him until we could get into the vet this morning.   The vet found one loose tooth on each side of his mouth, so he had 2 teeth pulled.   He has drank a little pineapple juice and is on pain killer and anti-biotics, but the vet said she has never seen a rabbit get loose teeth this much.   I was wondering what could cause this, and secondly how long would it generally take time to recover from this before he starts eating.   Thank you!

ANSWER: Dear Robert,

Ohhhhh, I wish I could say I hadn't seen it either.  But unfortunately, I have known a few rabbits who simply seem to have what I would scientifically call "crappy teeth."  We have a rescued lionhead right now whose teeth are just constantly breaking, and we have no idea why except that it must be a congenital condition (thank you for all that inbreeding, breeders!).

If this is a recent development in your boy, though, I would wonder if there is some component of this due to metabolic bone disease and a problem with his calcium metabolism. This can happen in older rabbits, and is often accompanied by some degree of slowly developing osteoporosis.  Your vet might wish to take some full body radiographs to see if there is any evidence of this, especially in the skull, where the bones are already very light.  It could be that his tooth sockets are losing bone mass, and this could be part of the problem.

One possible solution (or at least palliative measure) would be to increase your bunny's outdoor time.  Sunlight is critical for vitamin D and calcium metabolism, and I know that our bunnies who have indoor/outdoor free choice access *never* have dental problems.  It's really striking.

Since your boy is seven years old, I'd doubt that he's bashing into things in youthful exuberance.  But is there a possibility that something is frightening him when you're not home, and that he panicks, and runs into things, head first?  This might sound odd, but we've actually seen this.  One of our jackrabbits (Chani) is such a klutz that she not only has broken her jaw (we think she slammed into the rain tent support when someone challenged her at a food bowl), but has managed to rip out a lower incisor and is constantly breaking her teeth.  It's just bizarre.  So I mention this possibility only because I know that certain bunnies are just...accident prone.

Once the broken teeth are removed, and as long as there are no broken bits under the gums, he should be able to eat as soon as the teeth start to grow back.  But if he's a gummy at the moment, you might want to get him some Critical Care from Oxbow Hay Company (www.oxbowhay.com), an excellent emergency food that you can hydrate to make a pellet mush or powder fluff--whichever he likes best.

In the meantime, ask the vet about pain medication (metacam and tramadol together work *great* for dental pain).  You can also fluff pellets yourself by covering a little dish of them with warm water or warm chamomile tea, allowing them to sit for a bit, and then fluffing them with a fork.  Bun will have an easier time managing the fluff, if his teeth are sore.

Hope this helps.  

Dana

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

QUESTION: Hi,
    Thanks for the quick response.   Your advice is greatly appreciated.  We just got back from the vet this morning as it's been almost 3 days with little eating.   He seems to have an appetite and charges to his food dish, actually climbs into it, moves food around and then doesn't eat anything.   The vet gave him fluids as he was a bit dehydrated (not much she said).
   I guess I wasn't clear in my first question, but they weren't broken teeth, just loose teeth.   He doesn't generally bump into things, so I was wondering if the same things apply in terms of healing time.   
    He is on pain-medication once a day, and we switched from a pill to injections for antibiotics this morning because getting him to take the pill with a syringe was not working out well.   The second question is, generally, how long before the teeth grow back enough to eat.   I didn't even know they would grow back if the root was pulled.
    Thanks so much for your help.

Answer
Dear Robert,

If the root was completely pulled, then the teeth will not grow back.

You have mentioned only "teeth," so I'm now not sure if this is just the incisors, or if the molars are also involved.  I would ask the vet to check the molars for spurs, too, since rabbits with dental problems like this often have painful spurs in the back that can cause them pain when they eat--to the point that they're hungry but won't eat.

Rabbit incisors grow quite quickly, but how fast they'll grow back depends on how much of the tooth was lost.  I'd say the rate of growth for a healthy rabbit is about 2-3mm per week, but that can vary among individuals.  If the root was completely pulled, though, the teeth won't grow back at all, and bun will have to gradually grow accustomed to eating pellets without front teeth.  

You might want to start him on the pellet fluff or Oxbow Critical Care I mentioned before, and he will probably gradually get back on his pellets once his mouth feels better after a bit of healing.

I hope he'll be fine soon!

Dana