Rabbit not eating after incisor removal

Question
QUESTION: Hi. Seems like you know rabbits very well and was wondering your opinion. My bunny had his incisors removed last thursday due to malaclusion. Surgery was performed by a very experienced rabbit vet and the surgery itself went well. However, its been almost a week and bunny is still not eating on his own. His is being syringe fed oxbow critical care. he was on pain meds for a couple of days and still on bactrill antiobiotics. I took him home and monday and the syringe feeding was too much for one person to due so i brought hime back to the vet to stay as i thought it would be better because i had some observations that i am concerned about. On monday, several days after the surgery, he was still very lethargic. He usually runs around and is very active. He was lying down the entire night. He didn't want to touch any food. Usually when i put parsley in his bowl, its gone in 10 minutes. He wanted nothing to do with it and generally seemed disintered in me, whihc NEVER happens. I brought him back to the vet because of this and is still there, still not eating on his own. Initially, the vet thought he would startt eating at home where he was more comfortable and familiar but he didn't eat. i might not have given him enough time at home but i became concerned over the above syptoms and i was not getting enough food into his mouth with the syringe since i am only one person. Most of it got on the floor. He did eat a small piece of banana out of my hand but i could seem he was struggling trying to eat it. He attempted to eat a couple pieces of hay but he just kept chewinging on it and not really eating it and then just gave up. I'm very very concerned that he is still not eating on his own as tommorrow will be one week since the surgery. How long can this go on for and could something else be an issue? I have full faith in the doctor as she is one of the most expereinced rabbit doctors in all of Florida. They said that some take longer than other but my research says it should be a couple of days at most and we are approaching a week. How concernced do i need to be because i'm awfully worried. Thanks for your advice/help, it is greatly appreciated.
Brett

ANSWER: Dear Brett,

This can be a very painful surgery, and if the bunny's mouth was held open very wide there could also have been some soft tissue bruising that takes longer to heal and might be more sore than just the simple open wound where the teeth were extracted.  I have known this to happen on a couple of occasions, even for a simple molar trim.  

Please ask the vet what type of anesthesia and pre-anesthesia were used.  It's possible your bunny was more sensitive to one of the drugs than is usual, and this could also contribute to his feeling lousy.  

It is pretty unusual for the inappetence and pain to last a week, but if the incisors were a particularly difficult removal, then it may take some time before poor bun feels like eating on his own.  In the meantime, please ask about keeping him on pain meds, since this will be critical to his recovery and willingness to eat.

If he seems to be having trouble actually chewing, then you might also ask the vet to check the surgical site to be sure there is no sign of infection or inflammation that will slow down the healing process.  Also ask her to manipulate the jaws so be sure nothing was unduly injured (dislocated or broken?) during the surgery.

It's true that some bunnies do take longer to recover from this surgery than others, but a week does seem long if nothing went awry during surgery.  You might consider finding another rabbit vet for a second opinion:

www.rabbit.org/vets

if things don't start to improve in a few more days.  But if bun is improving, and your vet is attentive and concerned, then stay the course and things will get better with time.

Another option would be to (at least temporarily) join EtherBun, a free listserve about rabbit care, and ask the 5000+ members their experiences with incisor extractions and recovery.  You will very likely get some excellent help and shared experience there.  You can join and find more information here:

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

I hope this helps.

Dana


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

QUESTION: Dana,

Thanks for your input. I'm happy to report that Bunny is now eating on his own. He is eating greens and hay but still hasn't touched any pellets. I'm not sure why considering he loves those pellets. Maybee it's a good thing that he won't eat that many pellets anymore. However, he did lose weight and therefore the doctor wanted to continue to syringe feed him critical care until he puts that back on. Is that necessary if he's eating greens and hay. When i syringed fed him more of it ended up on his face, on me, or the floor than in his mouth. It was not pretty and want to avoid that if possible plus i don't want him to depend on syringe feeding for the proper diet. His attitude looks much better today than it did on tuesday. I'll keep monitoring him but i'm relatively hopeful it will be fine but he did scare the heck out of me on tuesday. Thannks again for your help.

Answer
Dear Brett,

I'm glad he's starting to eat on his own!  It may be that the pellets are a bit harder to chew, and he'll start on those later.  Even a little Critical Care is good for the essential nutrients and beneficial bacteria he might not get from just hay and greens, but if he needed to lose weight...well, that's one way to have a crash diet!  ;)

To get him to start eating pellets, you might try to "fluff" them.  To a small bowl of pellets, add enough water or chamomile tea to cover them, and then microwave for about 10 seconds.  Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, and then fluff them with a fork.  Voila!  Powdered pellets that are easy to eat!  Many bunnies really love them that way.

Good luck on his continued recovery!

Dana