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| On his arrival | Starting to look around | Been swimming in the pond! | Who is this fine fellow? |
Teddy Edward
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| On his arrival | Starting to look around | Been swimming in the pond! | Who is this fine fellow? |
Teddy Edward joined the family in August 2004. In his early days he was a bit of a feisty lad but, like good wine, has now mellowed to become loving and attentive. At his first check up, a couple of days after we collected him, our vet identified a twist on his upper incisors. He predicted that there would probably be issues with his teeth as he grew older and this indeed has been the case. Our first indicators of the troubles to come were the runny eyes and fur loss below. His teeth became tooth to tooth, then had spurs on the sides of the incisors and finally they overshot to become the classic malocclusion. We were faced with the choice of either having regular trips for them to be burred, or to take the plunge and have them removed. This was the option we went for.
X-rays showed that his jaw is indeed a mess, with bony enlargement caused probably by abscesses and molars about to cause problems. Most immediately concerning was the drastic overgrowth of the incisor roots which were impacting on the tear ducts and about to penetrate the soft palate. The surgery went ahead, and luckily went smoothly with him being allowed home that night for in-house care. Recovery was remarkably speedy, due in part to his enjoyment of being syringe fed. As soon as the syringe appeared, his little nose was pressed to the hutch door, with licking of lips and excited wriggling of his body. Slices of vegetables and tiny pieces of broken biscuit could be posted into his gappy mouth, but then came the demand 'Syringe Mummy' and in raptures he sucked the mixture out of the tube.
But a rabbit cannot be syringe fed 4/5 times a day for the rest of his life - hopefully 4 or 5 years. A rabbit that can take biscuit and peas out of mix in his bowl can undoubtedly take the other items and later be transferred back onto Excel. But getting the rabbit to agree to that was another matter and the desperate little face and sad eyes was enough day after day to ensure that a correct feeding regime did not return. 'Syringe Mummy' and sadness worked every time! Eventually hardening of the heart came into operation and the following morning his food bowl was scraped clean. Normal independent feeding has now resumed.
Teddy Edward is now putting on weight and will shortly have to go on a diet. His eye problems have ceased and he is as full of life and exuberance as any bunny you could wish to meet!
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Perfectly healed! |
The removed incisors! |
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