Chance
Malocclusion leading to Infection
Surrender Date: March 15, 2022
Neuter Date: April 20, 2022
Medical Surrender
Chance has gone through quite the ordeal. When surrendered into our care, he was brought immediately to Campus Estates (our local emerge hospital) where he was examined and we found out that his cheeks and tongue were cut up and infected pretty badly due to overgrown teeth. The amount of damage and severity of the infection looked to have been going on for weeks at least. While having major dental issues, he was also in the middle of a blockage. Not only is a blockage fatal for a rabbit but it has added an additional complication to his recovery. A rabbits tract must remain active/moving for them to stay alive. The dental issues alone were enough to make him not want to eat, if that wasn't enough he also had a blockage forming which also causes rabbits to stop eating. Both conditions being fatal, he had a long recover ahead of him if he was able to make it through.
The cuts in Chance's mouth from overgrown teeth have all led to infection from lack of timely treatment. These cuts would have continued to reopen with new ones forming from continued lack of dental care.
With the pain he was experiencing, he wasn't able to eat as much as he should have been. When he arrived into our care, he was no longer eating at all. This was concerning because he required anesthetic which would cause the GI tract to move even slower. With having a blockage while needing to go under anesthetic, Chance was at a very high risk of not coming through this alive.
When a rabbit enters a blockage, typically owners are looking at a hospital stay which costs around $3000. If it comes to surgery due to the severity of the blockage, sadly most rabbits do not make it through. Their intestinal tract is very delicate, much more than one of a cat or dog.
At the time of surrender he was unaltered and around 3-4 years of age. On top of his dental issues and blockage, he also had urinary scalding on his testicles and sore hocks due to improper flooring. His sore hocks were on the verge of turning into abscesses which would require surgery.
