Malocclusion in Kit

I've got one kit out a of a little of 8 that has some serious malocclusion problems. I've read about trimming the teeth, but was uncertain about how to go about doing it. The kit is well on his way to hasenpfeffer, but I don't want to cause any unnecessary pain or for the animal to suffer until seasoning day.

I know there are some threads on here about malocclusion, but I'd like specific advice on correcting the issue without taking the animal to a veterinarian, even if that advice is only to put the animal down sooner rather than later. He seems to be having some difficulty eating and is noticeably smaller than the others.

cull him to the pot sooner than later.

Severe tooth issues = starvation.

Both parents need to carry it for it to occur, so don't breed the offending pair again. Note the any kits from this coupling are now carriers of it.

Hmm, I think that one kit with the disorder could be due to an accident that caused the teeth to go out of alignment.
Perhaps it had a little fall and landed on it's face?
If they were mine, and I was completely comfortable with hassenpfeffer (which I am) I wouldn't retain any kits, and I'd breed the pair again to test for a potential genetic base. If, after several litters, there are no malocclusion kits, genetics could be reasonably ruled out. If more were produced, I'd probably cull the whole line.

I would suppose you are talking front teeth. I have one little doe that got in a fight with her only littermate and messed up her teeth. I had my husband hold her on her back. I put a screwdriver long ways behind her teeth(think bit in a horses mouth) and took a pair of needle nose pliers and crushed the tips ( their teeth are not hard and they just crush pretty easy) so that the top teeth were shorter. Now without the other teeth in the way, the bottom teeth can come up where they should. It did not seem to bother her at all, and as long as they can get a pellet in their mouth and back to the molars they can eat just fine. She is doing much better, but only time will tell if the bottom teeth come in where they should.

ladysown":hr5xohnj said:

cull him to the pot sooner than later.

Severe tooth issues = starvation.

Both parents need to carry it for it to occur, so don't breed the offending pair again. Note the any kits from this coupling are now carriers of it.

Click to expand...

He's not starving, but he certainly has more trouble eating than the others. As these are not pets, I tend to agree with your supper solution.

-- Fri Jul 01, 2016 8:28 am --

BlueHaven":hr5xohnj said:

I would suppose you are talking front teeth. I have one little doe that got in a fight with her only littermate and messed up her teeth. I had my husband hold her on her back. I put a screwdriver long ways behind her teeth(think bit in a horses mouth) and took a pair of needle nose pliers and crushed the tips ( their teeth are not hard and they just crush pretty easy) so that the top teeth were shorter. Now without the other teeth in the way, the bottom teeth can come up where they should. It did not seem to bother her at all, and as long as they can get a pellet in their mouth and back to the molars they can eat just fine. She is doing much better, but only time will tell if the bottom teeth come in where they should.

Click to expand...

Yes, the malocclusion is in the bottom incisors. I'll see if I can get a picture of it to upload later in the day. I'm fairly certain that I'm not going to be breeding this one, just in case it is the result of genetics and not an accident, but I'd be interested to hear how similar our cases are. I would like to keep him around long enough to get some good meat from him, but I certainly don't want him to suffer. <br /><br /> -- Fri Jul 01, 2016 8:31 am -- <br /><br />

Zass":hr5xohnj said:

Hmm, I think that one kit with the disorder could be due to an accident that caused the teeth to go out of alignment.
Perhaps it had a little fall and landed on it's face?
If they were mine, and I was completely comfortable with hassenpfeffer (which I am) I wouldn't retain any kits, and I'd breed the pair again to test for a potential genetic base. If, after several litters, there are no malocclusion kits, genetics could be reasonably ruled out. If more were produced, I'd probably cull the whole line.

Click to expand...

There was one kit that fell out of the cage when they were first starting to climb out of the nesting boxes. My children help tend the rabbits, and there was at least one falling incident I can recall. Nothing appeared wrong with the kit at the time, but it was this litter that had the accident. I've had two other litters from this pair already and there were not other genetic issues, so hopefully this was the result of an accident and not something else.

I just put down the "litter hippo" of my most recent litter because she developed severe malocclusion. Had I caught it earlier, I might have trimmed, knowing she was headed for the stewpot anyway and just hoping for a good sized meal.

But I didn't catch it. I noticed, but didn't know why, she had slowed down growth around the 10 week mark. She wasn't bony, but she fell way behind. Then I saw her teeth while she was eating one day and realized they were messed up. Her top teeth were too long and curled inward, while the bottom were slightly crooked and also way overgrown. I check teeth on all my kits around 2-3 weeks and again at around 6-8 weeks, but hers were fine back then. Something must have happened, or there was just a delay in the progression of the problem. I checked all littermates the day I culled her and they all have normal teeth.

I am too squeamish to attempt to trim teeth with pliers. If I wasn't squeamish and the kit was say, 8 weeks old, then I'd trim and hope that would provide enough relief until the day he goes to camp. There's a video on YouTube on how to do it... looks easy enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTD_6miRGGs