Rabbit unable to chew hay

Question
Two days ago our 1 year old rabbit Alice fell from a 4 feet high window in an attempt to hop onto an adjacent shelf. She immediately ran away and just sat in the dark corner for a few minutes. There were no visible signs of injury, although her head was tilted a bit to the left for about an hour, but came back to normal afterwards. We got concerned because she showed difficulty eating her hay - she was chewing, but unable to cut a straw into pieces, eventually dropping it from her mouth. We tried 4 types of hay (timothy, oat, alpha-alpha and orchard grass) with the same result. She used to love hay. Now she keeps trying, but something prevents her from chewing it. She has a better luck eating pellets and grated carrot, although larger pieces are also occasionally dropped. She willingly eats softer greens like dill, basil and cilantro, tearing them into pieces while pulling her head backwards. Also she lost interest in water, whether from a water bottle or a dish, unless we add some apple juice to it. Even then she only makes a few sips. She moves freely, doesn't show any sign of sickness. Since she eats less, her poops became much smaller and scarce. Yesterday I took her to a vet, who examined her, but didn't find anything wrong. Her front and back teeth as well as her tongue were ok.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1510853/alice1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1510853/alice2.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Leonid

Answer
Hi Leonid....That certainly sounds like a dental issue most likely related to the jaw.  The fact that she presented head tilt is evidence that her head hit hard.  Possibly a mild concussion.  Rabbits are prey animals and will make every effort to not show pain since that would be a sign of weakness.  What I am going to say here is in no way any flaming of your vet.  I have the utmost respect for vets and have quite a few as volunteers in my wildlife rescue.  But I had to train them.  They get only a few days on exotics in vet school.  In the case of rabbits, it is impossible to properly examine the pre-molars and molars visually.  The dental structure of a rabbit requires radiology to get a real look.  Many vets either don't know this or tend to stay away from it due to cost or the fact that anesthesia muct be used to get a good shot.  Rabbits have a reputation of being a problem under anesthesia....but the risks are no worse than any other species if done properly.  I would suggest getting some x-rays of that jaw and teeth bilaterally on the left side.  If that isn't possilbe, I would ask your vet about some pain meds to see if that improves her condition.  In this case, I would suggest Metacam or Tramadol....and these two can be used at the same time.  It could be a loose tooth that is uncomfortable. Also something to consider is that you should keep an eye out for future dental issues.  A rabbit's teeth much occlude properly to wear down....if there is an injury to the jaw, that could affect occlusion and could result in overgrown teeth in the future.  But my suggestion is to ask your vet to take a more detailed look at that jaw and teeth via rads.