Rabbits bottom teeth

Question
I have a 2 year old female Holland lop rabbit. Her bottom teeth have grown a lot in the past two weeks. One of them almost touches her nose. She is having problems eating and we need to see if we can help her. Any suggestions?

Answer
Dear Nicole,

You must have your bunny's teeth trimmed (cut or filed, not clipped) so her life can return to normal.  If the bottom teeth are this bad, then the top teeth are probably just as bad, and may be curling inward up to her palate.  If this is allowed to continue, she could actually puncture her palate and invite a terrible infection.

Unfortunately, your bunny appears to have a pretty serious malocclusion, and will require constant trimming of her front teeth (and checking and filing of her molars, too), unless you have the teeth permanently removed, which is often the best and least stressful option, in the long term.  An experienced rabbit vet can do this, and I would recommend that you find one here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who can at least trim the teeth until you decide what to do on a more permanent basis.  Please read:

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

for an overview of this common problem (it's especially common in dwarf and lop rabbits, who have unusually short faces that can't normally accomodate the teeth).

Please get her to the vet ASAP, as this is a serious problem that can have very severe health consequences if left untreated.

I hope this helps.

Dana