New to Bunnines

Question
Hi Lee
Please can you help me with my lopeared bunny that I have adopted.  He is only about a year old and I had him spayed in the summer.  When the vet spayed him they noticed that his teeth were very badly overgrown and trimmed them for me.  But recently I noticed a runny eye so took him to the vet and was told that his teeth were bad again (6 months from being trimmed before)  He reckoned that the teeth were causing a blocked tear duct, so filed his teeth down again.
I know that feeding hay is very important, but he just wont eat it at all.  I'm so worried about him as the vet doesn't appear to have much hope for him and thinks we may have to have his teeth trimmed every 6 months or even remove them!!!!
He also does a lot of teeth chattering!
Can you suggest a way of getting him to eat hay that may keep his teeth trim and hopefully releave his runny eye?
Many thanks
Charlene - Northern Ireland

Answer
Hi Charlene,

thanks for adopting your little guy.  His teeth-chattering is a sign that he is happy.

Generally speaking, once a bunny has teeth problems, they tend to need trims for the rest of their life.  His sound less severe if the vet is saying every six months.  There are some that require trims every month.  Perhaps if he can really get them aligned well they may make it six months.

The problem with teeth problems is that they lead to duct blockages or infections in the sinus passages/eyes - and this is serious because their ears and brain are so close to those areas.

Most rabbits tend to like hay.  It is what they are designed to eat.  He may not like the particular brand you are giving him.  You may want to try a grass hay from a different vendor.  In general I look for 3 things when I get hay.  First, it needs to smell fresh (entices eating).  If it has sat around too long it loses this smell, and rabbits eat less.  Second, greeness.  The greener it is, the rabbits will eat it more.  They tend to ignore the brown pieces even tho' they are the same nutritionally.  Third, softness.  The softer the hay feels (less prickly or brittle pieces) the more they will eat it.

The only warning is watch out for wet/damp hay and mold on the hay.  That can kill them.  Generally they will not eat hay with mold on it.

You can also get him more interested in hay taste is to get some hay cubes and give him small pieces (1/2 inch thick) that he can gnaw on.  Get timothy hay cubes (no alfalfa).  They basically are compressed hay pieces that you can break up and give him.  These don't take the place of regular hay, but it may get him more interested in hay in general.  If he likes a certain brand of hay cube, find out if they also sell regular timothy (i.e. grass hay) hay because chances are it will be the same hay that they made the hay cubes from.

The more hay he can eat, the better his teeth will wear down on their own.  Because he has teeth problems, you will want to avoid all sugary treats and sticky fruits (like banana).  Truly limit fruits and oat flakes so that he also doesn't run into tooth decay problems on top of alignment problems.

As for his current runny eye condition, did your vet suggest that he could clear the blocked tear duct for you?  They as vets can do this with the rabbit being under only a light sedative.  I would also think he may want to prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection in the tear duct.

Hope this helps.  Merry Christmas to you and your bunny, Lee