drooling

Question
hi i have an indoor rabbit called leo he has been drooling for a few weeks now, he has been seen by 4 different vets altogether and all of them say it is not his teeth. His eye was a bit runny but has been flushed and that seems to be improving, his appetite is normal although i was advised to feed him pellets hay and water only  to encourage him to eat more hay (which makes me feel really mean as food was his life!)This has slightly lessened the drool but not stopped it. Apart from the fact he drools and seems slightly depressed because of his lack of treats he seems to be completley normal in every other way do you have any idea what else it could be or do i just have a drooley rabbit i would be grateful if you could shed some light on this mystery
yours sincerely
Katie
Ps)when i mean drool i only know this as he sits on a cushion and when he gets up theres a wet mark there its not all over his paws and chest.

Answer
Dear Katie,

You say that four different vets have told you "it's not his teeth."  But I don't believe any of them.  The combination of symptoms--drooling and a runny eye--is a *very* strong indicator that something is amiss at the molars, and possibly the molar roots.  

Did the vets who saw your bunny look only at the front teeth, or did they look deep into the mouth with an otoscope?  If the latter did not reveal a problem, did any of the vets suggest putting the bunny under anesthesia to open the mouth very wide to have a really good look?  Because that is very likely what will be necessary to find the cause of this problem if it is not readily visible on general exam.  Some problems can be *very* deep in the back of the mouth or the throat.

I think you need to find a very experienced rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

who will also be willing to take head radiographs, if necessary, to determine whether there may be an incipient abscess developing at one or more molar roots.  We have seen this type of thing before:  a drooling rabbit with no apparent sign of molar spurs or other easily visible problems will finally present with a nasty abscess in the molar roots, or even in the throat.  It takes a very observant and intuitive vet to be able to find such a problem, and though you've already seen four, I hope you'll try one more time.

The symptoms you describe really cannot be attributed to much else than a head/mouth/dental problem.  Please read:

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

and

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

I hope this helps.

Dana