overgrown teeth

[sori]

Hello everyone,

so I only today discovered that my bunny’s teeth may have overgrown, the main issue is that he literally refuses to eat hay and I don’t know what to do about it, I tried buying different kind of hay but he still won’t eat it at all. He only eats vegetables and the bunnies food you can find in the supermarket.. although I know he shouldn’t be eating that, those are the only things he won’t refuse to eat.

Should I only feed him hay and see if he’ll finally eat some or ..? I’m really lost right now.

Also, shold I get his teeth trimmed right away or should I wait and see if the hay helps (if it’s not too late)?

thank you all in advance

[DanaNM]

He isn’t eating hay because his teeth are preventing him from eating properly. When the front teeth are overgrown like that it’s called “malocclusion” and is due to a misalignment in the teeth. There could also be some misalignment with his molars, so you should have a rabbit savvy vet do a full dental exam.

At this point you should get them trimmed ASAP, and make sure he’s getting enough to eat (even if it’s extra salad and his normal pellets) to make sure he doesn’t go into GI stasis. Trimming the front teeth is a pretty common procedure and is usually very easy for the vet to do.

Once you get them trimmed, he might start eating hay on his own. If not you can slowly reduce pellets to encourage hay eating.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

Yep, too late at this point. The need to be trimmed… then work on healthy hay consumption. Regular hay eating can actually help fix some alignment problems, but the teeth have to be “set” to do that, meaning they can’t be overgrown like that. He won’t be able to chew properly to wear them down.

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