Dental disease is the most common serious health problem in domestic rabbits and causes chronic unrecognised pain.
Rabbit dental disease causes some of the most prolonged unrecognised pain of any companion animal condition. Rabbits with dental disease may initially eat slowly and selectively but continue to eat — masking the severity of their discomfort. As the disease progresses, cheek and tongue lacerations cause severe pain. Rabbit dental disease is largely preventable through appropriate diet — unlimited hay as 80% of the diet wears teeth correctly and prevents malocclusion in predisposed animals.