Dental disease is the most common and serious health problem in companion rabbits, rooted largely in inadequate diets that prevent the normal dental wear that hay-based feeding provides.
Dental disease in companion rabbits is almost entirely a diet-management problem. Rabbits fed predominantly pellets rather than unlimited hay develop malocclusion because the lateral grinding motion of hay chewing — not the crushing of pellets — provides the correct wear pattern for continuously growing teeth. By the time dental disease becomes clinically apparent, significant pain has typically been present for months. Prevention is straightforward: unlimited timothy or meadow hay, with pellets as a small supplement. The barrier is the persistent cultural norm of pellet-based rabbit feeding that pet industry marketing has promoted since commercial pet rabbit food became available.