The serious welfare implications of dental disease in rabbits and how diet and monitoring prevent this common problem.
Rabbit dental disease causes significant suffering that is frequently delayed in detection because rabbits, as prey animals, hide signs of illness until conditions are advanced. By the time an owner notices reduced eating, the rabbit may have had painful cheek tooth spurs causing mouth ulcers for weeks. The welfare-protective approach is prevention through appropriate diet — unlimited timothy hay that forces the side-to-side grinding motion that wears teeth correctly — and routine dental examination by a rabbit-savvy veterinarian. Dwarf and lop breeds require particular vigilance due to the skull conformation that predisposes to dental crowding. When dental disease does develop, it typically requires general anesthesia for examination and treatment, with repeated procedures as the underlying malocclusion continues. Prevention through diet is dramatically more welfare-effective than management of established disease.