Teeth grinding

[Miap14]

Hi everyone I have a question about rabbit behavior. I’ll try to make it short…

Just to give a quick history as to why I’m asking this question…
I recently bought 2 8 week old bunnies. I’ve never had rabbits but I tried to do as much research as possible before getting them. When I got them I was feeding them unlimited Timothy hay and pellets, as everything I read said that’s what to do at their age. Around day 3 of having them I noticed a soft/diarrhea like stool but wasn’t sure which rabbit it was from. I noticed one the next day as well as I also noticed one of their stomachs felt a little hard and bloated. That night she was hunched up grinding her teeth (but still ate when I fed them). I immediately made a vet appointment for the next day, I just knew something was wrong. The vet said her stomach felt a little abnormal but didn’t seem concerned because she was still eating and drinking. He said to bring her back if she stopped eating, but he also told me to start her on greens as that may help the problem. I gave her a piece of romaine lettuce that night and she loved. By the next day I saw a soft stool again but she was being more playful than the day before. I’ve continued the greens (lettuce and kale) every day once a day since then and decreased pellets, also giving unlimited Timothy hay, and she is doing so much better (eating well, drinking and playful). BTW The other bunny has been fine throughout this whole time.

As far as behavior I’m curious about the teeth grinding. Everything I’ve read said the teeth grinding means they are in pain and the vet confirmed that. However, everytime after she’s done eating she slows down a bit, closes her eyes half way and hunches up and I’ve found her grinding her teeth during that. Can this mean anything else? I’ve been feeling her stomach every day and checking her stools and making sure I see her eat/drink and poop everyday. I’m really paranoid after the first scare and I’m thinking she’s hurting after eating. Does anyone know what this could mean?

[Bam]

There are two types of teeth grinding. They mean the exact opposite things:

Teeth-grinding due to pain is a loud chatter and it’s always seen with other signs of discomfort.

Teeth-grinding that’s more like a little motor running, a much softer sound than a chatter, is known as a tooth purr and means the bunny is super-happy and comfy. The bun often does it when you pet it, and it can be so very soft that you can’t hear it but rather feel the vibrations in your fingers when you pet the head. Young bunnies often do it when they are lounging,eyes half-closed, it means they’re feeling good.

As for the soft stools: There are two types of loose stools in a bun. One is called sticky poop and means the bun is leaving soft stools, often in the shape of a cluster of grapes. There is normal, round poop as well. This is not an emergency. This seems to be what your bun had. It’s common in young buns. You’re often recommended to up the amount of hay. Your vet recommended fresh greens and it seems to have worked – so all good.

The other type of loose stools is true diarrhea, a condition that’s much worse and requires vet care. I repeat so you don’t worry too much: Diarrhea is NOT the same as soft or sticky poop. True diarrhea is runny stools, often watery, often with mucus. It’s a veterinary emergency in a young bun, and can be due to a rather common parasite called coccidia or to bad bacteria having started to grow in the intestine. With true diarrhea you see none of the round pellet-like poop at all. You treat with fluids and antibiotics.

So just keep an eye out. As you seem to be doing!

[jerseygirl]

Rabbits also do a thing called “tooth purring”. Are you familiar with that? You can search rabbit tooth purring on you tube and find quite a few videos. Sometimes it is a continuous, soft tooth chatter, other times its a click noise usually in a rhythm. So a double or triple clicking noise.
If she’s eating and behaving normally right before, then I suspect that is what you are seeing.

It’s good to hear the modified diet has helped some. Some rabbits do not do so well on pellets. Is is a junior rabbit pellet you were feeding them?
If the soft poos continue despite the change in diet, you could get a fecal test done to see if she has coccidia – an intestinal parasite that is often seen in rabbits of this age, or a bacterial overgrowth in her gut.

[jerseygirl]

Snap ! Bam, you must have submitted your reply while I was typing mine.

[Bam]

[Muchelle]

I guess I’ll ask here instead of opening a new topic… when he was sick, Kuro developed a weird teeth grinding. A very precise “crok-crok-crok” molar grinding soft sound. At the time I thought it was because of pain, but he keeps doing it sometimes when I pet him. Some other times he’ll purr “normally”. Can’t decide if it’s an annoyance sound or if it’s just a greeting. Anyone else heard it?

[Miap14]

Thank you so much everyone for taking time to reply I really appreciate it and I’m feeling much better about it!

I actually did take a stool sample to the vet to have it tested and that was normal!
I realized the pellets they have are not the junior ones (I bought the ones that they had been eating prior to me getting them so I didn’t change their diet), but I’m going to get some with a higher protein content that’s made for babies as I’ve read babies need more protein!

Is there a brand anyone can recommend?

[Muchelle]

Whatever brand you buy, make sure it doesn’t have anti-coccidium additives (some commercial brands have those, and that’s bad). I personally love the Bunny Traum brand, that makes healthy hay pellets for kits and adults. Though I am based in Europe, so I don’t know if it’s sold outside of here…

[Bam]

Oxbow has good pellets and Supreme Science Selective is also good. Both have pellets for juniors. What you want is a protein content around 16% AND a high fiber-content.
Here’s some info and a comparison between nutritional values of several brands of rabbit pellets:
http://www.therabbithouse.com/diet/rabbit-food-comparison.asp
Had to look up the Bunny Traum, it sounds really good. It’s German so probably not sold in the USA.

[Miap14]

Y’all are awesome! Thank you so much for the advice!!

[Author]

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