Wet fur on my bun’s chin

[MarbleLover]

<g class="gr_ gr_13 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_disable_anim_appear Punctuation only-ins replaceWithoutSep" id="13" data-gr-id="13">Hello</g> all! I am a newbie to this forum. I am a first-time rabbit owner and my bun Marble seems to be experiencing a <strong>wet, matted situation under her chin</strong> and down to her neck for about 2 weeks and getting bigger in surface area. Here is some helpful history on her:</p>

Marble is a mini lop, female, approx 5 years old according to the vet, I had her spayed upon adoption from the shelter, I have owned her for 3.5 years, approx 1.5 years ago she had a 3-inch abdominal abscess surgically removed followed by oral antibiotics and injections of penicillin for a duration of about 1 month. She has been “healthy” since that surgery…

With all of that in mind, has anyone else experienced a situation similar to mine? 

Marble seems to be eating her hay, veggies, and kibble just fine. Her incisors are not overgrown and line up normally. She drinks her water from a bottle, however, when she drinks large amounts of water, she can sometimes sputter and makes a “quacking” type noise. Although she does chin, she does not chin her water bottle, her nails are trimmed regularly (so she is capable of grooming), she appears in good spirits by being happy to see me, giving and receive cuddles, and happy to eat treats (I know that it doesn’t really mean much in buns though).

Given Marble’s past medical history, I would love to be able to save trips to the vet when only truly warranted! I have been known to worry and overreact sometimes. 

Is Marble in need of a vet visit? Does anyone have thoughts with what she might be dealing with? I cannot seem to keep her fur dry regardless of how much blotting I do, nor does it want to wash out. 

I have pictures of her for reference (after and before the wet chin) that I will attempt to attach. Thank you for taking the time for reading this! I love Marble with all of my heart and any advice would be very much appreciated!

[Bam]

The first thing I come to think of is her molars. If she has molar spurs she might not be able to close her mouth properly. This often, but not always, manifests as a reluctance to eat certain food -often hard food or hay.

The only other thing I can think of would be some type of breathing-problem. Rabbits always breath through their noses, never through their mouth unless there’s some sort of obstruction of the airways.

The molar-theory is far more likely though. A bunny’s molar are difficult to see even with an otoscope, but if the spurs are so big she can’t close her mouth, a vet ought to be able to see them without anesthetizing her. She’d of course have to be to anesthetized for a molar burr.

[Azerane]

Goodness me, the poor thing I’m with Bam on this one, since she doesn’t drink from a bowl so there’s no water lying around, there has to be fluid coming from somewhere and the mouth is the obvious choice, drooling is quite a common symptom of teeth issues, so best to get her checked out.

She’s a gorgeous bunn

[Mikey]

When my rabbit was choking due to allergy infection, this is what his face looked like, though he had it coming out of his nose as well

[LittlePuffyTail]

Ditto, Bam and Azerane. Abnormal wet chin always makes me suspect molar or dental problems first off. I suggest having the vet have a good look at her mouth. A lot of buns, especially lops, need molar trims once in a while. And it can become more frequent later in life. At 5 years old, I’m very suspicious of some sort of dental issue.

[RalphiesMomma]

Having pretty much the same issue with my bun. First time bun owner he’s been having small poops no hay chin covered in drool/water and had his front teeth removed when he was a year old. He’s about 1 1/2 now. I hope you figure out what’s going on with her! Glad to see I’m not the only one with this problem. I’ve tried looking to see if the molars are over grown just don’t know. keep updated on what the vet says.

[MarbleLover]

Wow! What a response from everyone- thank you so much! I wanted to update you all that I took Marble to the vet yesterday, Wednesday morning, to a vet that was recommended by the House Rabit Society. I could tell immediately why he was on their veterinarian listings page. He handled her so well and she was calmer for it

Dr. Capper agreed with bam, Azerane, and LittlePuffyTail- he believed her problem to dental in nature but was unable to find anything with his otoscope with her awake. He had a dorsal and lateral x-ray taken of her along with a blood test to rule out other possibilities such as liver disease, tumors, or respiratory problems. All results came back squeaky clean. So the next step for her is a more thorough oral exam under anesthesia to hopefully find the cause of her drooling- whether that be spur, an abscessed tooth, food lodged where it shouldn’t, or a mouth sore in general. And whilst I’m a bit bummed for having had to pay for the above tests to just come to the conclusion that she needs what you all thought- dental help- I am glad that Dr. Capper investigated any possible issue that could be addressed without anesthesia (which I know is so hard on bunnies).

She is scheduled for procedure this next Wednesday- I will let you all know how it goes! Right now Marble is munching on some hay with her legs all splooshed out- very relaxed. She is still eating her carrot treats and her evening quarter cup of kibble with gusto. Marble is bunny-blushing in regards to your comment, Azerane Shelby&Ralphie- I hope you find whatever is ailing your bun! Keep us updated! Mikey- I am so sorry to hear that happened to your bun; I hope everything turned out alright.

Thank you, everyone for all of your love, advice, and support!

[MarbleLover]

Marble at the vet and her x-rays in case anyone wanted to see 

[Vienna Blue in France]

She. Is. Gorgeous.

[LBJ10]

I agree! What a beautiful girl she is!

Poor thing. But at least now you can focus on her teeth and finding the problem.

[Azerane]

I’m glad to know that it’s something as simple as likely needing a tooth trim. Let us know how it goes

[Bam]

What a little darling
I agree with Azerane about the teeth, that’s sth that can be successfully kept under control.
Thank you for the x-rays! Always interesting!

[Sr. Melangell]

I saw your topic and thought ‘Teeth’ they can be such trouble.
Love the x-rays

[LittlePuffyTail]

Wishing your little girl the best of luck for her procedure. Hopefully it will just be some little spurs that can easily be taken care of.

She’s such a cutie pie.

Thanks for sharing the X-rays. I always find them fascinating.

[MarbleLover]

Holy carrots!

I do apologize for not updating Marble’s condition here on binkybunny- I thought it got deleted because I couldn’t find it… Not too tech savy. My apoligizes. First and formost, Marble is happy and well! The strange this was, even after doing the dental procedure, nothing of signifigance was found… Just a minor overgrowth on her furthest back molars. But nothing that he belives would’ve caused her to drool like she was. She was precribed an antibiotic for a week and she stop drooling. Kinda mysterous! I’m just happy she is well now and I hope that she doesn’t experince anything like this again. Here’s a picture of her munching on hay after her procedure, another of her with her arm from her IV shaving growing back. The last one of her on my bed is just plain cute, but also shows her chin- all clean and dry!  Thank you for being such a loving, supportive community! 

[Azerane]

I’m so glad to hear that she is back to normal and her problem has been fixed. Sometimes even the smallest spurs can cause issues.

[Dface]

It’s annoying that they never got to the bottom of it for you guys! But she looks like she’s back to her beautiful self again which is the main thing!
Her name really suits her markings !

[Author]

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