Tooth grinding

Hi all,

Obviously I know tooth-grinding is a sign of pain but can it be something a rabbit starts doing for other reasons?

Smudge seems to have started doing this mainly at times he expects food! We have found out this week he probably has tumours on his chest (nothing we can do - just palliative care - he’s 11 so a terminal illness isn’t so unexpected). So he’s now on metacam but he’s still tooth-grinding but he’s also quite active and seems otherwise happy. It’s almost like a habit he’s got into when he wants food, treats or fresh hay. I don’t hear him doing it at night.

I feel so conflicted, because all his other body language is pointing to him being comfortable and not in pain but he’s still doing this tooth grinding. They did do a dental as he’s very wet under his chin but there was very little in the way of spurs - which then led the vet to do a dental X-ray to check the roots (also fine) and the discovery on his chest. Might be abscesses but blood tests showed no sign of infection so vet is leaning towards cancer.

Sorry, this is a ramble. Even though I’ve had terminal rabbits in the past I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen tooth-grinding due to pain before, only the happy thing they do when being fussed. I’m so confused by him right now! Even when he’s had stasis before and been in obvious discomfort he hasn’t done this.

Just want to do the right thing by him and make sure he’s not suffering.

I’ve not experienced this so I can’t advise but I’m sending lots of vibes xx

Thank you Zoobec, looking at him this morning I think I’ve answered my own question. I just can’t believe he’s in pain yet. Zooming all over the place like a young buck :lol:

You could always run it by your vet, and ask about increasing his pain relief temporarily to see if it makes a difference.

Sending lots of vibes for Smudge. I think you're right to consider how his behaviour is generally, rather than just to focus on the tooth grinding.

Sending vibes for your Smudge.

I suspect he may have some tooth root issues going on. Did the Vet take any skull radiographs ?

Shimmer said:

You could always run it by your vet, and ask about increasing his pain relief temporarily to see if it makes a difference.

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That’s a good idea, thank you.

Omi said:

Sending lots of vibes for Smudge. I think you're right to consider how his behaviour is generally, rather than just to focus on the tooth grinding.

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Thank you Omi.

Jack's-Jane said:

I suspect he may have some tooth root issues going on. Did the Vet take any skull radiographs ?

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He did x-rays to check the tooth roots and that’s how they found the speckling on the chest on the X-ray. Is that the same as skull radiographs? He said tooth roots were fine.

Elena said:

That’s a good idea, thank you.



Thank you Omi.



He did x-rays to check the tooth roots and that’s how they found the speckling on the chest on the X-ray. Is that the same as skull radiographs? He said tooth roots were fine.

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Oh, that's good then.

Is it Mark who's treating him ?

Is Smudge still very wet under his chin ?

Jack's-Jane said:

Oh, that's good then.

Is it Mark who's treating him ?

Is Smudge still very wet under his chin ?

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Not Mark unfortunately, he is around now though at the practice, I think he was shielding at one point. It’s Richard who I’ve always found good in the past.

Seems to be drying up a bit under his chin, although it’s seemed to get better before and then got worse again. It seems to be when he drinks that it gets soaking wet.

Aboleth's tooth purring and tooth grinding was virtually indistinguishable: when she was on her last legs was the only time she tooth ground, and it was a little louder than her purring, but just as brief (part of the issue of determining what's going on). She was a very quiet bunny though, except for her one explosive buzz she made once :lol: Lopsy, though, has taken to buzzing an awful lot since Chibbs arrived. He's relatively quiet with it. I like to think he's found a new way of expressing himself (Aboleth was a bit of a dominatrix :lol, so maybe Smudge has decided this tooth thing is his new excited-self expression?

Elena said:

Not Mark unfortunately, he is around now though at the practice, I think he was shielding at one point. It’s Richard who I’ve always found good in the past.

Seems to be drying up a bit under his chin, although it’s seemed to get better before and then got worse again. It seems to be when he drinks that it gets soaking wet.

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Does he drink from a bowl ?

keletkezes said:

Aboleth's tooth purring and tooth grinding was virtually indistinguishable: when she was on her last legs was the only time she tooth ground, and it was a little louder than her purring, but just as brief (part of the issue of determining what's going on). She was a very quiet bunny though, except for her one explosive buzz she made once :lol: Lopsy, though, has taken to buzzing an awful lot since Chibbs arrived. He's relatively quiet with it. I like to think he's found a new way of expressing himself (Aboleth was a bit of a dominatrix :lol, so maybe Smudge has decided this tooth thing is his new excited-self expression?

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That’s reassuring, thank you. I think maybe it’s his new way of getting my attention!

Jack's-Jane said:

Does he drink from a bowl ?

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Yes he does, I did try one of those bottles with the dish at the bottom but it made no difference so I went back to the bowl so I could monitor his intake better. I’m not having to fill it more often than usual - usually refresh it once a day. One of the things I thought of was kidneys as he was weeing outside his box but I’m assuming they checked that with the blood test, I didn’t check with them but they’re usually pretty thorough with diagnostics.