Grinding First thing in the Morning

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and hopefully help.

I got my male dwarf rabbit neutered on Wednesday (01/05/2015) last week and I've noticed that he is still (Tuesday 07/07/2015) grinding his teeth but ONLY in the morning. At first I thought it was because he was in pain from the neutering but I started to notice it was only first thing in the morning. He sleeps on my pillow next to me so I hear it when I wake up. But only for like 5mins, but he soon gets up stretches and starts his daily routine of breakfast and a run around the flat. He seems very happy. He is eating like he always has (Lots).

I’m not sure if it is a pain grind or a happy good morning grind as it seems a bit on the loud side to me but as this is my first bunny I don’t know exactly what to make of this…. Should I take him to the vet or am I over reacting?

Please ask any questions if needs.

Thanks again.

You say he is 'still' grinding his teeth. Didn't the vet give you pain med after the operation, like Metacam? What about antibiotics? And he didn't schedule a visit to check on the wound and get the stiches out (was it resorbable)?
It's not normal for a male to be in pain after being neutered, mine were always 100% happy and normal about one hour after the operation.
It might be a happy grind if it's just when you're cuddling with him, or it might be because it pains him to get up. Maybe, try to take a look at the stiches to check if it looks red or inflammed. It might be hard to do, depending on how your rabbit does with being handled. In my experience, when a rabbit is grinding out of pain, the feeling is really different from when it's out of pleasure. Honestly, you can tell when your rabbit is in pain (body hunched, tense...). But if you really can't tell, I say... go to the vet. Personally, I'd rather pay for a useless consultation than risking to miss a problem which might become serious. Rabbits are fragile.

Thanks a lot for your reply.

Nope, the Vet didn't give me any meds for him. They didn't stitch him up they apparently used some kind of burn seal technic because he is still small and the cut made for neutering was very small. Hopefully the vet did the right thing.

He did say we could bring him in if we are worried for a check, but I thought that maybe it was normal to have a little pain within a week of the operation. I will take a look and see how the healing is going. But I will take your advice and take him back to the vet for a check-up maybe I should even pay and take him to another vet?!

I live in a small town and unfortunately finding a good vet who has lots of experience with bunnies is a problem.

I do hope it's just him not wanting to get out of bed. He seems fine the rest of the day. hops around happily.

This doesn't sound like a bunny in pain--it would be a constant thing. Most of my boys were fine after two days so unless you see swelling and infection, I'd not worry about it.

Nancy McClelland said:

This doesn't sound like a bunny in pain--it would be a constant thing. Most of my boys were fine after two days so unless you see swelling and infection, I'd not worry about it.

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I was listening out for it this morning and he doesn't seem in pain. I looked last night and the area where he got neutered seems alright.

Thanks