Self grooming issues

[Misty]

Momidji has an issue. I end up having to bathe him once a week due to this problem (luckily he enjoys baths).

He can't clean under his chin and he drools a lot when he's eating. This means that it gets wet, brown, stinky and plain disgusting within even a couple hours of bathing him.

I don't use soap, by the way, just warm water and my fingers.

He has a bad habit of resting his chin on the edge of his food bowl and I'm pretty sure this doesn't help the matter.

It clearly bothers him. He spends a lot of time trying to clean it and ends up scratching at it when he can't. This makes it a bit sore and he's even managed to scratch away the hair in one spot.

Is there any possible way to prevent this happening to him besides making rabbit sized bibs?

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Have his teeth been checked lately? I'm fairly new to rabbits but I read that they will drool excessively when they have teeth problems. Maybe his vet should have a look at his mouth?

 

[Azerane]

I agree that it could be an issue with his teeth, no rabbit should drool that much so there's bound to be an underlying issue which may be treatable. I'm not sure what to suggest, but to try to keep the area as dry as possible. You could possibly even use unscented baby wipes to try and clean up the area rather than bathing him every time too.

 

[JBun]

Agree with Bec and Beverly. Most likely dental related.

http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Dental_diseases/Differential/excessive_en.htm
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

Here's a couple rabbit vet listings if you don't already know of one.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/f21/rabbit-savvy-vets-belgium-13832/

 

[Misty]

When we got him in June, his lower teeth were so long that they were preventing his upper teeth from growing in. As he's our first bunny we didn't realize the extent of the problem until he finally trusted me enough one day to let me look in his mouth and I noticed he had a cut on his lip from them. We went straight to the vet that afternoon and she trimmed his teeth down.

His upper teeth appear to be growing back in a little at a time, but perhaps it's just this waiting process that causes him to drool so much?

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

Does he have a dish for water? If he does, he could be a messy drinker. It is probably not the only cause, but can contribute. My Felix used to be messy when he drank and he chin would be dripping wet. He seems to have out grown it and doesn't have a problem anymore.

A vet check is a good idea. Drooling is not normal and can be more of a back teeth issue. The vet might shave the area to help keep it clean and to see if there is anything going on down there that could be more of a problem.

 

[Misty]

He has a water bottle but prefers to share the dog and cat's water bowl. He does dangle his chin in there.

I'll certainly take him to the vet now that you've all told me that his drooling isn't normal at all. I wasn't sure if maybe he was just a messy bun.

I'm a little afraid that it could be something requiring surgery. Our vet (who is fairly experienced with rabbits as there are several Angora breeders and many pet bunnys in the area) has said that as old as he is (8 or 9), she'd be reluctant to consider anything that would require anaesthesia (including the removal of a lump on one of his back legs) because the chances of a bunny his age making it through the surgery and waking up are pretty slim.

 

[JBun]

If there is a problem with his back molars and the vet doesn't want to use anesthesia because of his age, you may at least be able to get the area shaved and cleaned up , and maybe get a cream from your vet to keep on the area to protect it from getting sore. The problem though, with leaving a molar problem uncorrected is that it may eventually come to a point where your rabbit will stop eating because it hurts too much to chew. But that's if it actually is a dental issue causing the drooling.

It may also help to only have him drinking from his water bottle and not the bowl(that is if it is possible to keep him out of the water bowl).

 

[Misty]

It isn't possible whatsoever to tell Momi where to drink. Even though he has his bottle available all the time, when we open his cage in the morning he races to the kitchen to be part of the morning's ritual furry children queue to the water bowl. Heck, he's even tried pushing the dog's head out of the way to see what was in her food bowl. Luckily the dog inhales her breakfast so we don't really have to worry about him succeeding there (although she has a huge crush on him and would probably bring him mouthfuls of food if she thought about it.)

He's eating and drinking with no problem at the moment so we're going to just work on keeping him clean until I get my paycheck next week so we can take him in to the doctor's. I'll let you all know what she says.