My house rabbit, Elsie, turned 5 years old at the beginning of the month.
This sweetie and I have been through so much together . . . she was a brat when she was 2 and 3, due to hormones since we didn't spay her, but this past year she's been getting sweeter again. She still acts like a baby most of the time even though she is getting older. 

I found out recently that Elsie is developing a cataract in her right eye sadly:(. Her left eye is completely normal. Because of this, I've been researching everything I could find on the subject of cataracts and blindness in rabbits because I've never had to deal with something like this before. I want to share with you the information I have learned. 

This will probably be a long post. 

See that mistiness in her eye in the picture below? That's the cataract. Cataracts eventually lead to blindness, but they develop slowly. It will probably take several more months (maybe even a year or more), before she is completely blind in that eye, since the cataract is still very small. 

However, I've been noticing a change in her behavior already. Maybe it's due to the fact that she's going blind, maybe it's just cause she's old. She startles easier than before, and doesn't like to be approached head-on. 

Cataracts cannot be treated, but they can be removed with surgery. It is a very risky and very expensive surgery. Since Elsie is getting older, it is not something that I want to risk. The likelihood of her passing during surgery is very high.

Because rabbits rely heavily on their sense of smell and hearing anyway, being blind actually doesn't have a huge affect on a rabbit, as long as they are kept in a safe environment. 

What is a cataract?

"The word cataract comes from the Latin “cataracta”, or from the Greek katarraktēs, meaning waterfall. It refers to a decrease of the transparency of the eye lens, which can be partial or affect the whole lens. Consequently, a reduced amount of light passes through the lens. The ability to focus and clarity of eyesight will decrease with time. This is accompanied by a loss of sensitivity to contrast. The ability to see objects is little affected when light is intense and the lens is only partially affected, but can lead to full blindness when the opacity of the lens is total and affecting both eyes." (Medirabbit)

What causes a cataract? 

Cataracts can be related to genetics, age, e. cuniculi (which is a parasite and related to head tilt), or trauma to the head or eye. 
In Elsie's case, it is age. Cataracts can be in both eyes, and in most other cases they are. But with Elsie, it's only in her right eye.

After a rabbit is blind, what can be done to make sure they have the best life possible and stay safe and happy?

When they first start losing their eyesight, confine them to a smaller room if they normally free range throughout the house. Since rabbits rely heavily on their scent and hearing anyway, being blind actually doesn't affect a rabbit as much as a human. 

​Try to change the rabbit's housing as little as possible now that your rabbit is blind. They do use their scent and hearing, but also they rely heavily on their memory to tell them where the entrance to their cage is, where the litter box is, the water bottle and food dish, all the stuff. 

Keep a schedule. Feed your rabbit at the same time every day, make sure it doesn't run out of water, that kind of stuff. The kind of stuff you should be doing anyway . . . ;)

Provide your rabbit with a hidey house or something they can hide in. Elsie has been loving this paper bag I gave her recently. She never gets scared so she doesn't hide in it, she just loves to eat it and sit in it. It's nice and cozy to her. 

When you approach your rabbit, lean to pet your rabbit, or anything of that sort, speak in a soft voice to the rabbit first so it knows who you are. Strangers are going to be scary now more than ever. 

The rabbit will startle easier, and may be more reluctant to leave the cage and explore at first. Don't worry. Your rabbit will get used to being blind sooner than you think. Because most rabbits lose their eyesight so slowly, by the time they are fully blind they are usually already to used to their surroundings and know how to cope. 

Rabbits that have lost their eyesight generally do not like being picked up. They become disoriented when they are put back down, so try to limit the amount of time you pick your rabbit up. Try to do everything at his level from now on. 

​Oh Elsie . . . 
Now that Elsie is getting older, as it is with most pets, health problems are more likely. Elsie has never been sick, injured, or anything, until just recently. But now that she's five, and unspayed rabbits typically only live about 7 years, sicknesses and injuries are easier for her to get. Of course the final age she'll get all depends on diet, exercise, etc. 

I am so thankful for this precious girl. If it hadn't been for Elsie, Holly's Hollands Rabbitry would not exist. This girl has been so hard to deal with at times - but I love her. She's special. I swear she's one of a kind :) 

This is the 4th and final installment of my rabbit teeth series. I hope you have all enjoyed this series and learned something new. To see my other posts in this series, follow the links below. 
PART 1 - HERE
PART 2 - HERE
PART 3 - HERE 

 Dental disease can be easy to treat. But it is not always "curable". It depends on how the malocclusion was caused. It also depends on if the malocclusion is in the molars or the incisors. 

If the malocclusion was caused by genetics, and the rabbit was predisposed to have dental disease, than typically it will need to be treated each month by your vet. 

If the dental disease is from trauma, biting on the cage bars, or otherwise, it's usually pretty easy to treat with one vet visit. 

Incisor malocclusion isn't major, unless you let it go to long. A vet can treat it easily by clipping the teeth down. DO NOT try clipping the teeth yourself unless you are shown by a vet how to do it. There are many ways you can make the teeth worse by clipping them too short or crooked. 

Malocclusion of the molars is much more serious. It requires taking your rabbit to the vet, and putting it under anesthesia. Then the vet will use a dremel tool or blunt diamond file to file the spurs smooth. Usually the procedure is quick. 

Do you have any ideas for new blog posts, or a series of blog posts? Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments! 

Malocclusion of the incisors is pretty obvious. But rabbits can also get dental disease in their molars, and this is much harder to recognize. 

Symptoms of malocclusion are generally one or more of any of the following: 

•  Not eating as much as usual/complete lack of eating
• Being excited for food but eating slowly/hesitantly
• Gradual or sudden change in eating habits, such as only eating pellets and rejecting hay (or the other way around), or only eating one or two foods and avoiding others/etc.
• Weight loss (due to not eating properly)
• Drooling/excessively wet chin
• Runny nose or eyes
• Drinking more than normal (also a sign of renal disease)
• Rabbit sitting hunched in pain
• Abscesses on, in or around the mouth and jaw
• Swollen jaw/mouth

If your rabbit is showing any of these symptoms, seek veterinary advice. Rabbit malocclusion is very serious and if left untreated, the rabbit will die because it will be unable to eat. 

Malocclusion, or dental disease, is when a rabbit's teeth get too long and they stop wearing down properly. Malocclusion of the incisors is the most common form and the most obvious, but malocclusion can happen in the molars as well, in the form of spurs, where sharp pieces of the tooth rub against the rabbit's tongue and cheek.

See you in my next post, SYMPTOMS OF DENTAL DISEASE.

My next several posts are going to be linked together with the theme of rabbit teeth. Today's is an overview, all about rabbit teeth. My next posts will be CAUSES OF MALOCCLUSION, SYMPTOMS OF DENTAL DISEASE,  and TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR MALOCCLUSION/DENTAL DISEASE. 
In the following posts I will be using the terms malocclusion and dental disease interchangeably, as they mean the same thing. 

Rabbits are hypsodonts, meaning that their teeth never stop growing. Rabbit teeth grow about a millimeter each week. If rabbit's teeth never wore down, they would be a foot long by the time the rabbit is 6 and a half years old. This is why it's so important to keep your rabbit's teeth worn down. 

Rabbits have 28 teeth. Their most well-known teeth are the incisors, which are visible when you open your rabbit's mouth. Behind the incisors are the peg teeth, which are what distinguish lagomorphs from rodents. Behind a gap in the rabbit's mouth, are the molars, or "cheek teeth". These cannot be seen by simply pulling up the rabbit's lips; they typically have to be checked using a tool that all vets have. Below, you can see a vet using that tool to check the back molars on a rabbit I used to have, Gracie.

When rabbits eat food, the incisors bite and break the food down into manageable chunks that the molars begin to grind down. The molars do most of the work. The molars are relatively flat around the edges, but they have sharp tops. The incisors are pretty short and have slightly jagged edges. 

Well, that's all for today's post. I hope you learned something new. See you next time!

A rabbit's gastro-intestinal tract (or, GI), is very complex. A healthy GI tract is constantly moving, processing food and hay, producing cecotrophs, and then processing the cecotrophs to produce regular poop. 

This is why rabbits need hay constantly available to them. Their gut needs to be moving all the time, to maintain a healthy GI tract. When rabbits don't have access to hay or pellets all the time, their GI can slow, and a problem can arise called GI Stasis. 

GI Stasis can occur whenever the intestines come to a complete standstill. This can be caused by not enough roughage in the diet, a hairball, or something else clogging the intestines. Sometimes it's not enough exercise, stress, dehydration, or pain from another underlying illness. or even sometimes it's genetic. I've heard the Dwarf Hotot rabbit is very susceptible to GI Stasis for some reason. 

GI Stasis is a serious problem. It's not very common, but it is very dangerous. When the intestines come to a complete stop for over 24 hours with no care, the rabbit can die. 

"An intestinal slowdown can cause ingested hair and food to lodge anywhere along the GI tract, creating a potential blockage. Also, because the cecum is not emptying quickly enough, harmful bacteria such as Clostridium species (related to the ones that cause botulism and tetanus) can proliferate, their numbers overwhelming those of the normal, beneficial bacteria and fungi in the cecum. Once this overgrowth occurs, gas emitted by the bacteria can cause extreme pain. Some Clostridium species also produce potentially deadly toxins. It is the liver's job to detoxify these poisons, at a high cost to that all-important organ. Damage to the liver can be a serious--even life-threatening--side effect of GI stasis." ~http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html

Symptoms of GI Stasis include little or no poop pellets, poop covered in mucus, loss of appetite, lethargy, and pain (being hunched in a ball, loudly grinding teeth). 

GI Stasis can be cured. Different things work for different rabbits, but I suggest bringing your rabbit to a vet immediately after detecting any sign that your rabbit may have GI Stasis. 

Visit the site I referenced above, for lots more info on GI Stasis.

Veggies, fruits and herbs are very important in your rabbit's diet. It doesn't need to be fed daily, especially with Holland Lops, but fresh herbs and veggies are good at least a couple times a week. 

Most veggies and herbs are high in fiber and calcium, which are good for all aspects of the rabbit. It helps keep the fur moving through the intestines during a molt, prevents constipation, and some plants can cure diarrhea. 

In the wild, rabbits are eating whatever they can find. They typically eat wild plants. Very few rabbits have access to a garden where they can steal carrots or kale or celery. Wild rabbits like comfrey, sage, and dandelions, which have nutritional benefits to their health. Some herbs, veggies, and plants, even some fruits, can combat illnesses. Most of these can be grown pretty easily in a backyard garden. Pineapple is a natural dewormer, parsley enriches the blood and helps with urinary problems, and strawberry is antiseptic and cooling, can prevent miscarriage, and is rich in iron. 
See THIS page for a complete list on herbs, fruits and veggies and their benefits. 

This year I'm feeding my rabbits a lot ore fresh herbs and veggies, because I started a small garden. They are primarily getting cilantro, parsley, and basil, sometimes carrots (they prefer the tops). Next year I hope to expand my garden so I can grow collard greens, kale, maybe even raspberries and strawberries, and a lot more.

Before feeding any fruits, veggies, plants or herbs from the wild or from a garden, make sure you read up on if they are suitable for rabbits or not. Everyone assumes lettuces and carrots are rabbits' favorites - but lettuce shouldn't be fed, and carrots are high in sugar, and there are plenty of other veggies and herbs out there rabbits enjoy much more. 

I hope you enjoy this article. See you in my next blog!

Rabbits do not stink. Poop and pee smell, and that is normal for every animal. However, rabbits generally don't have their own (unpleasant), odor. I personally think my rabbits smell wonderful! :)

However, to other rabbits, each rabbit has their own distinct stench. Rabbits have two sets of scent glands. The first set is on their chin. You may see your rabbit rubbing things with its chin when it reaches 5-6 months old. They do this to let other rabbits know they are ready to mate. 

The second set of scent glands are on the sides of the genitals. Sometimes these will need to be cleaned, but usually your rabbit will keep that area clean and free of odor. If not, you can use wet Q-tips to clean the glands. 

Observing your rabbit(s) is very important. You need to get to know your rabbit so well, you can tell if just a little something is off. When I visit my rabbits each day in the morning to feed, I take a little bit and observe each of my rabbits. I can tell if some fur is missing, a bunny doesn't feel like itself, or there's that look in her eye saying she's been nesting (Gracie, not pregnant by the way) and wants to be bred. 
You can't take the best care of your rabbits if you don't know the difference between healthy and sick. You need to observe your rabbit and stay on top and prepared in case anything should go wrong. 
No one knows your rabbit better then you do. Not the vet, not even me (once they have spend an ample amount of time away from me, that is). 

Rabbits can go downhill very quickly. It's sad but true. If you only visit your rabbit once a day to feed, your rabbit will not only be unhappy, bored and lonely, but he will also be in danger. Rabbits usually don't use vocal sounds like dogs and cats, to tell us they are sick or in pain. Rabbits are a prey species and conceal their pain and illnesses very well. They need to do that in order to survive in the wild. 

The point to this blog? Observe your rabbit(s). Spend time watching them, playing with them, hanging out with them. Not only will this benefit them (and you!), in the long run, rabbits are a joy to watch and quite silly little creatures! They will make you laugh and smile :) 

Rabbit teeth are constantly growing. Usually a case of malocclusion is because of some genetic issue. It's a hereditary disease. 

The top teeth are always supposed to be slightly overlapping the bottom teeth. If the teeth butt together or meet head on, that's a case 1 malocclusion and the easiest to fix. If misaligned teeth go too long without being taken care of, the rabbit cannot eat or even open its mouth and the teeth might start growing into the skull and cause brain damage. It's rare but it has happened. This is why it's important to regularly check your rabbit's teeth for any signs of problems. 
Sometimes a rabbit can pull its teeth out of whack by biting on the metal wire of its cage. Other times, fighting with a new rabbit can also cause this problem, as rabbits commonly use their teeth when they fight. 

Once teeth get out of hand, there isn't really a way to fix them. You can clip the teeth, but usually if they need to be clipped once, they will need to start being clipped monthly and the teeth will never be the same again. If you notice you're rabbit's teeth aren't the way they were before, have a rabbit-savvy vet show you how to clip the teeth. It isn't too hard and doesn't cause the rabbit pain. 

How can this problem be avoided? 

Providing our rabbits with hay daily is necessary for not only its digestive system but for its front and back teeth as well. We can't see the back teeth; they only way to tell if they are doing badly is by the rabbit drooling. If the back teeth get out of hand, the rabbit needs to be put under anesthetic to get them back to normal. 
Hay and untreated wood (not ceder or pine, fruit branches work well), for the rabbit to chew, as well as pine cones and cardboard, are easy, harmless toys that rabbits enjoy to play with and also keeps the teeth clean and worn down properly. It's like little toothbrushes that parents buy for their baby to play with, suck on and chew. While the baby is having fun, it's also getting its gums and teeth cleaned. :)