Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts
Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts
our summary:
Jackson M.A. et al. (2025) Dental disease in rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Clinical management and associated welfare impacts. Veterinary Record, e5326.
The aim of this retrospective study was to describe the presenting clinical signs of rabbits with dental disease under primary veterinary care in the UK, diagnostic and treatment methods used, and mortality associated with the disease. This study was an extension of a study by Jackson et al. (2024), using the same case population of rabbits attending primary care veterinary practices participating in the VetCompass programme in 2019.
The study population of 161,979 rabbit electronic health records (EHR) were reviewed for presence of dental abnormality. Over 44,000 cases were identified, a random sample of 3,935 (9%) EHRs were reviewed in detail. Of these there were 2,219 confirmed rabbit dental disease cases, 1,034 (46.6%) were cases pre-existing to 2019 and 1,185 (53.4%) cases of incidents in 2019.
Overall, 1,096 (50%) of rabbits were recorded as having at least one clinical sign, the most commonly reported clinical signs were reduced food intake (25.1% of cases), reduced faecal output (10.9%), and ocular discharge (10.6%).
In 98% of cases dental disease was confirmed using at least one diagnostic method. Almost all rabbits had a visual oral diagnostic examination; diagnostic imaging was only used in 56 cases (radiography in 49 cases and computed tomography in seven).
Treatments recorded included intra-oral dental treatment (787 cases), tooth trimming (754 cases) of which 244 involved incisor trimming, 593 cheek teeth trimming, and 24 where the tooth type was unspecified. Incisors and cheek teeth were both trimmed in 102 rabbits. 70.9% of incisor trimming events and 6.1% of cheek teeth trimming events were carried out on conscious rabbits. A total of 126 rabbits underwent tooth extraction, and dietary modification was recommended for 476 rabbits
The records showed 547 rabbits to have died at any point in the available record; of which dental disease was recorded as the primary cause of death for 92 of these rabbits and a contributory factor for a further 188 rabbits.
Limitations of the study include the retrospective nature and the inconsistent quality of the data contained within patients EHRs.
This study provides some evidence of the prevalence, clinical signs and treatment of rabbits with dental disease. Findings that have may have implications for animal welfare are highlighted and recommendations made.
Reference for previous study
Jackson, M.A. et al. (2024) Dental disease in companion rabbits under UK primary veterinary care: Frequency and risk factors. Veterinary Record. https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.3993
The following may also be of interest:
Veterinary care of rabbits [inFOCUS] [online] Available from: https://infocus.rcvsknowledge.org/vcr-veterinary-care-of-rabbits-dental-care/ [Accessed 20 June 2025]
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