Best way(s) to groom Rex fur?

[Jenk]

My one Mini Rex girl has digestive issues when she sheds. I wind up grooming her, syringing her extra water (flavored with Critical Care), giving her sub-Q's (as needed), and offering her various supplements. It's a long, stressful process for the both of us.

It seems that her fecals also start decreasing in size after she's been groomed, but I don't really have the option of letting her ingest all of her loose fur.

I've been using a Zoom Groom to brush her every few days and try to remove some fur using moistened hands once daily. (I used to groom her twice daily during her sheds, but that seemed to stress her a lot.)

I do have the Furminator but believe it to be too rough for a Mini Rex's delicate skin. I'm willing to hear any other grooming techniques/tricks that might be low-stress for an easily stressed bun.

Thank you,

Jenk

 

[Nancy McClelland]

You've covered all of our bases. All three of ours really go to town with the hay so we've been lucky so far.

 

[Jenk]

Nancy McClelland wrote:

You've covered all of our bases. All three of ours really go to town with the hay so we've been lucky so far.

Are you saying that you don't really groom your rex buns when they're shedding?

Emma's gut doesn't tolerate--i.e., move along--shed fur as it should. So I need to groom her in some fashion. Wet hands aren't really the best option because they don't remove nearly as much fur as a brush. But even the Zoom Groom seems to stress Emma and cause her fecal size to start decreasing. (At that point, she tends to start going off her water, too, which forces me to jump in and do more for her. It's frustrating, really.)

 

[hillrise]

Try giving her pineapple to help prevent/pass hairballs while she's shedding.

My rabbits all like being groomed. I just use a regular slicker brush, gently, and petting. I usually don't bother with their face or belly/underside unless I see a problem there (like mats). My rex aren't nearly as bad as my normal furred rabbits, though. When the rabbits get into a good molt, I'll usually just set them on my grooming table, and have my daughter rub their forehead (soothing) while I pluck out the loose fur. I had one Flemish I did that to that ended up sloughing out an entire saddle blanket off his back (shoulders to hips and halfway down his flanks), the afternoon after he was judged! Not sure what happened to the picture of that...

 

[Pharfly]

My first rabbit was a mini rex, I used a simple human plastic comb too groom him and then wet hands too get the fur I missed. I have the furmanater here and use it on my cats, I have not tried too brush the buns with it. The furmanater cuts the undercoat, it doesn't pull it off so I dont think it would be ideal too use on a rabbit.

 

[Jenk]

hillrise wrote:

Try giving her pineapple to help prevent/pass hairballs while she's shedding.

I've been giving her Bromelain powder, which, I'm sure you know, is the enzyme that comes from pineapple. I either mix it with a small amount of plain water (about 5 mL), or I mix it in with a watery Critical Care formula (10-15 mL). At times, it seems like it's helping; other times, I'm unsure.

For me, the hard part is determining when she's actually having a gut issues. We've had so many problems with her sensitivity when she's shedding that it's rather mind-boggling and downright scary for me. I've tried playing the wait-and-see game with her, and it's never worked out well; so, nowadays, I leap into action the moment her fecal size begins to decrease--or if I see thick strands of fur between fecals. Heck, I even start syringing her extra water if her fecals turn dry--i.e., very light in color.

My rabbits all like being groomed. I just use a regular slicker brush, gently, and petting. I usually don't bother with their face or belly/underside unless I see a problem there (like mats). My rex aren't nearly as bad as my normal furred rabbits, though. When the rabbits get into a good molt, I'll usually just set them on my grooming table, and have my daughter rub their forehead (soothing) while I pluck out the loose fur. I had one Flemish I did that to that ended up sloughing out an entire saddle blanket off his back (shoulders to hips and halfway down his flanks), the afternoon after he was judged! Not sure what happened to the picture of that...

I should clarify that Emma seems to like being groomed. But her fecals tend to become small whenever she has a really good, thorough grooming session. (I used to place her on a chair--much like a grooming table--but stopped that practice in case it was stressing her more.)

This time around, I'm trying to be very lighthearted about the grooming process, sweet talking to her the entire time. I'm also relying more on my wet hands to remove loose fur, though it's not nearly as thorough as is the Zoom Groom brush. *sigh*

BTW, how often do you groom your rabbits when they're shedding?

 

[hillrise]

When my rabbits are actually shedding, I might do it as much as once a day, depending on how quickly they're blowing their coat. I've had some rabbits that blow their entire coat (or at least the entire back of their coat) all at once, so when I groomed, most of his coat came out, and he only needed a couple more touch ups for his rump a few days apart. Others seem to just puff out a little here, a little there, and I just groom them when I see a few "feathers" sticking out (usually about once a week, maybe for a month or two).

 

[kirst3buns]

I do a combination of things for my mini rex. Everytime I pet him during the day, I pluck. I rub his nose while plucking any fur that is sticking out. He settles right into the floor and seems to love it. Occasionally I might pull on something that is too well attached and he will jump up, but then will let me go back to petting/plucking. I might do this 2-3 times a day during a heavy shed.

Only during a heavy shed will I also pull out the furminator. I actually have a process where I have my husband hold his shoulders and rub his nose while I groom. He seems ok with it unless I get too far down on his sides. I can usually do his back and behind fairly well with it without bothering him. When I'm done he will hop off and give me "the butt" while completely regrooming himself, but it doesn't seem to stress him out too much. I do notice sometimes that his fecal size will decrease but I add a bit of canned pumpkin (1 teaspoon) to his veggie mix, hoping that will help. I've heard conflicting reports on the canned pumpkin but he loves it so even if it doesn't help, he's happy. I'm fortunate that he eats tons of hay. I will also give him a papaya tablet (oxbow) every evening.

 

[CB Millicent]

This is timely, as I'm a fairly new rabbit owner and have a standard Rex. She is molting like CRAZY and I've been so worried about her or her mate swallowing the fur!

She hates being held and brushed, so I put her on my lap and have my husband give her *tiny* bites of banana chips while I gently brush her with a flea comb. I then pick out all the fur pieces that are sticking out all over the place and smooth her down wearing those grooming gloves for cats. I swear, sometimes I get enough fur off of her to make a sweater!

She flicks her feet at me afterwards and hides in the condo, grooming herself again. So far she's continued with normal sized poops and seems to have no problems. But she IS pooping outside the box for the past week. Hmmmm. I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

 

[Jenk]

CB Millicent wrote:

So far she's continued with normal sized poops and seems to have no problems. But she IS pooping outside the box for the past week. Hmmmm. I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

I wouldn't think so, unless you notice: 1) smaller fecals in general (whether inside or outside of the litter box), and/or 2) fur-strung fecals.

I don't know CinnaBun Millicent's age, but my Emma, who's 4 years old, always poops a small amount outside of her personal litter box. I suspect she does so to increase the size of her "turf"--essentially increasing what she perceives to be the boundary size.

BTW, I always pick up Emma's fecals left outside of her box each night, so that I can see what sized ones she passes on the floor (and, yes, inside of her litter box) during the night. I only feel panicky when they turn small and/or if she's passing thick strands of fur.

 

[mistyjr]

How i groom my mini rex's and seen others doing it too. They wet their hands and run the rabbit down, Or you can get a grooming stone rock that you can get at your local farm store.

 

[Jenk]

mistyjr wrote:

How i groom my mini rex's and seen others doing it too. They wet their hands and run the rabbit down, Or you can get a grooming stone rock that you can get at your local farm store.

I've been using the Zoom-Groom brush--very gently, of course--and wet hands to remove loose fur.

I'm curious to know about the grooming stone rock; that's a new one on me. LOL


Jenk