Does anyone else trim their bunny's fur?

[BethM]

I was just wondering if anyone else trimmed fur (other than Angoras)? Nick is starting to molt, and it's making me a bit nervous. (Last time he had a big molt, he went into stasis from hair ingestion.) This evening I wrangled him into the bathroom and started brushing and plucking him. I got a ball of fur that was the size of a baseball and he didn't look any different. :shock: Since I already had scissors in there to trim mats from his back feet and bottom, I just trimmed his whole back half. It seems his back half is much thicker than his front half, fur-wise.

His hair is long, and SUPER thick. (When it's trimmed, it looks and feels like Rex fur.) I can barely find skin under all that fur.
Should I consider doing this regularly, or just when he's starting a molt, or just leave him alone and do what I can with brushing? He really hates being plucked or brushed, or even petted, so it's difficult to do much of that.


Poor guy, he got a toenail trim and an ear rinse, too. (Didn't have a problem taking his raisin from me afterward, though!) Since I was trying to be quick and get him out of there, he looks like he got the worst haircut in the world!

 

[Nelson_is_mine]

I have a pair of jersey woolies and I trim their hair. They, too hate being brushed. They always look they got the worst haircut in the world because their undercoat grows unevenly. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone trimming the hair of a non wool producing breed, though. I don't see any harm in it.

 

[FallingStar]

No, I've never trimmed my rabbits fur. I think most rabbit that get trimmed the most are probably jersey woolies, angoras, and anyother rabbit with wool like fur.

But I would amuse it doesn't hurt them, they probably dont like it. But sometimes it needs to be done. Like clipping nails.

Karlee

 

[BethM]

Thanks, good to hear it shouldn't be a problem.

I will probably try to keep his fur trimmed when he starts to molt. Poor Nick! I realized this morning that before the trim, it was impossible to see where his legs, butt, and tailwere, he was just a big mass of fur. Now he looks so strange because he's defined. It's like he went from wearing baggy pants to wearing tight jeans. Ha ha!

Nick is a Holland Lop mix, so maybe he's got some wooly breed in there somewhere. His fur is twice as long (about 2 inches!) as either of my girls have, and like I said, it's super-dense.

I'll try to get a photo of his new 'do later, just because he looks so funny.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Aww he sounds so cute! I can't wait to see pictures. I've never had a woolly breed of bunny before, but I seem to recall Cinnabun getting a little hair trim or two when I was 10. I just cut a tiny bit off the top of his head, you couldn't even tell it had been cut if you didn't know! Sorry, Cin

 

[naturestee]

Yeah, some hollands do have wooly genes. What are you using to brush him? After any mats are removed, the best brush ever is the Furminator and similar knock-offs. You have no idea how much fur can come off an animal until you try one of these!

I only trim mats off, which Loki does sometimes get when there's a little loose fur left around his tail after a molt. I've had to do more extensive trimming on shelter rabbits including some short-fured ones. Those were more oftenthe fault of wet litterboxes or frequent urine-spraying though.

 

[kherrmann3]

I don't really trim my buns. I will clip Toby's "under bits" when they get matted or he starts to get poo stuck in it. I rarely do that, though. I just trim between his legs and a bit of his belly and near his tail. I normally just groom him constantly and pluck loose hair when he is molting.

 

[BethM]

naturestee wrote: Yeah, some hollands do have wooly genes. What are you using to brush him? After any mats are removed, the best brush ever is the Furminator and similar knock-offs. You have no idea how much fur can come off an animal until you try one of these!

I have a Furminator, I don't think I've got the technique down yet for it to completely effective. I do get some fur out with it, but I've found plucking to get more fur out faster. Plus, Nick's fur is so thick, it's kinda hard to get the brush in, but I don't want to be to forceful with it. (I have better luck with the girls, their fur is shorter and not as dense.) I just got a Zoom Groom, too, that seems to be good for getting a bit of fur out quick. None of my bunnies like being brushed, and Nick is the worst. Sometimes he will get mats that make him look like he has 2 tails, or extra toes on his back feet.

He usually gets a quick brush down about once a month, when he gets his ear rinse. (My vet wants me to rinse his ears out once a week to clear wax, but he gets so stressed I only do it once a month. He hasn't had any problems with his ears since his first check-up 2 years ago, when he had "excess wax," so this seems to be sufficient.)
He will occasionally let me pet (and groom) him while he's eating a treat, but not always.

I don't know if Nick has wooly genes for sure, but the length and density of his fur seems like he might. It's sort of strange, though, it's just the white fur that is super long/dense, but his grey spots and the grey stripe down his back are closer to "normal" fur.

I'm still trying to get a good photo of his new "pants!"

 

[naturestee]

None of my rabbits like being brushed. When they need it, I just pick them up and make them deal with it. When I had Sprite, every rare once in a while she would start to hyperventilate as she had abuse-related fear of hands. Then I'd just let her go and try again in half a day or so.

Plucking isbetter than the Furminator for those thick chunks. What I do is pluck out all the chunky stuff and then use the Furminator. It gets out a lot that I wouldn't be able to otherwise, even with the Zoom Groom. You have to play with the angle a bit to find themost effectiveway to hold it. Usually instead of holding itat a right angle, it works better if I tilt the handleup towards the head more so the blade is closer to being flat on the skin. Does that make sense?

Also, I always give a treat immediately after putting them down and they know it. Actually Loki gets really excited, running circles around me and honking, when I brush Mocha because he knows he'll be getting a treat too! So they're never mad at me for long even if it took a really long time to brush them.

 

[LolaGirl]

I pluck her lose fur out but I don't cut Lola. When she went to the vets they had to trim her because her last owner's neglected her and she had some real bad matted fur under her bum.

 

[BethM]

naturestee wrote: "None of my rabbits like being brushed. When they need it, I just pick them up and make them deal with it. "

Nick squirms a lot, and I'm afraid he might hurt himself. He also starts breathing really rapidly. (He can also get out of even the tightest towel burrito.)

Usually instead of holding it at a right angle, it works better if I tilt the handle up towards the head more so the blade is closer to being flat on the skin. Does that make sense?

That makes sense! I will get more practice, as I'll be needing to groom him more while he's molting, if he likes it or not.

"Also, I always give a treat immediately after putting them down and they know it. "

Nick refuses to take a treat from anyone directly after being handled. If he's still in The Room, he will tilt his head downwards and give me the stink eye, sometimes while thumping. After I let him out, he will run away, flipping me off, and generally avoids me for awhile. He is still wary of me today! He did come for his bedtime raisin, but he snatched it out of my hand and ran away to eat it in his house.


Edit: Sorry about the formatting. Sometimes I can get it to work right and sometimes I can't.

 

[BethM]

Photos of Nick's new haircut....

Before (notice that he is so furry you can hardly see where his legs and feet are supposed to be):

After (poor guy! It's kinda hard to tell in these pics, but I took of about 1/2 inch, and he's still crazy furry.):

I only did his backside, as he was really stressed out by then. Next grooming session I will try to even it out a bit, and maybe trim around his shoulders and sides.