Matted feet fur?

[Dragonrain]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone can give me advice about what to do with Ziggy and his matted back feet. He's a clean guy, doesn't have a problem cleaning himself and doesn't have mats anywhere else on him - yet for some reason he seems to keep getting mats on both of his back feet. He had huge mats on them when I first got him and I cut most of them off...but didn't want to cut too close to his skin.

I figured that as his fur grew back out he would keep it clean and that would be the end of that issue. That wasn't the case though, and I just cut more mats out of his back feet earlier while I was clipping his nails.

The weird thing is that I know he grooms his back feet, because I see him doing it. He is very healthy otherwise as well. He's not over weight or anything like that. I keep the bunny area as clean as I can - they have two litter boxes that I completely clean out and soak w/ vinegar every other day.

Is this a common problem with holland lops? My other holland Berry had back feet mats when I got her as well but hers weren't as bad and haven't been as much of a reoccurring problem as Ziggy's have been.

Is there anything I can do about this? It can't be very comfortable for him.

 

[undergunfire]

Ah....Holland Lops will be the death of me. They always have to "stand out in the crowd", don't they ?

Brody gets very matted on his back under feet. I've been thinking of shaving his back feet down, but I am concerned because all that thick hair wouldn't be there if Hollands didn't need it, right :dunno? So...I don't know whether to do it or not. It's impossible to brush them every few days because Brody HATES being held.

 

[Konotashi]

I have the same problem with Salem, only it's on his butt, so it gets REALLY nasty because poop and pee crusts if I'm not diligent on keeping him clean.
I have a little grooming brush I brush over him about once a week. I've upped it to about 4 times a week now, because he's shedding like crazy, but brushing him keeps him matt-free.
Oh, not to mention, he hates the brush. xD

 

[Dragonrain]

Yeah Ziggy is the same way, he hates being picked up. I dread doing his monthly nail trim/check over because he puts up such a struggle when I have to pick him up.

That's the same spot he gets his mats too, just on the bottoms of his back feet. I don't know what to do. I had to cut off a good deal of the fur there last night to get all the mats out. I'd hate to have to keep doing it all the time, but I would think that he'd be more comfortable without matted fur.

So it sounds like maybe this is a common issue with hollands? I wonder why...Ziggy and Berry are my first holland lops and I've never had any issues like this with any of my other rabbits. :?

 

[undergunfire]

Brody is my first Holland, too (thank you oh so much, HUBBY :grumpy....HAHA!!!

Hollands just have suuuuper thick hair on their back feet, so it is really no wonder that it gets matted. Maybe others will chime in and let us know what they do....a ton of people on here have HL's and must be noticing the mats.

 

[Wabbitdad12]

I have a bun too that happens to occasionally, I brush them out.

 

[nicolevins]

Maybe get advice from a vet or pet shop..?

 

[undergunfire]

nicolevins wrote:

Maybe get advice from a vet or pet shop..?

*some* vets are rabbit savvy, but many are not. I only have one vet in town that I would trust getting advice from. Pet shops are one of the worst places to seek advice about animals .

 

[Dragonrain]

I already talked to his vet about it. She did a complete health check up on him to make sure he was healthy (he is) and then said that really all I can do about it is cut them out and try to brush him more.

I'm going to try to brush him more often even though he haates it, and will continue to just cut out any mats I find I guess. I just wanted to see if anyone else had any advice.

 

[tonyshuman]

I gently pull out the matts in Muffin's back feet fur every month when I do nail trims etc.

 

[Dragonrain]

There was no way I could pull or brush out the mats he had the other day, they where too thick and I didn't want to hurt him. Not to mention that it's a struggle to be able to hold him for longer than a few minutes and I don't usually have anyone to help me. I think, much to Ziggy's dismay, that I might start trying to brush him more, to see if that helps.

 

[BethM]

My Holland Lop, Nick, also gets mats on his back feet. Nick's are usually on the outside "edge" of his feet, and I affectionately refer to them as his "extra toes." He also occasionally develops an "extra tail" due to matting on his butt, but that's not as frequent as the foot matting.

I usually just trim them when I do nail trims. Nick is very squirmy, so I will generally try to get my husband to help me. I'll carefully feel the mat, between my thumb and forefinger, and work my way up near his actual foot. I will then have my husband cut the mat right next to my fingers, on the side AWAY from the foot. This does leave a small bit of matting, but I prefer to err on the side of caution to avoid possibly hurting Nick. Same process with the butt matts.

Nick's mats always stick out, away from his body, so that helps me a lot with the trimming.