Trimming lionheads?

[kkiddle]

Millie has poor vision (she gets it from her mom!) not to the point where she's anywhere near blind, but she often scans the room to ensure she's not missing anything.
My mom suggested that I trim the area of hair near her eyes because much of the problem is that her eyes are surrounded by hair. I would never do this on my own as I don't really know how.
Anyway, my question is if anybody has gotten their lionhead groomed (or groomed them themselves)?

I would love to get her hair trimmed in the summer as I feel it would help with the heat, but for now I'm only interested in trimming the area around her eyes so she can see a little better.

Any experience?

 

[woahlookitsme]

If she is the pointed rabbit in the picture then red eyed rabbits have this problem commonly I believe. There was a thread earlier about it. But a very respectable vet told me this:

"REWs [Red Eyed White rabbits] do have a generalized problem with their eyes that is best described as resting horizontal nystagmus. The thought is that these rabbits have difficulty locking in on patterns of light and therefore continuously adjust their vision to account for the light source in the room."

I'm not sure trimming would help this problem. Unless she is running into things or it is very obvious her vision is compensated then I wouldn't trim.

 

[Imbrium]

I've given my lionhead a trim, but that was her skirt/butt area... I'd be very wary of trimming around the eyes, as you could accidentally clip eyelashes/whiskers

 

[kkiddle]

If she is the pointed rabbit in the picture then red eyed rabbits have this problem commonly I believe. There was a thread earlier about it. But a very respectable vet told me this:

"REWs [Red Eyed White rabbits] do have a generalized problem with their eyes that is best described as resting horizontal nystagmus. The thought is that these rabbits have difficulty locking in on patterns of light and therefore continuously adjust their vision to account for the light source in the room."

I'm not sure trimming would help this problem. Unless she is running into things or it is very obvious her vision is compensated then I wouldn't trim.

Yes, I contributed to that thread! I didn't think it would cure the problem, just help cut down on the scanning. I noticed when Cheeto over-groomed her eyes, and the hair was back, she didn't scan AT ALL. Anyway, just wanted to hear some experiences from this. I'm very weary about trimming because of whiskers and such anyway. I was just curious if anybody had done it before.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

If it is the mane that is the issue, there should not a problem with trimming it. Just be careful to not cut anything you shouldn't.
Trimming won't stop the scanning since that is more due to the eyes themselves. It will keep the fur from blocking vision.

 

[kkiddle]

I finally did it and the results are amazing! It wasn't actually the hair around her eyes that was blocking the eyes, it was the hair sprouting from the top of her head and hanging over her eyes. I trimmed it and she has been like a totally different bunny! She runs around more with Cheeto and I've only noticed her scanning when I first put her back into the room after the trim.

By the way, for future reference--scanning can be caused by putting a rabbit with previous vision issues in a new environment or any change that may mess with their vision. It is not necessarily the eyes that may be making the scanning worse even though it is there because of poor eyes. I'm sure that because she has below average vision, there will be more scanning when things in the room change, like usual. However, an increase in scanning can be caused by any issue that may make vision worse (i.e hair in the eyes). Because she can't see as well with the hair in her eyes, she compensates by scanning constantly.

But anyway, I'm so happy for her. It was getting to the point where I had to direct her to her food bowl. Cheeto always gets there first, so she would get to him and they would both be eating out of the same bowl. I would have to push her over to her bowl so they could eat in peace. Now, they are both running up to their own bowls with no problem! She's also running around more (which she did before, but not as much as Cheeto) and binkying like a crazy thing. Right now, I'm watching them both go insane, which is something usually saved for Cheeto's hyper moments. She's still a little more cautious than Cheeto, but I've never seen her almost match him in his silly moments!

Yayy!!

 

[Imbrium]

I'm so glad her trim has worked out well

 

[ldoerr]

That is great news!! I have to trim my jersey woolies but every so often so that it stays clean and bedding/poop does not build up there.