Matted fur

I have an old boy who recently seems to have stopepd cleaning certain patches of himself (back foot and part of his belly) and his partner isn't doing it for him unfortunately. The fur is looking a bit knotty in these areas but not dirty. I'd like to help him out but not sure what to do, should I cut the knotted fur out or just give him a wash?

I've never washed a rabbit before so was thinking maybe just a flannel and warm water is better than sitting him in a little bath? Could someone advise? I don't want to stress him out as he is v old but I think he needs a little help bless him.

He's had a recent check up and the vet and he's perfectly healthy so not sure why he's stopped cleaning these two patches I always see him grooming and his fur is fine everywhere else...v strange!

 

I dont like to stress my rabbits when washing them so what I do is get a washing up bowl with small amount of water (inch) with some rabbit shampoo (pets at home) then just rub with a flannel after i towel dry them and i give them a brush as thier hair tends to get knotty then leave them to to the rest!

Hope your rabbit feels ok!

 

buy a grooming mit which has rubber nipples on it (85p trago mills ), and groom him every few days, the hair sticks to rubber and works much better than a soft rabbit brush. this will prevent build up of hair which causes the mats. My bun loves a good brush. It might be worth looking at the cat forums as this is very common in older cats.

It is worth cutting them out but with rounded end scissors so you wont puncture the skin if he moves. The matted fur can be very sore when touched because its pulling on the skin. I know for cats you can buy fur conditioner to help brush out the mats but doubt this would be ok to use on rabbits.

If hes not used to baths I dont think he would like it, and if hes old the stress and the cold could do more harm.

my mum has an old cat and for the last 2 years shes needed to be groomed a couple of times a week, if mum forgets the cat gets miserable because the fur can become painful and she generally feels grotty and dirty.

Also if your rabbit is over weight, if you can grab fat either side of his neck he might not be able to reach these areas to clean properly.

If he is very matted take him to the vets, they might want to sedate him and brush them out for you, this is what mum had to have done to the cat the first time.

 

Thanks for both bits of advice there... I shall go to the pet shop tomorrow and get a brush and try that but will buy some shampoo just in case that doesn't work. Didn't realise you could get rabbit shampoo!

He's not overweight so this isn't the problem, he cleans one side of his tum just not the other...its very strange. Maybe he just has a stiff neck one side so can reach one way but not the other! lol

Will let you know what works best on him

 

I use baby shampoo for my buns when they have a very occasional bath, they are always ok with that. Hope keeps getting matted up, I brush it out as best as possible, he did have a bath the other day.

*Heidi*

 

Hopefully I've now uploaded a pic to my signature for people to see my rabbits. The white one is Sugar- he's the one with the matted fur and the black and white is Lottie. Both are rescued, Sugar is 8 and Lottie is 6 and they are both lovely bunnies!