Epic fail grooming my Frosty girl

[BunnymomKS]

I felt so bad – I’ve had Miss Frosty – 9-1/2 lb. Californian Rex – almost a year now and sometimes she gets mats around her back end. I had some luck working them out with my fingers, but the other night it turned out that I was pulling out newer fur without realizing it! Now the poor baby has these bald strips across her bum – fortunately the rest of her fur covers them and I think the bald areas will grow back. But I felt so guilty and want to avoid making this mistake in the future!

However, obviously I need advice on how to groom my sweetie and how to feel the difference between a true mat and thick fur. I’m thinking I’d probably better stick to slicking the surface unless she’s in an obvious molt? Like at the end of the summer I could tell she was molting because her white fur looked like meringue peaks! We were in the part of the country having a terrible heat wave (ugh).

I see some folks here on Binkybunny use pumice, which I never would’ve thought of. I wondered too about the grooming gloves with the little rubber nubbies.

Eagerly awaiting suggestions!

[Huckleberry]

I would be really shocked if you were pulling out new fur… How was she reacting? Did she seem like she was in pain when you yanked that out or just a little annoyed? Also, what did those mats feel like? Were they hard/soft? Big/small?
When buns go through their heavy molt (I’m not sure where you are but a lot of us are dealing with that right now) there can be spots where you are “plucking” (pulling out those loosened tufts of hair that stick out) and if the shedding is really condensed in that area, you could pull a lot of fur out that and make your bun very close to being bald without hurting the bun. Once, I did this to my bun’s head. She looked really goofy for a while with the new fur being just a very short area of black fuzz.

If she is getting mats on her bum that are actual true mats (the fur stays clumped together after you pull it out) and it is mostly around her bum, you might need to consider that her littler box is staying a little dirtier than it should be. What kind of litter are you using? Simply switching to a more absorbent litter or one with less dust could help with this.

As for grooming, I have tried a lot of things and I have to say that the hairbuster comb (I bought mine on the binkybunny store) is the BEST tool. It pulls the undercoat out much more effectively than any cat shedding comb I have used. I have a grooming glove as well. It does not really help on the rabbit but it is great for getting all that fur off the couch!
🙂 Hope some of this helps!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I ditto-it would be hard to pull out new fur-you can only easily pull out loosened fur (which is loosened when the folicle is making new fur!) -bald spots are common when shedding for sure. I think your bunny would have fought you hard if you were pulling fur out for sure. Although they will fight you for normal grooming sometimes, I doubt you could have pulled out new fur.

But bald spots are also common when the bunny is incontinent and has wetness in the rear area. Does your bunny have a wet bum often for any reason?

[zpipes]

Its really easy for me to tell what matting is on my rabbit because he is a long hair. It feels like wadded up cottonballs if there is a whole section, like right now on his butt. If there are little spots here and there its real easy to tell because its a hard lump instead of soft fur. I’ve been working on cutting all the hair on his backside so I can get it to grow regular, but its quite hard, he hates grooming and its hard to keep his head petted while cutting from his backside, so he usually zooms right away lol.. so I came here to add to the fail groomers. :o(

[BunnymomKS]

Sometimes I’ve wondered if the mats that form when they shed sort of “trap” the hairs alongside them and those work loose too? Is that possible? I’m just going to be super-careful from now on. Frosty is a placid bun, didn’t seem in distress, maybe minor annoyance, when I was plucking the so-called “mats,” and I was working them very slowly with my fingers, so that if anything tugged that was still attached, I figured she’d let me know. (She will nip if need be to keep Mommy in line. ) I think I’m just going to play it safe and use a petting glove on her and maybe a little brush when she gets the “meringue” look during the summer molt.

I use wood stove pellets for her litter and she sometimes likes to lie in the box, but her bum looks clean and there aren’t bits of sawdust in the fur.
 

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