Mats

[Bellasmom]

Hi Everyone Im a new Bunny mom.  I have never owned a rabbit, but have always wanted one.  I got Bella 4 days ago from a lady who did not care for her.  She is a lion head Rabbit.  I noticed today that she has huge mats under her bum.  I tried to remove them with the help of my daughter, but she wont have it.  She is already nervous and doesn’t trust us very much yet.

I am wondering of anybody has had this problem with a freighted rabbit and what do you do about it.  I have already spent the day calling groomers and vets, with no luck.

I have tried putting her in a “tranz” with no luck, I think Im more worried about hurting her.

Can someone please help, I want this to be a positive experience for my whole family

 

Thank You

[Roberta]

Hi Bellasmom,
I can sympathise, I have a French Angora called Piglet and his fur ended up in a terrible state recently. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to get hi groomed properly at the vets and spent a month of hours trying to slowly remove the mats on my own with a pair of surgical scissors getting only a few millimeters at a time. I finally got onto a groomer through our local Rabbit Rescue and Peta is brilliant, comes to the house, only charges $25 per hour, is fantastic with the buns and has rabbits of her own.

One of the difficulties with buns is their skin is very fine and can tear easily and it also causes them a great deal of discomfort if the skin is pulled which is why many vets and groomers will not do them. If you are not confident in being able to do the grooming I would recommend contacting your local rescue and seeing if they can recommend a groomer or have one of their own. They may be able to do the fur and nails for you for a donation. Additionally you could contact your local Angora or Cashmere Rabbit Society, they may have some members that will do grooming, I found another lady that way who shows Angora rabbits and she was willing to come out and do manicures and shaves for $100 for all 5 buns. I went with Peta as I got to see her work first at the shelter and felt really comfortable with her.

What Country/Area are you in ?

If you do want to try grooming yourself then it is best to have an assistant and to sit them on a table (that’s how we do Piglet, I hold, comfort and maneuver whilst Peta clips). If you look at the info page on the BB home page there are also some grooming tips there.

[Bellasmom]

Thanks for your reply 🙂
I’m in Edmonton Alberta Canada, I have emailed a breeder today, with still no reply.
I would love if someone would come and do it for me. I feel bad because I tried to do a little bit by myself and the little bit of trust I have built up with her for the past few days is gone. She is already terrified because of the move, I really don’t want to stress her out anymore. Im afraid the mat is going to do damage, its so big that its from hip to hip 🙁

[LBJ10]

Is the mat tight and pulling the skin? If not, then it isn’t a huge emergency. If the mat is really bad and you can’t get it off safely yourself, then a vet might be your best bet.

[RoyalElvira]

Oh goodness! I had the exact same thing happen to me!! I adopted a lionhead off of craigslist and she was horribly matted EVERYWHERE! I ended up taking her to our House Rabbit society and they shaved the mats out for me. They are experienced in grooming rabbits, so they did an awesome job and were able to get some of the really bad mats out.
Do you guys have a house rabbit society up there? Try that!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Congrats on your new family member

I would suggest, if you can’t find a groomer, to get a small pet trimmer (I use a Wahl Puppy Trimmer from Walmart, like $10, battery operated) and put bunny on a towel on the table. Get a helper and gently lift her bum and trim small sections at the base of the mat. If the mat is directly tight against the skin you can just work at trimming off hunks of the mat. You probably don’t want to work it all out in one session, maybe do a bit twice a day until you can pull the whole thing off. Trimmers are a safe way to get rid of mats. Don’t forget to follow each sessions with a small, healthy treat like dried fruit or carrot.

[Roberta]

Sound like the horrible mat Piglet got across his haunches. Once I got past the first centremeter around the edges I found there was space underneath to slide the scissors in, this I did going a millimeter at a time it took about half an hour every night for a fortnight but it finally came away. The huge mat under his chin and behind his legs however was just to much for me especially dealing with a clever grumpy bun who discovered a quick nip to the boob was a good way to discourage Mummy from further grooming each night. And yes, mats can do damage especially if they have seeds stuck in them. Piglet was done in the nick of time as we found that 3 seeds had just started to prick into his skin. I had made a point of feeling through the knotted fur every day and trying to remove any seeds I found so atleast that threat was reduced. Rather than going to a breeder to see if thety will groom find someone who shows angora or long haired rabbits. Some of them do breed rabbits but I have found they are more discriminating about it and keep their rabbits in much better conditions. Someone who shows rabbits is more likely to help you out or know someone who can. I’ll see if I can find a link for Canada.

[Roberta]

OK, Give this lady a try… She popped up on several other forums. She regularly shows english angoras http://happyhopsrabbitry.com/index.htm , her email is on the website

[Roberta]

I am pretty sure Kokaneeandkahlua is in that general area…. I wonder if she knows the local of the nearest HRS or similar ?

[Roberta]

This Lady is in Edmonton apparently and does nail clipping and anal glands for rabbits. She might be worth a try.
http://alberta.kijiji.ca/c-pets-animal-pet-services-Pretty-Pawz-Pet-Grooming-in-Leduc-W0QQAdIdZ450946572

[Bellasmom]

Hi,
Thanks for all the replies.
I will try to call those numbers in the morning.
I tried again to do some more today, but having a hard time taming her, the lady I got her from said shes very social and loves to be held…..not happening for me though. Maybe I just have to be patient haha

[Beka27]

I alerted our forum leader who lives in that area. She may have some contacts for you as well.

[Author]

Messages