Matted jersey wooly

[kathybunny]

My wooly is so matted.  I don’t pick her up because she doens’t care for it and I was petting her a bit and noticed she’s very matted.

I worked on it a little the other night with some thinning scissors (she actually held still for quite a while which totally shocked me), but I didn’t get much accomplished.  

Any tips?  I think she’s going too look very chopped up after I cut them out, poor girl.  I have a cat who mats and I get her shaved 2x a year.  Can’t do this with a bun!

[LBJ10]

Are the mats close to the skin? If they are sliding down the still attached fur, you can work them out. If they are really tight, you can cut them. And don’t use thinning shears, that just makes the matting worse. You want the mats to be able to slide down the guard hairs so they can easily be worked out. That’s what the guard hairs do. I know because when Wooly sheds, it all comes off at once. The loose wool will begin to mat and slide down the guard hairs. I have to brush him regularly during that time and I’m usually able to get them off. But I don’t sweat it too much. If something needs to be cut, then I cut it.

[kathybunny]

I think they are too close to the skin and I’m going to have to cut them. Thanks for the tip on the thinning shears. I thought maybe I could work them out if I did that.

Is this shed time? Because it’s spring?

I will be sure when I get them out to make sure this doesn’t happen again!

[bunnnnnnie!]

My lionhead gets little bitty mats occasionally – I groom her weekly but it still happens. I take a pair of bandage scissors (found at pharmacies usually near first aid stuff) and trim them out. It’s much easier on her to just have them quickly snipped out then have to sit there and have me pull on her hair as I try to work them out.

The bandage scissors work very well as they’re extremely sharp so they don’t get jammed in that dense bunny wool, and also they have this little nub on the end of the scissors to help keep the blades away from the skin.

[kathybunny]

I’ll look for those. I have some sharp hair scissors that should work, but I don’t want to poke her!

[kathybunny]

so after 3 sessions and enough hair to make 3 more bunnies, I’m about done trimming! Still have a little bit to go. my gosh was she tangled and wow to all the fur!! She’s not looking great but I suppose she feels better. She has been wonderful throughout this too. She doesn’t like me picking her up but when I’d get her in my lap settled down, she was fine, I almost wonder if she liked it a little I’m happy and I’m going to work on brushing her more often and get her to like me hopefully.

She loves to hop up on the couch at playtime and tease me! Today she kind of gave me a nose to nose kiss though, such little things excite me!!

Has anyone ever tried show sheen? It’s for horses but people say it works well for mats.

[LBJ10]

That’s great! I’m glad you made some progress. As long as everything is growing out together, it will be fine. Just keep brushing it as it grows out and you shouldn’t have too many problems.

I went to the website for that product. There is a warning not to use it on cats. That tells me it isn’t safe for animals that groom (lick) themselves. Therefore, it probably isn’t safe for bunnies.

[kathybunny]

I decided to take that stuff back. I hadn’t thought of licking.

Is this a shedding time?

[kathybunny]

I decided to take that stuff back. I hadn’t thought of licking.

Is this a shedding time?

[LBJ10]

Depends on the bunny. Some will shed periodically, while others will shed continuously. Being in controlled environments, I don’t think there is a rhyme or reason to it. Wooly isn’t having a big shed right now and I’m not sure when he will start up again.

[kathybunny]

that’s kinda what I thought. What color is yours? I think mine is just beautiful. She’s orange but more buff. Gorgeous rabbits!
They are out to play and her hair looks so funny. The top layer is longer and when she hops it’s kinda like a dorky man’s haircut to me.

[LBJ10]

Wooly is the one on the right in my avatar. He has the black otter coloring, which looks different in a wooly breed because the undercoat is gray and he is vienna marked so he has a white blaze and blue eyes.

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