Urgent professional grooming needed for friend’s rabbit!

[Hira]

My friend recently got a wooly rabbit from a sketchy place in Kentucky. This rabbit has badly matted, poop-encrusted fur on the backside, and from what I’ve seen, it looks like it’s almost all just a big mat. The rabbit won’t let her touch anywhere around its underside, so she can’t even try getting it out with brushing, which I advised against attempting.

The problem is, she can’t seem to find anywhere that will do sanitary shaves. She’s worried this rabbit might have fly strike, and it may be having trouble with pooping as well as potential pee rashes, though it was able to flick its pee around its new home. She’s located in the Hazard, Kentucky area. I unfortunately can’t call anywhere to help because I don’t have an American phone nor an international call plan, but this rabbit looks like it needs serious help. Having my own precious wooly mix, I’m incredibly concerned for this one’s well-being. Please help!!

Note: She says she’s willing to travel up to four or five hours if it means getting help for this rabbit, so it doesn’t have to be in the immediate area!!

[Mikey]

She needs to go to a rabbit savvy vet to have the bun checked out. The vet should also have information nearby bunny groomers, or might be able to do it themselves

[Hira]

Yeah, that’s what she’s been trying to do, but none of the local vets she talks to seems to do shaves, and none of them have been able to give her anywhere to go. She’s at a dead end and I’m worried. 

[tobyluv]

There is a chapter of the House Rabbit Society in Kentucky. Here is their page with a list of rabbit savvy vets: http://www.harveyshouse.org/resources/kyvets/. She could also ask that HRS chapter if they know of a any groomers that are familiar with working on rabbits. Most groomers are only familiar with dogs and they may not be able to correctly handle and clip a rabbit. There used to be an Angora rabbit at the Sanctuary where I volunteer. She was very matted and we took her to a groomer. She ended up with several little cuts in her skin, and they told us not to bring her back. If your friend can find a good vet to clip the rabbit, that would probably be better than taking it to a groomer.

I see that Hazard, KY is not too far from some other bordering states – West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina.  If she can’t find a good vet in KY, or they are all located across the state from her, she could see how far away some vets are in these other states.  Here is a link to one list of vets by state: http://rabbit.org/rabbit-veterinarians-state-listings/.  These lists aren’t always up to date, but they should be fairly accurate.

[Mikey]

I dont think it matters if they do shaves or not, the rabbit needs to be seen by a vet asap. Ask if they do shaves after you get to the appointment. Maybe the rabbit just needs to be washed off and have a trim instead a full shave. Either way, if theres any suspect of flystrike, the bun needs to see a vet as soon as possible

[vanessa]

I can’t understand why a rabbit vet wouldn’t be willing to at least trim the hair around the backside. My adopted bunny had his matted poopy hairs trimmed when he was turned in to the shelter before I adopted him.I agree that flystrike is a more pressing concern. Why is she concerned about flystrike? Are there any lumps on the rabbit?

[Hira]

She was concerned because she did spy a few maggots in the cage from where she took the rabbit. She hasn’t found any maggots on the rabbit but the hair is too thickly matted too close to the skin to properly see under it. The vets she took it to unfortunately couldn’t even trim it because of how matted it is – there’s nothing to trim as it’s all very, very close to the skin and no clips can get under it nor can it cut through due to how badly the poop is packed in there. Plus there’s a big concern on how they wouldn’t be able to tell where the tail is because it’s completely coated the tail.

We’re going to go through the HRS list Toby’s provided, thank you very, very much. I’ve never seen a rabbit in such a bad condition and it’s really important it gets a sanitary shave since it’s quite impossible to even clip it. I’m doubting that it has flystrike at this point because she’s said she still hasn’t found any maggots on the rabbit, but until we can actually see any skin past the mat, I’m not going to completely rule it out. The vets didn’t find anything on the rabbit but when it comes to the rump, which tends to be the problem area, they can’t get past that mat either. The rabbit sometimes seems to react as if something poked it on the behind when nothing did, which is part of the reason I can’t safely rule it out until we get it somewhere the mat can be safely shaved by someone who knows how to deal with such a tightly packed mat on such thin skin, since it’s to the point the vets can’t properly look at the rabbit. Honestly, the mat is less of a mat and more like a rock. You can knock on it and it’d sound like wood, which is part of the problem here and why getting rid of it presents the bigger concern at this point.

Thank you for your fast responses, and I hope we’ve found a place close enough by that can safely take care of this poor rabbit.

[tobyluv]

I hope that one of the vets on the Kentucky list or the other list can help this poor rabbit.

I don’t know if trying to wash the area would help or if it would make the mat worse. Did the vet even mention this when the rabbit was taken in? I know that you said the rabbit doesn’t like to be touched on its underside, but I wonder if your friend could manage to get the rabbit in a small plastic tub, like a dish tub, put a small amount of warm water in it (an inch or two), and try to loosen some of that poop at least, and hopefully get rid of some of that poop. Maybe that would make the mat loosen too since it is bound by poop. On the few occasions when I have had to give a butt bath to an elderly rabbit that had gotten dirty, I used a plastic dish pan and kept it in the floor, since rabbits don’t usually like heights and I didn’t want any possibility of my rabbit falling. I used a tiny piece of a natural hypoallergenic soap in the water. It’s a lot easier if you have a helper – one person to hold the rabbit in the tub, while the other splashes water on the dirty area and tries to work out any poop.  Here are the instructions for a bunny butt bath:
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/buttbath.html. But before this is attempted, a call to the vet should be made to make sure that wetting the area wouldn’t make the mat worse.

[Roberta]

Tell them to immediately apply Revolution or Advocate. Preferrably the kitten, dosage is 0.1 ml per kg or 0.1 mg per 2.025 pounds.

[Dandelion and Coco]

That poor, poor bunny needs help as soon as possible. If the link that Tobyluv sent doesn’t work for you, google “bio Miami hare butt bath” and it should come up. Perhaps a dry bath like it suggests might help to sooth the area, but I would check with a vet first. Is the rabbt leaving poos- are the poos sticking in the fur or are they going onto the floor or into a litter tray? Good luck and keep us updated. Is there any way for your friend to report the rescue centre’s unsanitary conditions?

[Dandelion and Coco]

That poor, poor bunny needs help as soon as possible. If the link that Tobyluv sent doesn’t work for you, google “bio Miami hare butt bath” and it should come up. Perhaps a dry bath like it suggests might help to sooth the area, but I would check with a vet first. Is the rabbt leaving poos- are the poos sticking in the fur or are they going onto the floor or into a litter tray? Good luck and keep us updated. Is there any way for your friend to report the rescue centre’s unsanitary conditions?

[Dandelion and Coco]

Sorry, I’ve been on here for less than a day and I posted the same reply twice

[Dandelion and Coco]

Sorry, I’ve been on here for less than a day and I posted the same reply twice

[Dandelion and Coco]

I just checked and I heard that if it is just hair then water will make the matts tighter! Rubbing the mats with baby cornstarch (NOT talc) might help the poor bunny.

[Author]

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