French Angora – Grooming

[bree_bun]

Hey all!  I have a grooming question… one of my buns is a French Angora, he is about 9 months old.  I brush him regularly (as much as he’ll let me, without stressing him out), but he is still one hairy bear!  I have hair everywhere!  That doesn’t bother me much, I just worry about him ingesting it and getting wool block.  I try my best to keep his hair neat and un-matted, but it’s out of control.  He does have some mats and I bring him to the vet often to get them shaved off, but even they are afraid to get to close to his skin (as buns have very sensitive, tear-able skin) and he gets so stressed going to the vet  So I do what I can with brushing him, but still worry when I see some strung together poops by hair.  He poops very well, eats like a champ (lots of hay and wet veggies), gets lots of exercise.  Is there anything I can add to his diet to make passing hair easier?  I’ve read pineapple… is there anything else out there?  And if you have ANY grooming tips for me, please share!  Thank you! 

 

– Bree

 

P.s. I don’t know if you guys can see my profile pic, but that is the bun I’m talking about.  That pic was when he was a baby, his hair accounts for like 3/4 of his size! LOL

[Jesse97]

Just make sure he is eating lots of hay. Hay helps break down food and hair. Also make sure you are grooming him everyday. The more you do it, the easier it will be for you and your bunny. What kind of brush are you using.

[Roberta]

I get Piglet shaved now. He is a huge fluffy french angora too and despite visits to the vet for grooming he developed matts down his back, under his chin and round his legs. It used to cost $250 at the vets and they would put him under anesthesia. Thanks to a post by our local Rabbit Rescue I found an amazing mobile groomer who comes to the house and charges $25 an hour. No anesthetic, no stress and a very handsome bun. It took two hours the first visit to get him unmatted and shaved and Peta only charged me $30, I recently had all 6 bunnies mails trimmed and it only cost the $25. No stress, no having to travel and upset the buns just a quick lift out of the play pen to the back room, a few minutes for the nail trim and back into the play pen to commiserate with the rest of the warren. They were all doing binkies a few minutes later.
Its worth checking with the shelters and rescues, they may know someone like Peta.
If you are in Perth, Western Australia I can send you her number.

[bree_bun]

Thanks for the responses!

Jesse97 – I use a long toothed flea comb on him. I’ve been reading about slicker brushes – they look like they’d hurt, but they say it’s the best to use for wool. So maybe I will go buy one and try it on him. He is pretty patient with me, I can brush him for roughly 30 minutes without him giving too much of a fuss.

Roberta – Oh wow! Wish we had something like that around here. I live in Vermont in the US. There isn’t much around here as far as rabbit resources go. My vet actually mentioned giving him anesthetic to just sedate him a little bit so it wasn’t so stressful. But I know what you mean, he still develops mats no matter how much I brush him or how much hair the vet takes off. I’ll have to do some research and see if I can find a mobile service, because that would be perfect.

Thanks again!

– Bree

[bree_bun]

Hmmm… maybe slicker brushes aren’t good to use.

I’m getting mixed reviews from grooming sites online. Seems like fine toothed combs are best.

[Roberta]

Hi Bree, Funny enough even though Peta has 2 buns of her own, one an angora, she had never groomed buns as part of her business. Rabbit Rescue put out a call for help with two of their rescues who came in horribly matted and needed extreme grooming. Peta stepped up and offered to groom the for free. Peta did a fantastic job and I contacted her as a result of the work she did for Rabbit Rescue. Buns are now becoming a standard part of Peta’s grooming business. Also have a look at any of the association for people who show rabbits. Some of them also do grooming.

[jerseygirl]

That little face. He’s just gorgeous!

Other owners have often mentioned you need a combo of combs for their grooming. The slicker is more for the final comb.
A friend tells me keeping the coat short helps. But that fine wool still has a tendency to matt.

Seeing the hair strung poop is not a bad thing. It means the fibre in his diet is doing its job and bring the hair out. So hay hay hay!

[Author]

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