I know that sometimes we get questions on here about shedding and what is “normal”, so I thought I’d post a picture of what is “normal” for my bun.

I can always tell when Pepper is blowing her coat because she starts to look tufty all over. She is usually black/white and shiny, but as the coat dies off it gets duller and greyer.  She sheds out in patches like the ones in this picture.  I can gently tug on the hairs and they come right out, leaving “velvet” behind – the very short new hair starting to grow in.  Sometimes when I pluck I actually can see naked pink skin around the edges of the velvet patches – which squicks me out a bit but the loose hair only comes off when it’s ready to and the skin isn’t irritated or bleeding or anything – just freaky-looking.

Pepper also gets moody and grumpy when she is about to start or is in the middle of a huge shed.  I joke that she gets PMS – PreMoulting Syndrome.  I don’t know whether it’s the hormones that cause the shed that make her moodier than usual, if she’s itchy or slightly uncomfy with the old hair, or if she just knows she looks silly, but she’s definitely more irritable, will try to nip more often, and will sulk under chairs rather than doing her fuzzy-speed-bump impression in the middle of the hallway.

So, if your bun looks like this, don’t panic.  It may be “normal” for them.