Am I grooming right?

[toki]

My Toki is shedding a lot of fur – and also eating a lot of it. Today I found a lot of his poops were chained together, much moreso than usual. Also some of his poops are quite small – so I’m very worried about a potential blockage!  I am grooming him often, every few days, using a metal Furminator-like comb.

The problem is he is quite big, and the fur just seems to keep coming off, no matter how long a brushing session lasts! I never know when to stop combing him! Sometimes I feel a tug on the comb, and clumps of fur come out in a group. Is this bad? Am I pressing too hard? I try not to – but his fur is quite thick and I just want to make sure I get all the excess. So how often should I groom him and how do I know when to stop?

Also, how do I groom his belly and feet? Am I supposed to groom those areas? I know he licks them a lot and I’m worried this is where a lot of his fur ingestion is coming from.  When I’m brushing him he always tries to get away – he hates being handled and I feel he would hate my guts if I tried to groom his belly often.

Please help!

[BanditCamp]

If it’s a heavy molt then you should be brushing him every day until a majority of it is gone. I’m currently having a similar situation where I’m seeing bandits undercoat on top of his black coat and wondering if I am not grooming right as well

[Luna]

He is passing poops, so I don’t think you need to worry about blockage. Poops chained together with fur happens sometimes, especially during molt. If Toki is molting, then he needs to be brushed every day, multiple times a day. They don’t need to be long sessions (ie. 30 mins at a time). It’s hard to say when to stop brushing. You definitely don’t keep brushing until no more fur comes out, but you do want to at least brush out the clumps/tufts. You aren’t brushing too hard if the clumps of fur that come out don’t have a plug connected at the end, but it is good to take care when brushing since their skin is so sensitive. Luna doesn’t really shed a lot of fur off her feet, so I’ve never had to brush them. As for the belly, you’re right that he won’t like it, but I don’t think you need to groom that area as much as the others, if that is any condolence lol.

Tips to help keep fur from being ingested:
– After brushing, to get the loose fur on top off use wet (but not drenched) hands to pet the loose fur off or use a lint roller gently
– Change out the water bowl often to rid of any fur that has landed in the bowl

[toki]

I know furry poops happen sometimes, but there just seems to be a lot of them today. I found a single chain of like 8! I’m probably just overly worried since I’m a new bun mom, but still. I was under the impression that I had to rid him of all excess fur before I stopped, but I will try and stop sooner from now on. I will try and brush with less pressure, too, and do it multiple times a day. I tried to groom his belly about an hour ago – I sat in his cage with him and tried to lift him. He just kept trying to lift the cage up and run away! Plus he peed in the corner so I felt I had to stop before it got worse! Also had an unsuccessful attempt at nail-clipping… Just got to keep trying I suppose and make sure I have treats on hand.

[Luna]

It’s good to try and get as much of the excess fur as you can before you stop brushing, but I just meant that you don’t want to keep going until no fur comes off literally . It’s normal to have a large pile of fur when you’re done brushing. I also use a Furminator (as well as other brushes plus a lint roller), so I know that you could keep brushing any animal with that and the fur would never stop! Other than his belly, does he like being brushed? You can brush for a long time if he’s ok with it. And it’s natural for clumps/tufts of fur to come out so I don’t think you are brushing too hard. I’ll catch a little snag on Luna’s fur sometimes – I just make sure to stop and reposition the brush to work out the snag carefully instead of continuing to drag the brush all the way through. Luna is a little squirmer as well during nail clipping time, so what I do is I scoot her in her carrier, place her on a towel on top of a table, then start clipping. Buns don’t feel as confident in new/high places so they are less likely to resist your good intentions. Just make sure Toki doesn’t jump off the table!

[toki]

Oh thanks for the tips. I didn’t know about the table thing! I really hope he won’t try and jump off – one of the reasons I’m not able to be very firm with handling him is because I’m afraid of hurting him somehow, or him hurting himself. When I was brushing him today, I kept going even when it would snag, and a little bunch of fur would come out along with (I think) the roots. The roots were white whereas his fur on the top is black. I just assumed it was normal as he didn’t twitch or anything. 50% of the time he is fine with being groomed. The other 50% he will try and dig away. But he usually settles down once he realises he can’t really go anywhere.

[Luna]

Don’t worry it’s normal. Luna is kind of molting (she started then suddenly stopped), so I’ll try and post a pic of her tufts/fur pile tonite.

[toki]

Thank you for reassuring this worried mom 

[Luna]

These pics aren’t the greatest representation since Luna is not in full molt mode yet, but hopefully it will give you an idea. So for her brushing sessions, we sit at the end of a hallway that I block halfway. She will hop around for a sec, but then will lay down to be brushed, and when she gets up and starts hopping around a lot then I know she wants to be done and I stop. But also, and this is kind of weird, she will also sit up without hopping away so I’ll stop for a minute because I know that in a few seconds she is going to go into cecal position lol. I don’t know why but 90% of the time I brush her she has cecals to eat. 

So anyway, tonight I brushed her for 45 minutes before she started hopping around a lot. In the first pic, I tried to get a photo of her gray undercoat sticking out (I call them “streaks”). In areas where she has streaks, I know that it means that area needs the most brushing attention, so I will brush that area until the streaks go away. The streaks are usually much more pronounced when she is really molting. In the second pic, the pile of fur is the result of brushing only some of a 4.13 lb. bun who is not in full molt yet for 45 mins, so your pile(s) will definitely be larger if Toki is molting. You’ll see that Luna’s fur gets brushed out in clumps too. Hope these help .

[toki]

Thank you Luna that’s really helpful and very thoughtful of you. But oh my that’s a lot of fur! I could be wrong but I think that’s more than I get from my Toki every day. Maybe Toki isn’t actually molting and it’s just his normal shedding! I’ve only had him 2 weeks and he’s been “molting” that whole time – so I have nothing to compare this “molt” to. Either way I will keep brushing him daily. Thanks for the streak information, I wondered why sometimes he had gray speckles on his fur 

[Jon]

Hi, New member here! I’m also concerned about the amount of fur my bunny is is ingesting. I haven’t noticed strings of poops, but he is molting very heavily and spends so much time grooming! (quite a vain bun haha).

I have been grooming him every day with a brush that has gentle rubber bristles, and it works fairly well, but I was wondering if anyone had a suggesting for a brush that would remove more hair? His hair is very very soft and fine, so I’m worried a wire brush won’t do the job.

He also won’t let me groom around his bum (he hates it being touched) which is where he seems to be molting heavily at the moment, should I try to hold him firmly to do this or leave him be?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[toki]

Hi Jon and welcome 

I would suggest getting a Furminator or a similar brush and seeing how you get on. Also what you could buy is a grooming glove, so all you do is stroke your bunny and off comes the fur. Have a look on Amazon or somewhere you can get something with good reviews. I’ve bought some brushes at pet stores and they’ve been pretty useless.

However if you haven’t noticed any fur in your bunny’s poop, and assuming your bunny is passing poops in normal amounts and sizes, then the actual ingestion might not be a problem? I’m new to bunnies myself but I know that mine has very furry poops when he’s been grooming a lot. But, regardless, it’s best to groom your bunny as best you can.

With the butt thing, my bunny runs around when I try to groom him. What I do is secure him in his playpen, and just follow him around with the brush. Sometimes I feed him something yummy, because when he is eating he tends to sit perfectly still.

[Bam]

I use a self-cleaning slicker and a metal comb and when I’m done I lint-roll to catch all the hairs that have come loose but didn’t stick to the brush or comb. I also pluck out tufts of hair with my fingers. Which method to use depends a lot on the type of hair your bun has.

As for when to stop, the bun will probably let you know when he’s had it. Then you start over the next day.
Freshly rinsed, dripping wet greens and herbs are good during a shed because if a bun ingests hair, he’ll need extra hydration. Hay is of course great.

Some buns get tummy upsets during their molt, not necessarily because they ingest lots of hair. Some buns get very grumpy. Baby gas drops (simethicone) is good to have on hand in case the bun gets gassy. It might also have a lubricating effect and help hair that’s been ingested get out more easily.

[Author]

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