Help! Bunny fur problem!

[MissRj]

Hello everyone!

My rabbit is 4 months old and unfortunately as a lack of knowledge as she’s my first pet/rabbit I didn’t start brushing her fur until recently

I noticed hair lumps in her lower body half and I’m so worried because it looks strange and like it’s stuck completely in her skin! *Pictures provided below*

I tried gently brushing it, trying with my hand and water but nothing worked! Please help me and advise me what to do, is she okay? can I fix this? 😥

[DanaNM]

What body part is that? And is the color from urine staining or her natural color?

I wouldn’t worry too much about trying to brush that area, as it looks like a very thin layer of fur, but my sense is that maybe her environment is not as clean as it should be, so her fur is getting wet and matted. Larger mats can be worked out by pulling on the sides of them. If things have gotten very bad, your vet can do a sanitary shave to get things back on track. What are her box habits like, and how frequently are you cleaning her box?

 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[LBJ10]

I agree, it looks like matting from wetness and friction. Does she hang out in wet litter a lot?

[MissRj]

Thank you so much for replying DanaNM & LBJ10!

It’s on her hips down to the rump, right side is worse than left, belly fur is okay

The color of her fur is not stained with urine, in the 2 pictures the mats looks more clear after I tried to wet the area with water and I tried gently rubbing them with small amount of olive oil but with them dry they’re not as visible but can be clearly felt  with hand

I clean her litter box every 2 days and I use recycled paper + thin layer of hay as bedding. I used to clean it everyday but found her box can withstand without smelling and going too messy for 2 days

Her box is opened and she is a free roam, she really doesn’t stay a lot inside; eat, poop and pee then out

and I didn’t notice any wetness or urine smell coming from her that’s why I’m very concerned and worried, I’m planning on visiting the vet soon but I can’t seem to find any who are experienced with rabbits in my area, I’m very scared to let them shave her as rabbits are extremely delicate I’m afraid they won’t go as gentle as it should be handling a rabbit 😥

so what you guys advise me? Should I resume cleaning her box everyday? how can I remove these mats from her fur? can I leave them or they should be shaved?

 

 

[Bam]

I do think these need to be shaved, if they are so close to the skin that they cant be cut out with scissors. They don’t look like they’d be possible to comb or brush out. out. It can however sometimes be difficult to find a non-rabbit vet that has the right clippers to shave a bun. I wonder how the fur looks when its dry?

Water and grease (and soap) is basically what you use when you felt bunny hair (bunny hair doesnt have natural fats like sheep wool does so you add fat), so I’d stop that.

Young rabbits don’t have the same hair quality as adult rabbits, so this could be a temporary problem that goes away as she sheds her baby fur.meanwhile I think you need to brush her often, after you get rid of these mats. Many of us who have longhaired buns brush our buns weekly or more often.

You could use a litterbox screen to keep her from having direkt contact with the litter and hay.

Since you clean out her box every 2 days and she is free roam, I dont think this is due to poor hygiene.

 

[MissRj]

Thank you so much Bam for all the information! I’ll start brushing her multiple times a week! Don’t want to repeat the same mistake to the poor girl 😥

This is how it looks dry ( https://www.dropbox.com/s/xjntiwcf334zajr/1.png?dl=0 )

the fur is tangled near the skin not above. I tried carefully trimming it while she’s asleep and thankfully she stayed asleep so I was assured she didn’t feel pain

I also tried brushing the less difficult spots before trimming, the difficult ones are large patches tangled together I had to separate them first to remove them

There’s still some left but can I leave it since she’ll change her baby fur or must I remove it all? I’m afraid

as for the litterbox screen doesn’t it cause sore hocks?

[Author]

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