The shedding: Make it stop!

[Azerane]

Last year Apollo didn’t have his normal shed cycle of almost constant shedding, although he did get bloat in the first half of the year during a brief shed which wasn’t all that bad.

About a week ago I noticed him starting to drop a bit of fur so I started daily-twice daily brushing. Two days ago it became a furnado every time I brushed him. He looks horrendous, lol. Clumps and patches of fur sticking out every which way, divots where I’ve spent more time brushing than others. To top it off despite my efforts, this morning he was a bit painful, reluctant to eat etc. Luckily I had some pain meds on hand, dosed him up, surrounded him with tasty food and waited. About four hours later he came good and he’s back to normal, but the fur!!!

To add to that, I don’t really think Luna shed last year, with all her health issues it doesn’t surprise me, but whatever is going on with the weather to induce a cloud state from Apollo, is also happening to Luna and she’s shedding more heavily than I ever remember her doing!

The situation is getting critical, and even daily vacuuming can’t save us now. Send help 😆

[Azerane]

Here is just a portion of what comes off in a very brief brushing session. Pro tip, don’t get a fur breed 🙄

[Bam]

Oh wow 😳😳😳

I use gluey paper, like lint roller paper on Snöa when she sheds, but that’s my only option with her since she is a rex. She shed something terrible a few weeks ago, I had to medicate her and syringe feed her for 3 days before she perked up and started to eat by herself again.

For horses nutritional yeast is recommended during heavy shedding, but I dont know if that applies to rabbits as well, I can only find info on live brewer’s yeast for rabbits. But any shedding animals can need a bit of extra protein/amino acids for the production of new hair. Exercise is supposed to be beneficial because the blood flow to the skin (rather obviously) increases with exercise. This could “speed up” the shedding process.

Apollo’s fur looks amazing! You could perhaps needle felt sth with it. I find it a lot easier to needle felt with bunny fur if I mix it up with some sheep’s wool. Rabbit hairs are as a rule smooth and don’t felt well on their own.

[Susanne]

I can relate! I have 4 now, one is about done molting, 2 are about halfway through and one is just starting.. yay to constant vacuuming and trying to pluck out as much as I can!

[Azerane]

Update. Luna is falling apart in clumps, Apollo is slowly dissolving. On the plus side he is softer than a cloud right now because his guard hairs have shed leaving the super soft undercoat exposed.

Definitely the worst shed I’ve ever seen from either of them.  What that means for the weather, I don’t know.

[Susanne]

Those pictures! They look worse than my buns! lol. I always call them scraggly when they are shedding.

For some reason my Ruby always gets super soft around her lower back when she sheds so I call her soft butt!! 🙂

[Bam]

Haha, Apollo looks like an angora 😍

I have no idea why the same bun can have such different type sheds. My Snöa looked horrible from June to September last year, I was almost afraid she’d never go back to being pretty again. She did though!

Her recent shed was not at all as dramatic, but it still gave her tummy trouble (I think shedding and tummy trouble are related, but I don’t know the mechanism).

 

[DanaNM]

LOL poor Apollo and poor you! Myra is also a fur breed and has one molt a year where she just looks horrendous! Mine are all starting to go now as well, I feel your pain!

. . . 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]

Wait… they actually stop shedding? LOL

[Wick & Fable]

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.

[Azerane]

LBJ10, Apollo basically never used to stop shedding, he used to have two major sheds every year that kind of just rolled into each other, Luna was a quick couple week shed and then done. Last year Apollo didn’t have his normal shed pattern, and I’m not sure Luna shed much if at all, so maybe that’s why or if it’s just age, health issues or a forecast for terrible weather 😀

Wick and Fable, that photo is hilarious, I’m sure Apollo would look much the same if he had any colour to him. The all white fur disguises how bad it looks.

Apollo is starting to get a little sick of me bruising him and pulling at his fur though, it’s impossible not to just gently tug out all the loose clumps while petting him.

[Azerane]

Apollo was a bit off again this evening so he’s had another dose of metacam. I went back and flicked through today’s camera footage to discover he didn’t eat any pellets and Luna single-handedly ate all the pellet meals by herself, that’s a total of 3/4 cup of pellets, lol. Will be interesting to see what she weighs tomorrow 🤣

Checked yesterday’s footage and he shared every meal, so it’s just today he’s worse for wear again. Wish I had noticed sooner than this evening, but have had a busy day and he was still eating hay. Hopefully the pain meds do their thing.

[Susanne]

OMG Wick and Fable, that photo is hilariously pathetic! Awww.

Azerane, I hope Apollo feels better soon.

[Bam]

Snöa last summer. Kept shedding for months ☹

[Susanne]

Snoa is such a beautiful bun, even when all scruffy from shedding! I’m still amazed with how much fur these creatures have and can generate so quickly!

[Author]

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