Bunny Fur Cuts?

Hello everyone!

I live in Colorado, in the US, and I groom primarily dogs and cats for a living. However, I know there are cases where angora rabbits become matted and must be shaved down for their comfort/safety. I haven't come across a rabbit in this situation yet, but I assume that it may at some point in time, and when it does, I would like to be prepared. The problem is, the pet grooming school I attended did not mention rabbits, and I have not yet met a dog groomer in this area who works with them.

My own rabbits are, I believe, mini lops. They have short but very fluffy, wooly, whispy fur that sheds often. They live in a large kennel in the living room and I brush them constantly. I know from my experience brushing them that if I were working with a less docile rabbit, I could easilly be bitten. I learned through grooming school how to safely restrain a dog while grooming it in a way that keeps my hands safe from bites, but I do not know how to achieve this on a rabbit.

In a search on Youtube for a bunny grooming demonstration, I came across this video:
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CAiAjwoQ2U&feature=related
Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AXiaEfk7JIM

It features a restraining device that, at first, horrified me. My poor bunnies would HATE that, I thought, but when I took a second look, it seems designed with their comfort and anatomy in mind. The wrinkles of its extremely thin skin (thinner, I'm told, than even cats) are made taught so it cannot get sucked through the teeth of the clipper blades and nicked and the demonstration bunny doesn't appear to struggle or show signs of discomfort.

I've never seen a device like this though, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me more about it or suggest an alternative. Hopefully I will never have to shave a rabbit, but if I do, I would like to know how to do it correctly.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions you might have

I think that's totally inappropriate. The rabbit looks extremely stressed and presumably that's a rabbit used to the treatment.

Generally if an owner is unable to keep angora fur groomed then regular trimming is best (with scissors) to keep the coat short, like a standard haired rabbit. I image that's much like trimming a dog.

Where a rabbit has become matted it's usually so close to the skin that it needs to be done in stages or with the rabbit anaesthetised.

Tamsin

I'd agree with Tamsin - if the shaving of a rabbit becomes necessary, it should be done by a veterinary surgeon with the rabbit sedated or anaesthatised as the vet thinks appropriate. Rabbits are incredibly wiggly and you could easily damage them, plus their skin is very delicate and you could rip it and cause them immense pain. Plus as Tam said, they get stressed really easily and it can stop them from eating - which in turn can kill within a few days! A non-struggling bunny doesn't necessarily mean it's not a stressed bunny, in fact it can be the opposite if the bunny is 'frozen' with fear.

Definitely one for a vet, not a groomer, in my opinion.

I only have experience with my own two rabbits, so I may be missing body language that is less obvious to me. What do you notice about this rabbit that suggests to you it is stressed? (Those are VERY noisy clippers, by the way. )

Oh, and I just found the video that demonstrates the rabbit being put into the restraining device. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CAiAjwoQ2U&feature=related

The reason I am asking these questions is because there are situations--often unthinkable ones, where pets are neglected by their owners and absolutely must be shaved. All too often, owners who don't care about their pets enough to have them groomed regularly also do not care enough to shell out extra money for a vet appointment (for an anesthetized groom) and the pets suffer as a result. I see this with cats a lot. Cats are easily stressed by professional grooming (and I'm a housecall groomer which is less stressful on the cats I work with than when they are brought to a shop) but in some cases, it is better to be stressed and groomed than not be groomed at all.

Like you said, a healthy rabbit that has a good home that cares about it and brushes it as needed should never need to be shaved. I could shear a rabbit with scissors in those conditions without causing any discomfort.

But a rabbit that's matted to the skin, likely with sores beneith it? Such a rabbit probably isn't used to being handled and could bite me. And if the owner is too cheap or poor for a vet, it's likely that particular bunny would come to me for help. (This has happened several times with cats already, so I am bracing myself for rabbit horrors.)

What I am keying into on this video is that the device seems to be specially designed for rabbit shearing, so if the rabbit starts kicking, at least it won't break it's back and it also can't bite the groomer. I'd really like to know what this device is (if it is a professional device "industry" device), and how to use it properly.

And please don't think me unkind. I do not think grooming should be unpleasant for an animal. It's just that I know a lot of animals aren't cared for properly, and there is little to no information in the grooming industry on caring for neglected rabbits.

To give you an idea of what groomers deal with, this is a photo of a cat I groomed. The cat belongs to a very nice developmentally disabled woman who doesn't know how to care for her cat. You might think this cat should be removed from her, but that would only land it in a kill shelter. I met this woman through my mother, who works specifically with handicapped and developmentally disabled individuals, and she asked me to come work on the cat. The coat was so matted, it came off almost entirely in once piece! And a nail had grown into the foot that had to be extracted by a charitable vet.

Normally a rabbits breathing isn't particularly obvious but in the second video you can see the rabbits sides rapidly going up and down - that's a sign of stress. The nose is going rapidly to with is another sign of increased breathing rate. Normally a rabbit would only twitch their nose when investigating something eg food. In this case it's so rapid because of the stress breathing. When relaxed they twitch very slowly or not at all.

There have been studies done on something called trancing - which is when rabbits are encouraged to lay in a similar manor (or on their backs) and not move. The rabbit looks calm because it's not moving but it's heart rate and breathing actually increase because it's under stress. Freezing is actually a defence mechanism for high stress situations.

Those rabbits also look like they are at a farm, angoras are used for fur production. They are probably used to the procedure from a young age. I guarentee if you try that on a average pet rabbit it will not go that smoothly!

I fostered a angora that had to be shaved:


That was done under anaesthetic.

You'll find most rabbits in a new situation will initially sit still if gently restrained. You can also wrap them in a towel and do parts.

The trouble is a cat would usually roll around and play with other cats as part of play. Having a paw holding you down isn't a bad thing.

For rabbits any restraint is associated by being caught as prey.

Cats and dogs are predators so there is a big difference is response to cats/dogs.

I'm sorry but I think thats a horrible device

Like Tamsin has said, those rabbits must be accustomed to being sheared from an early age. Normal pet rabbits would probably struggle and end up with a broken back or leg from being restrained in that manner.

Also, those clippers look very big...like sheep or horse clippers :shock:

I'm amazed at how calm it looked:shock: Poor thing.
Most Angoras need to be shaved every third month, many keep them almost like sheep, as their coat is said to be much more comfortable than sheep-wool.
We have an angora at school and her coat is a pain to keep in shape, though I could never dream of restraining her like that, just to get her fur clipped:shock:
We tried shaving a cat once (now what was a longhaired cat doing on our farm anyway? Dumbest idea they ever had when they weren't looking after his fur:roll: ) and we needed 3 students just to hold him:shock:

the videos are discusting

i would like to congratulate you on the kitty clip

i work in a groomers, and we have a number of rabbits and guinea pigs on the books. owners prefer to bring them to us because of the risks of anaesthesia. once we have clipped a small animal once, we work with the owners to help prevent matting again.

feel free to check out the a-z link below, and contact them direct.

:shock: I have to say I found those vids really awful. It was a real shock too. :shock:

At first I thought that it was a toy not a real bunny, than I guessed it must be sedated, as that's not normal behaviour for a bunny. Also the grooming restraint looked torturous.

I don't know about not breaking it's back, but it looked like it would easily break it's legs.

I agree that it would be totally inappropriate for any pet rabbit, and that if anyone has any questions about removing matted fur from a rabbit they should seek veterinary advice (or advice from an experienced expert).

:evil:

I found that really upsetting, that device is horrible
Sallyx