• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Overexcited grooming

G

Graeme27Uk

Warren Scout
We noticed yesterday that Smudge might be a bit overexcited with her grooming of Frosty. For some reason she is fascinated with his eyes (blue eyed boy...) and will lick around them for quite a while. As a result one of his eyes is now quite red looking around its border.

She also has a love of grooming his bottom... he doesn't usually mind this but again she can go a bit too far and he runs off.


How can I help/avoid this?
 
How long have they been bonded for now?

He may be running off when she grooms his bum as this is often an area that gets nipped during bonding and he may be anticipating a bite.
 
Sooz22 said:
How long have they been bonded for now?

He may be running off when she grooms his bum as this is often an area that gets nipped during bonding and he may be anticipating a bite.
Click to expand...


They have been together 24/7 for over a week now. They seem quite used to each other and Smudge seems to be the submissive one.
 
You could try offering alternatives for her to play with such as a treatball filled with pellets or a toilet roll tube stuffed with fancy hay...something to keep her occupied.

Im not sure of anything that could be used to 'repel' the grooming around the eye area though.

I will have a think about it!
 
Sooty seems to really enjoy grooming the others eye area too, I've often wondered why....Rosie and honey only put up with it for a bit then get grumpy.
 
ecudc said:
Sooty seems to really enjoy grooming the others eye area too, I've often wondered why....Rosie and honey only put up with it for a bit then get grumpy.
Click to expand...

Yeh he doesn't get grumpy he just walks away. But she tends to follow as she hasn't quite finished maintaining "her man". :D

He usually just gives up and lets her get on with it.
 
Sooz22 said:
You could try offering alternatives for her to play with such as a treatball filled with pellets or a toilet roll tube stuffed with fancy hay...something to keep her occupied.

Im not sure of anything that could be used to 'repel' the grooming around the eye area though.

I will have a think about it!
Click to expand...


They have treatballs and stuff to distract them and they do play with these. Just when she does groom him it 90% of the time seems to be the eyes. I don't want to put her off grooming him but at the same time I don't want him to get infected or sore eyes.
 
His eye hasn't been running has it?

Some of them have an obsession with the salty taste of tears, and this encourages the chronic eye grooming.
 
Sooz22 said:
His eye hasn't been running has it?

Some of them have an obsession with the salty taste of tears, and this encourages the chronic eye grooming.
Click to expand...

Not that I have noticed. His eyes seem normal. He went to the vets Tuesday and they said he was perfectly healthy.... apart from the teeth issues.
 
Sooz22 said:
His eye hasn't been running has it?

Some of them have an obsession with the salty taste of tears, and this encourages the chronic eye grooming.
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same :D

It may settle down after a couple more weeks. Lots of new couples overgroom at first, all part of sorting out who is boss and Ive seen a few do this with eyes. I do think it tastes nice to them and so they concentrate on that area.
Ive never tried this but wonder if maybe using a little of the juice from an apple or carrot on the top of the head to try and move her up a bit to reduce the eye grooming to relieve the soreness?
 
I have a trio of girlies, the smallest of which was pushed out of the group.
When she was accepted back in she was forever frantically over grooming the other two, around the eyes in particular.
She doesn't do it so much now, only when there has been a bit of a scuffle and she feels the need to show the others that she knows she's the bottom of the pecking order.
 
A runny eye is often linked to teeth problems, if it has started to run you wouldn't notice because she has been keeping it spotlessly clean. Its possible it could be inflammed because its been running (though overgrooming is probably more likely).

I would keep a watch on his eye but in the meantime try not to worry.

The apple sauce on the head idea is a good one :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

P
Female biting buck's eye
Replies
5
Views
248
InspectorMorse
InspectorMorse
joey&boo
She likes it now????
Replies
14
Views
1K
a reader of books
a reader of books
E
Neglected Angora Grooming
Replies
10
Views
1K
euxiomoniia
E
Back
Top