winterborn
New Kit
This will probably seem a bit silly to those of you with long-haired buns - but it's worrying me quite a bit just now, so I thought I'd better maybe ask for some help! 
My dwarf lop, Foo, is currently molting - at quite a scary rate! I think that his little body-clock's a bit out of sync as we take him inside during the winter, but he gets his long, puffy, slighly denser coat during the summer, and then a darker, thinner, silkier coat during the winter ... he's now shedding masses of blondey puffs everywhere!
It's not so much the shedding that I'm worried about, as I know that's just nature's way of dealing with the seasons, but it's been very, very rainy and stormy here recently. It's not been cold or anything (thunder terrifies him, so I've been making sure he stays warm inside), but the dampness means that his fur has been forming into mats, especially around his back legs and bum, and the shedding fur has been dreadlocking itself into these!
I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on avoiding the fur matting like this, especially when it's damp underfoot? I've been brushing him regularly with a gentle but firm-toothed comb, which has been working, but it is quite persistant.
Also, I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to give him a little bath of sorts. Any thoughts on this? I've never actually bathed him before because I've heard horror-stories about drops in temperature, but his fur feels really quite dirty around his underside ... no visible dirt, if you get what I mean, but the fur feels slightly 'crunchy', and is constantly curly as though there's something stuck in it. I have checked for all signs of nastiness and he seems healthy, but I think he's quite uncomfortable at the moment. Could a gentle bath around the affected areas mat them up more?
Wow, that was a bit of an essay! :shock: Hehe ... thank-you very much for any tips or advice that you can share on this! I'm hoping I might be able to bring him inside for a while just because of this
My dwarf lop, Foo, is currently molting - at quite a scary rate! I think that his little body-clock's a bit out of sync as we take him inside during the winter, but he gets his long, puffy, slighly denser coat during the summer, and then a darker, thinner, silkier coat during the winter ... he's now shedding masses of blondey puffs everywhere!
It's not so much the shedding that I'm worried about, as I know that's just nature's way of dealing with the seasons, but it's been very, very rainy and stormy here recently. It's not been cold or anything (thunder terrifies him, so I've been making sure he stays warm inside), but the dampness means that his fur has been forming into mats, especially around his back legs and bum, and the shedding fur has been dreadlocking itself into these!
I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on avoiding the fur matting like this, especially when it's damp underfoot? I've been brushing him regularly with a gentle but firm-toothed comb, which has been working, but it is quite persistant.
Also, I'm wondering whether it might be a good idea to give him a little bath of sorts. Any thoughts on this? I've never actually bathed him before because I've heard horror-stories about drops in temperature, but his fur feels really quite dirty around his underside ... no visible dirt, if you get what I mean, but the fur feels slightly 'crunchy', and is constantly curly as though there's something stuck in it. I have checked for all signs of nastiness and he seems healthy, but I think he's quite uncomfortable at the moment. Could a gentle bath around the affected areas mat them up more?
Wow, that was a bit of an essay! :shock: Hehe ... thank-you very much for any tips or advice that you can share on this! I'm hoping I might be able to bring him inside for a while just because of this
