Fluff, Fluff and more fluff!

My little lop Lily, is a very fluffy little girl just now! She has been moulting for what seems forever (months!). I was beginning to get a little worried, especially with this hot weather recently, but from what I have read it seems there are a few bunnies like this? It is now at the stage though, that I can't pick her up for cuddles without getting, what feels like a baby bunny, stuck in my throat and nose! I do my best to 'pluck' the loose hair but this frustrates her and I do my best to brush her through with the metal 'comb' brushes or the rectangular brush with metal bristles, but I just can't seem to get the hair away! She will only sit for so long, but even after 10 minutes of continued brushing, she still looks so scruffy! I only have a couple of photo's at the moment, but I can get some more later on -



(This was after being brushed- cradled in one arm, brushed with the other, so I missed bits but even with two of us its usually not much better anyway!)
Her fur is just so thick! Shes moulting all over but the worse bits are towards her rear end - I just feel so sorry for her in the recent heat! Shes been sitting in front of the fan but it just seems to blow fur about the room (well, the bits that are not stuck in the front of it anyway!) and as you can see in the picture, sticks to her again! Oh I should have said, there does not appear to be any bare patches of skin, even though the fur can come in 'clumps', it's deffinalty all 'excess' fur!


So, I have a number of questions really.
Bath - would it be worthwhile trying to give her a warm bath to loosen off the fur and make it easier to brush out or is that too stressful for her?

Furminator -I have seen these in various shops and read a few very mixed reviews. I've read that they are great on some bunnies, not so good on others and also seen some of the 'gone wrong' photos which have really put me off...but i just think that if it worked on her it would be much better for us both.... How many people actually recommend them or use them and would i need to get the 'small animal' one or would one for cats be suitable?

VETUK - grooming tool I see VetUk do their own brand of brush, anyone any experience with this one?
http://www.vetuk.co.uk/cat-grooming-petuk-grooming-tool-c-1133_985/petuk-pet-grooming-tool-p-7742

Why? - Some bunnies moult and some bunnies don't, is that pretty much it? I have two lionheads also and they have a completely different type of fur but they never seem to shed much, if any hair.... (Lily is 3 and a bit, the Lionheads are only 1 and a bit...if that makes any difference?)

Oxbow Papaya Fruit Plus Supplement for Small Animals - I bought these a few months ago, as a 'just incase' as I know how bad it can be for them to ingest all this fur and at the time read these were pretty good at breaking down any fur in their tummies. Does anyone use them at all? I know Lily turns her head up to pineapple juice, she detests the smell of it so I very much doubt she would eat these but I have noticed in the last couple of days a couple of poops that are stuck together with hair...I didn't notice any this morning but if these tablets are any good id rather give them one each tonight anyway?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxbow-Papay...8&qid=1407509878&sr=8-1&keywords=oxbow+papaya

And finally, a little off topic but occasionally she gets a wee bit of a messy bum. She gets her greens every day (sliced greens, kale, cucumber & occasionally mint/corriander/parsley) with Timothyhay.co.uk hay, fresh water and science selective pellets and has no problems munching all this down. I've stopped excel pellets and any occasional treat carrot as this seems to make it worse (again, i've read this is not uncommon it seems). I don't think the issue is in her tummy as she gets plenty fiber with the hay and the occasional sprinkle of Protexin ProFiber at night time as a treat, i think it is more that she does not eat the cecotrophes and they are getting stuck in her fur....i'm not entirely sure where I'm asking here, but, any advice?? I know there are many reasons why rabbits don't eat them mobility, overweight etc and I don't think it's any of these, so I will try trimming the fur as much as possible to help but is she possibly just thinking 'its too much effort fighting the fur' and just dosn't bother?

Any advice or help is much appreciated!!

I wouldn't bath her or use a furminator, the bath will be stressful for her and not actually help much and someone on here tore a very large chunk of skin off of their rabbit using a furminator :shock: she was using it properly but rabbit skin is just so delicate!

I recommend a kong zoom groom, they look useless but somehow they loosen the fur so it just falls out... So best to use outside as fur goes EVERYWHERE but it is by far the best brush I have ever used. I have one for my buns and one for the dog and have used it on short haired buns and a fluffy lionhead, it also works really well on my whippet cross Staffy and we tried it on my dad's collie who has an insanely thick coat and it worked a treat, my dad ordered one himself the same day :lol:

Every animal I have used it on has also loved it, Poppy my fluffy bum bun needs a lot of grooming and hates it, she settles down and goes to sleep with the zoom groom :lol:

Thank you very much for such a quick reply! I didn't actually think a bath would be beneficial but it popped into my head when typing so though I would ask anyway.

Kong Zoom Groom - what an awesome name! I didn't think I'd heard of these but just had a wee look and I remember noticing something like this in PAH earlier but did not pay any attention to it! I deffo think I will need to give it a try then! It seems a much more gentle way at least! If it works on a thick haired collie it is bound to work on Lily.... (fingers crossed!! :shock

Just out of curiosity did you manage to find something that helped remove the fur? We have a mini long haired bunny who only likes to sit for so long while I brush her but she still looks the same! And I'm still covered in hair and desperately trying to find something that may help!!


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I just give Louie a massage occasionally to remove the loose hair. Apart from that, I just leave him, he looks a bit bedraggled at the moment!

Hele said:

I wouldn't bath her or use a furminator, the bath will be stressful for her and not actually help much and someone on here tore a very large chunk of skin off of their rabbit using a furminator :shock: she was using it properly but rabbit skin is just so delicate!

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I'm a bit confused, isn't the furminator just a brush/comb? I've got the small animal one and never had any problem using it on my bunnies, it seems to work just like a normal grooming brush.

Yer it looks like it. We have something similar which works but the furminator looks better?


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I groom my buns daily when moulting. I pet them while eating pellets and lightly pluck the loose fur. I love doing this. It is super satisfying . Lol

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Lucy-Lou said:

I'm a bit confused, isn't the furminator just a brush/comb? I've got the small animal one and never had any problem using it on my bunnies, it seems to work just like a normal grooming brush.

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dasiychain said:

Yer it looks like it. We have something similar which works but the furminator looks better?


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This is why I will never use a furminator.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/s...s-U-D-19-10-2012&highlight=Warning+furminator

It may be just a rake style brush but it just seems too harsh for use on bunnies, which is why a love the zoom groom, it's really gentle but gets loads of fluff out!