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Matting with hay - how should I banish it?

naohren

Young Bun
Hi all!

Humphrey and Clara quite like to play in their hay, so they often get it stuck everywhere. I try my best to pull it all out, but with all the bad weather we've been having, they've developed some mats in their manes and on their feet - with the hay, too.

The mane mats will probably be okay to comb out, but I'm concerned about the feet mats. Clara's are especially bad, I can't imagine it's very comfy for her. What would be best to tend to those ones? I'm hesitant to just cut them off, but I'm not sure there's much else I can do. I've heard about using oil to loosen them a bit but I don't know if that's safe or if it will work when there's hay in the mats too...

Has anyone had this same problem? How did you deal with it and manage it?

Thank you in advance (from the bunnies too) x
 
I would use a wide tooth metal dog comb to get as much out as you can. With the feet, you may be able to work the worst of it out with a comb and fingers, then just cut off the ends (rather than closer to the skin), or snip down carefully into a lumpy bit to see if the rest will come loose. With any matted bits, you don't always need to cut the whole thing out, just enough to allow the rest to be combed out so you don't remove too much fur - it is there to protect the feet and you risk getting sore patches if you cut the fur right down.

I wouldn't use oil on fur - it sounds very messy.
 
I used to have the same issue with my lionheads, and trimming the clumps off did seem to do the trick. The only thing I would be careful with is not leaving any bare patches on their feet as they can get very sore in this damp and cold weather we are having. You can also cut the clumps in half and then try and comb them out - that works nicely too.

Hope it helps!
 
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