Double Maned Lionheads

Tomorrow my family of four double maned lionheads will be going to the vets for a thorough hair trim. As you know, I try and keep their coats shorter for health and maintenance reasons and have managed so far myself. However, their coats are SO thick at the moment that a few mats have appeared around their bottom/tail ends and even I am too nervous to tackle clearing them myself. I say nervous....I had a full on melt down this afternoon about it. I know it is because of the trauma I experienced 2 years ago when discovering Adam with flystrike, so ever since, I DREAD when hair cut time comes around. However, their coats were particularly matted today and I tried, but fear, nerves and panic took over and I phoned the vets. I will be dropping all 4 off at 7am tomorrow morning and leaving them with the vet all day (joys of being a teacher and having zero flexibility for appointments etc!)...then attempting to collect them at the end of the school day to then return to school for 6pm for a parents workshop meeting (otherwise it will have to be around 8pm after the parents meeting...we'll see tomorrow).
It's going to be a long, stressful and costly day tomorrow and I'm dreading it...but it needs to be done as their coats are just too thick for me to attempt on my own.

As beautiful, cute and fluffy these double maned lionheads can look...they are extremely high maintenance and require such dedication, time and care. I am blessed, as well as challenged(!) at having four to take care of, and know first hand the time, energy and stress that goes into keeping these type of rabbits.. It always saddens me when I've occasionally seen such long haired rabbits in pet shops and often wonder what homes they will end up in. I just hope these owners do their full research into what it takes to fully look after one of these rabbits.

Wish my little group well at the vets tomorrow! ...and that I can survive the stress of it all! :? x

It will all be worth it in the end. Good luck for tomorrow!

As a recent owner of a lionhead, I understand some of the fear! I'm constantly on the lookout for mats as she's an outdoor girl and the fluffiest bunny I've ever owned. Double lionheads sounds a lot worse! Best of luck getting them 'shorn' and home safely xx

Good luck for tomorrow, I hope it’s not as bad as you fear!

My Madelyn is a lionhead/double lionhead. She has a lot of fur on her face, neck and ears and to a lesser extent on her rear/sides. As a baby she got eye ulcers so every day I comb the fur out of her face to check her beautiful brown eyes. Thankfully, her foster family trained her to love her grooming. I call her Maddie for short, though she sometimes has some tangles so I tell her I have to rename her Mattie.

Matted fur can be difficult to remove. Even bunnies with longer regular fur can get matts that are challenging to remove safely. When I had some bunnies develop matts I found it best to do the removal in stages. Sometimes just cutting the matt in half (keep a comb between skin and scissors, if possible) allows the fur to loosen/untangle. I also use blunt tipped scissors. When I have had things really bad I had the vets do it too, especially if the bunny was not sitting still Like you mentioned, it is less stressful for you too.

Hope your buns will be okay with their grooming,sending calming vibes for them..and you.x

Hope all goes well for them.

Just thought I'd update. All four are back safe and sound from their clipping. They started on Princess first, but she flipped out whilst they were combing through a knot above her tail, causing the skin to rip. From this point, she and the other 3 were all sedated for their clippings (I got the call quite early on to inform me of what had happened and that she needed stitches, and to ask my permission to sedate).
I was so relieved to have collect all 4 at the end of a very long day. So glad to have my babies home. They will remain indoors until I am happy that Princess's stitches are healed.
Vet bill of just short of £300.

k1984 said:

Just thought I'd update. All four are back safe and sound from their clipping. They started on Princess first, but she flipped out whilst they were combing through a knot above her tail, causing the skin to rip. From this point, she and the other 3 were all sedated for their clippings (I got the call quite early on to inform me of what had happened and that she needed stitches, and to ask my permission to sedate).
I was so relieved to have collect all 4 at the end of a very long day. So glad to have my babies home. They will remain indoors until I am happy that Princess's stitches are healed.
Vet bill of just short of £300.

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Poor Princess I really hope her wound heals quickly. Very fluffy Bunnies may look cute, but they certainly do require a lot of grooming. At least twice a day IME X

Jack's-Jane said:

Poor Princess I really hope her wound heals quickly. Very fluffy Bunnies may look cute, but they certainly do require a lot of grooming. At least twice a day IME X

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Absolutely. Having had a persian cat many years ago (and the requirements of care that they need), I find longhaired bunnies even more demanding given that they need to live with hay and enjoy digging etc. With a coat like these 4 have, you really are struggling with a almost losing battle on your hands.
I've gone through even emotion this week...being completely honest. Can I honestly do it? I have a full time demanding job with very long hours. Do I have the time to really, honestly give all 4 to maintain their coats? :|:| Should these 4 be living as house rabbits. Yes, truly I think they should, but I can't facilitate this. They live in a shed with a run (as well as full run of the patio) which is fantastic space for them to be rabbits...but can these 4 really live like 'rabbits' because of these coats?! So therefore can I provide them what they need?
Oh the debate running through my mind...guilt/love/confusion/care/empathy...you name it! I honestly don't have the answer.
I love them, and I don't want to, or plan to, give up on them. I guess it's stress an worry that's taken over if I'm honest. I'm looking long term maintenance for them and the costs and time implications it will involve, as they do need to have specialist care to keep them in top condition. I just can't help but feel for all those other long-haired bunnies bought as a pet on a whim and left to sit in a hutch in a mess. My heart breaks for them. x

Here are my lionhead four on the night they came back from the vets. As you can see, they are still quite long (although short underneath), and I will be looking to bring their coat lengths down much more (as I have previously) x

Untitled by Mrs M, on Flickr


Adam's on the left in this video...he's the one that two years ago suffered with flystrike (you'll be able the find the posts I did at the time on here). He's doing remarkably well and I have to remind myself of what we have gone through, especially during this week. Pets can really test your every emotion....the highs are wonderful, but the downs are so hard. x

Is Princess healing well from her clip rip?

Aww bless hope princess wound now healed

Hi :wave: thank you, yes, Princess is healing really well x

As many of your know I have a small army of lionheads three of which are double maned. We've also had many at the rescue along with cashmeres and angoras and yes they need some grooming to keep matt free but with the correct brushes they're not quite the nightmare people imagine but they definitely aren't maintenance free either, how they are kept also plays a part in the amount of grooming required and some may be better being clipped if kept indoors or if they have health issues.

tabithakat64 said:

As many of your know I have a small army of lionheads three of which are double maned. We've also had many at the rescue along with cashmeres and angoras and yes they need some grooming to keep matt free but with the correct brushes they're not quite the nightmare people imagine but they definitely aren't maintenance free either, how they are kept also plays a part in the amount of grooming required and some may be better being clipped if kept indoors or if they have health issues.

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Would you be able to link to some, please? Or tell me what to search for? Come spring moult I expect I'll need to give Chibbs a better go than I ever have Lopsy or Aboleth.