Help Please. Matted Rabbit.

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Fernie

Fernie

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We were given two rabbits for free. Not sure what breed, but they are long haired and very cute. No names as of yet, but working on it. Major problem I found is their hair is matted. they have some really bad mats on their backs that I are against the skin. I have tried soaking them loose from the skin so I could cut the mats out but that is not working. I have even tried some dawn to help break it up. If I have to shave them they will be completely bald on their backs.

Are there any tricks to getting the mats loose enough to clip them out? I have never dealt with mats this bad before. I have had long haired cats and dogs and never seen mats like this. They are clumps of lumps of matted fur all across their backs.
 
Use conditioner. Plain human conditioner can work but an animal coat conditioner normally applied after a bath works the best. That's how we always untangled horse tails before a show without ripping the tangles out and thinning the tail too much. You can also try vegetable oils. They just need thoroughly washed afterward.
 
akane":clhi5o3o said:
Use conditioner. Plain human conditioner can work but an animal coat conditioner normally applied after a bath works the best. That's how we always untangled horse tails before a show without ripping the tangles out and thinning the tail too much. You can also try vegetable oils. They just need thoroughly washed afterward.
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Would olive oil work? I have a soy allergy so we don't even buy veggie oil. I have some olive oil ad maybe some corn oil. I also do not want these two to think they are being basted for dinner either.

I will get mad about their condition later. For now it is more get them sorted so we can take pics and figure out what they are.
 
Your first mistake was washing them with mats. Mats actually shrink and become more painful when they dry after being washed. I would say the best way would be to just sit down with another person, someone hold the rabbit, and work away at the mats the best you can.
 
See I thought it would loosen up since that is what I do with the one long haired cat we have. She gets mats in her tail, no matter how often you brush her. So we wash her tail once a week. Well I will see what I can do to break them up.
 
With the Angoras and JW, a seam ripper or even an afro pick works well (metal) I you find they are very close to the skin, you may have to slide a comb under the mat and snip.
 
Fernie":33qo678v said:
Would olive oil work?
Click to expand...
Olive oil should work fine. I guess it it's technically a fruit or nut oil, rather than vegetable, but I think Akane probably meant anything like "vegetable" oil (which used to be a blend, but is now pure soy), corn oil, canola, safflower, cottonseed, olive, etc. :)

Fernie":33qo678v said:
See I thought it would loosen up since that is what I do with the one long haired cat we have.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing it's due the difference between regular fur and wool, which I don't really know what the difference is, but I have read posts by those who have woolers that differentiate between the two.
 
I am such a sucker when it comes to helpless in need of TLC animals. Cats, dogs, birds, rabbits. Once I have them mat free and relatively cleaned up I or bob will post pics.
 
I've used a Safari dematting comb successfully on a really bad one I got from an auction. It worked great and was safer than the scissors I would have normally used on such a mess. Many pet and feed stores sell dematting combs for dogs. They basically work like a regular comb but when they hit a tangle whatever won't slip through gets sliced. You'll lose some hair but not as much as if you use scissors or shave the rabbit. It resembles a row of stitch rippers with a handle.
 
It probably will take 2 people working together.
Wrap the rabbit partially in a towel to protect the human from the toenails.

You can use hair conditioner like we humans use.
You could start from one edge and slowly pull the hairs loose.
Only a few at a time. It will be time consuming.

What I probably would try is a pair of scissors and cut the mat in
parallel lines. Then you maybe able to lift one edge and hopefully
get some kind of comb between the rabbit and the mat, and then
cut the hair. Again time consuming.

Not sure if a pair of hair clippers would work.
When we used to do the hair cuts for the cocker spaniels, and if
I found a mat, I would have to take the scissors to it.
 
We have been cutting out as many of the mats as we can. The one we have been working on still has matted fur up against the skin. Some of the mats are the length of the rabbit.
 
I rescued an older French Angora once who hadn't been cared for in so long, his matts had fused with the matts that had formed on the bottom of his cage. His nails were grown out really long and twisted.

It was horrible. I just kept brushing and cutting and brushing and cutting. Very carefully. I didn't try to remove every matt at once, instead I took off the worst, and then we did 20 minute sessions daily until he was all matt free and comfortable.
 
What I have used in the past to cut mats on both dogs and cats was clippers (Whal's) and one of those dollar store (aka cheep) large combs. Work the comb under the mat against the skin, using the clippers on the lowest setting (shortest teeth) and using the comb to guide it along to cut the mat out that way. Hope that helps you out some.
 
If its really close to the skin I almost think- Like what Zass said, just work on it enough so you feel like the skin can breath - and don't try to get it mat free all at once - eventually over the weeks if you keep working a bit at a time you'll get it mat free.
 
Some of the mats are so bad they are at the skin. No room to even slip a baby comb under it. Many of the mats we cut off the top layers. A few are pulling on the skin so hard that when we got the mat free we saw some blood. If there was a groomer near us that would do it I would so pay for somebody else to help us. We stopped for the night and plan to spend a bit every day working on them.

The female is not matted as bad as the male. We had a few mats that once we got them off the rabbits were able to move better. This is almost most too much for us. Luckily Bob is very good with them and has managed to get out a bunch of the mats.
 

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