Brushing Your Rabbit For His Health

You may be surprised to learn that brushing your rabbit's coat is more than a cosmetic concern - it can actually be a matter of life and death. This is because rabbits, like cats, lick their fur as part of their regular grooming activity, swallowing some hair in the process. Unlike cats, rabbits are unable to regurgitate hairballs from their stomach. Ideally, the rabbit will pass the hairball with its scat, but if the hairball is too large, or the rabbit isn't getting enough fiber in its diet, the hair may cause a blockage, resulting in starvation and death. The best way to prevent this from happening (apart from good nutrition) is brushing the rabbit's fur on a weekly basis. This assumes a short-hair breed. If you have a long-hair rabbit, and choose not to keep the fur clipped short, you'll want to brush every day or two instead.

This becomes especially important when the rabbit is molting, a process that happens every three months or so. Around these times your rabbit will lose a great deal of fur - some even go "naked!" When this is happening, you'll want to brush as much as possible. Use the right tool for the job- this is one instance where a specially-designed rabbit brush is preferable. Rabbits have extraordinarily thin, delicate skin that is easily irritated. You'll typically find rabbit brushes in one of two types: petting brushes, and slicker brushes. Petting brushes have soft bristles that will feel pleasant to your rabbit, whereas slicker brushes have stiff plastic or wire bristles, which will gather hair quicker. If your rabbit is especially fussy or sensitive, or you want to make the brushing sessions more of a bonding experience, you might prefer the petting brush. If you have a long-hair rabbit that needs a lot of fur removed, a slicker brush is probably more efficient.

Either way, you should make brushing an opportunity to get better acquainted with your rabbit. Don't restrain it if it doesn't want to be brushed- use a soft approach, and reward compliance with treats and a soothing voice. Once it is accustomed to this kind of attention, your rabbit should enjoy the time spent with you and the physical sensation of being groomed.