Concerned about Niki's fur?

sugarbunnies · Oct 29, 2012

Hi guys -- I rescued Nikolai from the SD Humane Society, and when I got him, his fur was not like this on his face. He used to be a stray and was exposed to ringworm, and they did cultures on him for a month straight and I can see some vet-tech talk I don't understand in the records about it, but at the very end it said he tested negative, but it is possible he still may have it lying dormant. I might be being a little paranoid, though, but doesn't ringworm cause weird fur patterns/loss?

Here is a close up of his face.

MikeScone · Oct 29, 2012

Relax - he's shedding. That's a shed line on his face, where the old fur has fallen out and the new fur is growing in. Rabbits shed up to four times a year.

Rabbits shed in all different ways - different from rabbit to rabbit, and different for each shed on the same rabbit. In the seven and a half years Scone lived with me, he got that sort of shedding on his face only once, and I panicked, too. It didn't take long for the shed line to move along, and he was his usual self again. So far, all of Natasha's sheds have just been getting shaggy and unkempt-looking for a while, and then her fur's back to normal.

sugarbunnies · Oct 30, 2012

Thanks for the word knowledge and comfort!

Imbrium · Oct 30, 2012

yeah, they can look pretty weird when they're molting - my lionhead started by losing parts of her mane.

while your bunny's shedding, be sure to groom him 1-2x a day to collect as much loose hair as possible so he doesn't get a hairball from ingesting too much hair during grooming. I usually brush (or better yet, furminate) the bunny, then dampen my hands and run them over the bunny a couple times, roll them together to get the hair off and repeat... using a lint roller after brushing/furminating can also really help.

missyscove · Oct 31, 2012

Good for you for being so attentive. I'm sure he's embarrassed that you've shared pictures of him looking anything but his best.

Nancy McClelland · Oct 31, 2012

Mr B got a white spot on his nose the last time he shed. Peter is the funniest though--he goes from bottom to top and ends up with a Mohawk pattern down his entire back.