Rabbit care and grooming

As is the case with cats, rabbits like to groom themselves and they do this by scrupulously licking their fur. Unfortunately this can bring about problems to people that suffer from allergies. When a rabbit licks itself it leaves saliva on it's body and when this saliva dries it flakes off and floats around the environment. In order to keep allergens to a bare minimum you will need to groom and brush your rabbit's fur frequently. There are many breeds of rabbits and they have different coats types such as long hair, short-haired, plush, wooly etc. Groom the rabbit by using a slicker brush (ask your veterinarian which would be the best for your specific rabbit) and brush at least two times a week to get rid of all of the loose hair, dander, dust, etc. Rabbits also shed, so during these times you will want to brush their hair more often. If you have an Angora rabbit it's important to get their hair trimmed regularly (this should be done by a professional groomer) Angora rabbits hair also tends to get matted and dirty so it is very important to brush their hair regularly. You will notice when the shedding period of an Angora rabbit starts when its hair starts getting more matted than normal and when it looses more hair than usual when you brush it.

A rabbit normally sheds around three or four times throughout the year, however at times the shedding will be light and then heavy – this process usually starts from the head and extends down to the tail. Rabbits lick their fur to groom themselves and during this process they swallow a lot of fur, however, they are not able to cough up that hair like cats do so it is important to brush their hair regularly to avoid them from swallowing so much. Sometimes they swallow so much hair it causes problems because a hairball can form in their stomach and it can be life threatening. If this happens to your rabbit it will need veterinary attention.