Grooming a Cashmere Lop

When purchasing your new Cashmere Lop (minimum 8 weeks old) you are best advised to go to a specialist breeder as they are more likely to have better quality coats in their animals, which the standard of excellence requires not to be 'felted' or 'matted'. Even before purchasing these breeds please consider the amount of time and effort that will need to be spent on grooming. If you have insufficient of each, perhaps the Cashmere breeds would be better avoided.

The Cashmere Lop should NEVER be housed on a wire floor as in the case of some Angoras. They have a much, much shorter coat than the Angora and have less covering on the feet, so can get sore hocks if kept in this way.
If you purchase a baby Cashmere Lop it may appear quite fluffy, or even have begun to moult and may soon knot on the shoulders. It may even appear bald on the neck and behind the crown and ears. This is the sign that your young rabbit is moulting out his baby nest coat and is starting to grow his adolescent coat. At this time you should have started his regular grooming sessions. In order not to stress or frighten the rabbit too much, it is recommended that or the first couple of weeks a daily grooming session of about 10 minutes, lengthening gradually to about 20 minutes should be started. This will help to get the coat in order and accustom the youngster to a routine.

Once the coat is getting under control, these sessions can be reduced to twice weekly for 20 - 30 minutes or so and eventually, when the adult coat is attained at about six to ten months old, once or twice a week should be perfectly adequate, perhaps done when the cage is cleaned out.

The newcomer to the young Cashmere Lop can become quite alarmed with the amount of soft coat that comes away during grooming sessions. However this is the loose coat that has been moulted, so it does need to be removed otherwise it will form knots and eventually become so thick as to prevent air circulation to the skin. This not only prevents the new coat from growing properly, but it can also cause skin infections and irritations. It is important to remove extraneous material (bits of hay, shavings, straw, etc) from the coat, which would initiate knotting and matting if mot attended to. Particular attention should be paid to the areas around the genitals, the tail (above and below) the legs (around the ring if this is fitted) and on the chest and shoulder region. These areas are best reaching with the rabbit lying in your lap on its back. If you ask the breeder where you purchase your lop, they should show you how to do this safely at the time when you are shown the best way to handle your rabbit. In the case of particularly pampered pets, consideration should be given to trimming the hair around the genital area to assist their toilet activities.

Equipment is very varied. Probably the most common used are combs, including a large one, perhaps one obtained from large Pet shops intended for longhaired cats and often called a moulting comb. Also a small one for around the trickier areas (such as the genitals). The latter could be a small flea comb or one often sold as intended for small livestock. I can never understand why these latter combs are often sold with tiny little handles. One wonders if the manufacturers believe that SMALL livestock groom themselves? Some people also use a slicker brush but generally brushes only glide over the surface of the coat and do not get down to the base of the hair shaft, where knots can occur. A handy tip is to blow into the coat. You can often spot small knots in the coat this way and they can then be gently teased out with the fingers. If you have left grooming too long and some larger knots are present, it may not be possible to get through these with the other equipments. In this case, gently tease the knots apart first, then your fingers are often the best equipment!

You will find that coats will vary from Cashmere to Cashmere and some will require grooming daily, whilst others only require a quick check over weekly, with more attention when the rabbit is moulting. However, it is always recommended that the Cashmere Lop is checked over once or twice a week, perhaps when cleaning the hutch. The following are some points you should check.

a) Check the bottom is clean and dry (often an early indication of health problems

b) Check the teeth. The breeder should show you how. Malocclusion needs to be discovered early and can occur at any age of rabbit

c) Removal of wood shavings, hay, etc from coat, to keep skin and coat in good condition

d) Check the ring if this is present, that nothing is caught underneath, including shavings, knots, etc, which could cause a great deal of discomfort.

Should you require any further help or advice please do not hesitate to get in touch via our contact page.