Showing posts with label rabbits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rabbits. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

The plight of the Angora.

Today I spent two hours gently and carefully separating a sweet little rabbit from mats the size of... well, another rabbit. We'd never taken in an Angora before, so this was a new task for us. We worked slowly and carefully with a pair of my super sharp papercraft scissors, always keeping fingers between bunny and blade.

The rabbit, little did we know, was easily half the size we thought he was. He's a black Lionhead, and adorable as can be. A sweet little disposition, he knew we were trying to help. As I tackled a single wad of matted fur that went from hip to hip all around his rear (seriously, it took me two hands to hold this monster), he began to manically groom Scot, who was helping me to hold him. He knew we were helping him, and you could tell he was just so damn happy to have someone scratching his butt!

Instead of trying to get away, when I'd let him go for a moment of rest, he'd turn to me, put his paws on my chest and lick my chin or nose.

The task isn't done; there are still portions of mats that I cut through, but are totally hard spots of felted mess against his skin. A few I was able to break up and at least start to pull through, but there are some which just aren't breakable due to their proximity to the skin. The mat in the back had a disgusting amount of dry skin, hay, you name it in it. That area is almost totally clean now. We found two small hairless patches, one with a scab. We aren't sure what those are, so a vet trip is in order, too. Perhaps their staff can finish the job off properly.

Because I'll tell you, a barber, I am not! But the guy is cute as can be anyway.

This left me frustrated with people, and in a generally bad mood. Thankfully, I followed it up with an invigorating meeting to plan what fun things I can do for Petwerks this month, then met with someone for a new freelance project, and followed it up by holding down the bench at the dive shop for about an hour before finally going home.

It was a good day.