Furminator
Warning
People have gone away from using brushes like this because it pulls the undercoat out which hurts the rabbit. The undercoat helps spread oils around the rabbit’s body and keeps it healthy.
The only reason I purchased this expensive comb was in the hopes it would help Buttons shed his undercoat which makes him hot and uncomfortable.
It is a small, light, easy to handle device. The handle is shaped well enough to fit in an adult hand. The grip texture on the handle is quite good if you have a sweaty or wet hand.
For me, it doesn’t pull out enough hair fast enough. It only has short bristles which can only hold a small cloud of fluff. The button on the back of the head presses a slider on the bottom of the bristles to help remove the hair cloud.
If you want to groom your bunny for 3 hours, this is the tool for you. Sadly, I don’t have the time to sit there for that long. I need it done asap. Unfortunately, that’s Buttons’ decision, not mine. Buttons has a disdain for anything hair removal. So it’s my job to find something that removes hair within minutes, not hours.
Buttons’ skin crawls/wriggles when I use this tool on him. Which says to me that it hurts. That is totally unnecessary. He is a sensitive bun and I don’t want him to start hating me testing things on him.
Packaging
Warning
The comb is sharp. It comes with a green plastic cover that is initially holding the instruction sheet together. Make sure you pop it on when the comb is not in use.
Don’t jab the comb into your bunny, they don’t appreciate it. Getting the angle correct when holding the comb is an interesting task. It seems logical to hold the handle parallel with the bunny’s body, but by doing that the prongs of the comb dig in too far – for Buttons anyway. You might get another response if your bunny has thicker or courser hair.
Would I recommend this?
Yes and no.
It depends on your bunny. If it isn’t as sensitive as Buttons, go for it. If you want to control the hair and what you do with it (for example grooming indoors), go for it. But if you’re looking for a quick de-shedding tool this is not it.
De-shedding
This my friends, is an absolute god-send.
When I started using this on Buttons he was quite disappointed in me because it felt strange. I guess it was a mix between being licked and patted. Now he loves it. He lays down flat as a pancake on the ground (I brush him outside) and he doesn’t move until I do.
The little tips on the glove pad (blue bit) are long enough to get into the thicker fur, and they haven’t broken off yet.
The glove itself is made for a large man’s hand which is good, because I always have trouble finding gloves that fit me. It’s obviously designed with the one size fits all idea. There is a velcro strap that you can use to tighten around your wrist, but it’s quite comfortable without doing that, and it hasn’t slipped off my hand yet.
The distance between the tips are good for grooming a cat, but for a bunny, I would ask the manufacturers to add extra ones, especially a middle row down the length of each finger and anywhere there is a large-ish gap.
Buttons loves having his whole body groomed with this glove. He is quite sensitive and doesn’t like certain parts touched – like his feet and neck. But when wearing this glove, nothing matters any more to him. I’m starting to use this glove as training for him to get used to being touched everywhere.
Packaging
Would I recommend this?
Yes. Without hesitation.
Warning
Make sure you use it somewhere that can collect falling hair. Buttons leaves a halo of white hair where he was laying.
Hairy Pony Brush
I’m sick of dumb grooming tools. The Furminator removes my bunny’s undercoat, and that is bad, especially for winter. All you need is something that gently removes the loose guard hairs coat.
The Wahl de-shedding glove is great, but the silicone teeth are too far apart for a bunny – their hair is fine and the glove doesn’t remove enough hair.
I read that people find the same and are starting to use de-fleaing combs, but I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t work. They are good for removing fleas though.
I found the Hairy Pony block, I actually saw an add online for a similar brush and I thought it might be handy. I did some research, not really knowing what they were called, and ended up searching for “silicone horse grooming block” and the Hairy Pony one came up amongst many others. The reason why I chose that one was because it was the cheapest and it had a video on the website to show how it worked.
The reason why I chose this one was pretty simple, it was going to be delivered in the next couple of days. Buttons is shedding so much hair it’s horrific! At least I can test it out during winter, while Buttons is shedding like a snow cloud. He never stops shedding… I lie, he did for about two days a few weeks ago.
I received the block in the post 3 days after ordering it.
Packaging and Use
It came wrapped in black and gold tissue paper, with a gold printed sticker. There was also a Welcome note with gold text, which looked really lovely.
The block came in an undamaged plastic box with a nice white and gold sticker.
There are a lot of teeth around the whole brush.
Hairy Pony printed their name on the block.
The block has a clear acetate tube down the centre of the block to make it sturdy because silicon is not a sturdy material by itself.
Nova’s hair is very thin an short. Buttons’ hair is thick and plenty comes off him because he is moulting. I noticed that hair was stuck between the clear plastic tube and the silicone brush.
I decided to pull the tube out and wash it.
It was really easy to wash. The silicone sleeve was a tight fit but easy enough to feed around the tube.
It’s snowing Buttons’ fluff. The brush does a fabulous job.
I found that more hair comes out of Buttons’ butt when I hold him, rather than him sitting on a surface.
Verdict
Really good.
Buttons loves it, he relaxes and falls asleep while I’m brushing him. Then he wakes up and wants to bash the towel up, as per usual.
Nova starts grooming herself when I use it on her.
It is a good brush for just getting the loose hairs out and leaving the undercoat – which is really important for bunnies, they have to keep their undercoat because it keeps their skin protected.
Bristle Brush
Nova’s hair is so thin that I had to re-think the way I was going to groom her for her Spring shedding. When I got her, she had the thinnest, most delicate hair; then in two months she grew an undercoat and her hair thickened up. Next year, after being outside a lot, she will get thicker hair. But this year I had to come up with a plan of how to help her shed her thin air-conditioned hair.
I tried the Hairy Pony brush on her. Didn’t work very well. Not like it did on Buttons. I then tired the stupid Slicker brush (I haven’t written a review on the slicker brush because it is tremendously pointless). It was useless, her hair acted like liquid as I brushed her with it. I tried the De-shedding glove, but the silicone lumps were way too far apart for her thin hair. I tried the Furminator, but that scratched her skin rather than remove hair.
I had to rethink what I was going to do.
That’s when I thought about getting a baby brush, but the bristles would be too soft and there were generally more bristles than what I needed. That’s when I remembered that they have pet brushes like that, and I found the Bristle Brush.
The You and Me Small Pet Bristle Brush, is advertised to stimulate skin to distribute healthy oils and promotes shiny coat.
I first tried the brush on Buttons. He loved it. He sat still and let me brush him. I found that if I brush slowly, he acted like I was licking him. He even let me brush his butt and his neck, which are usually two no-go zones.
It took out a few guard hairs, not as much as I would have liked, but he isn’t losing as much hair this week as he was last week.
Cleaning the brush was interesting. I used the Slicker brush to clean it, but I’ll have to find another easier, more effective way, because it didn’t work as well as I wanted.
I did find, though, the brush worked well to get bunny fur off clothes.
I then tried it on Nova. She clearly has a short history of being brushed and groomed by her human. She trusts me, so she did as I asked. She sat on the towel and didn’t really appreciate the brushing, but after a few minutes she ended up realising it was like being groomed by another bunny. She sat in a loaf and let me brush her.
A good amount of hair came off her, so I think the brush will do well for her when she is moulting.
Verdict
This brush is good for Dwarf/Havana bunnies with thin hair. But brush slowly and gently, too rough and it can hurt.
Flea Comb
There are a stack of flea combs on the market. I purchased this JW one, but not from the online shop in the link, I got it from the local vet. I purchased it for two reasons:
- it was the cheapest
- I needed it asap
In January 2023, Buttons collected a lovely amount of fleas from the ground. I needed to remove them, and that comb was a big part of the treatment. If you want to know about Buttons’ fleas (Fleas, and Fleas Again) it’s an interesting tale.
This comb is good. It did the job. I wouldn’t expect a more expensive one to do a better job.
I recommend this comb.
Static Hair Collector
This is an interesting interpretation of a brush. I have written about it here.
It works well until it has a thin layer of hair covering it, then you have to hose it off. But this makes the plasticy thing wet and the water itself collects more hair from the rabbit’s body. So I’m not sure if it’s good or not.