There Seems to be an increase in the practice of dyed Bunny's....and "How Cute and Adorable" it makes us look...some people even think it's "Cool".But it's not cool or cute in fact it's a dangerous health risk to us bunny's and here is why this craze needs to be stopped....
Over to you mummy:
The first this is bathing Bunnies...it shouldn't be done except for cleaning the bottom to remove feces or urine to stop urine scald because the rabbit has a disability or is unwell and unable to clean itself and the occasional spot cleaning.Rabbits are prey animals and are easily frightened and stressed by bathing and they really don't like getting wet.....Speedy doesn't even like getting his paws wet never mind being out in the rain.I have had to clean his bottom on occasion when he was overweight and every time he has always struggled and tried to bite me and when he had stasis and kept having diarrhea it got all over him and that meant a bath in shallow warm water to clean him up...I didn't have a choice.Situations like that are the only time you would bathe a rabbit.
Now lets talk about the dyes.There are several pet safe dyes on the market now you would think well pet safe they are ok aren't they? Wrong Pet safe dyes contain Biocides which are highly toxic to rabbits.They are safe for dogs but not Rabbits.Some also contain other ingredient which are irritants
This is the ingredient list for Opaws dyes:
Aqua, Glycerin, PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil,Hydroxyethylcellulose, Polyquaternium-10, CI 42090, CI 15985, CI 19140, CI 16035, Methylchloroisothiazolinone Methylisothiazolinone
only the pigments numbers change on the list on the different colours.The last one is the Biocide which is Toxic to rabbits.
This is the list for Top performance pet dyes:
Purified water,CTFA- approved pigments and dyes,cellulose thickener,Glycerine and preservative
Doesn't give you much info does it what are the pigments and dyes and what preservative is used?Is it the same biocide as the one used in Opaws?
Then there are the vegan hair dyes like Manic panic
Manic Panic ‘Classic Cream Formula’ hair dye
Ingredients: Synthetic beeswax, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth20, Humulus lupulus extract, Anthemis nobilis extract, Acetic Acid, Methylparaben, Propylene glycol
May Also Contain: Orange 4 (CI 15510), Red 33 (CI 17200), Blue 1 (CI 42090), Yellow 10 (CI 47005), Green 5 (CI 61570)
some of the ingredients listed are irritants plus this is supposed to be for humans not pets,but are being used by Dog Groomers.
There are some dog groomers in the USA that are prepared to use dyes on rabbits and in most states in the USA it is banned on dogs but not in all and it's not banned in the UK
Ok Speedy back to you now:
So would you use these on a rabbit?I know my mummy wouldn't because why would you use something that at the very least is an irritant that could be ingested by the rabbit while it is grooming itself putting their sensitive digestive systems at risk?These products are not listed as safe for rabbits and there is a reason for that because they are not.
So which would you rather see a rabbit like those above or like me in my natural fur?
Note from Mummy:
All the information written is readily available on the internet but does not cover every product on the market just some examples of what is available to purchase.These products are listed as Non toxic and are vegetable based dyes and are safe for use on dogs.They are not listed as safe for rabbits or cats or any other small animal pet.There may be other products out there that are safe for cats but I did not find any.If these products are used as they were intended for then they are perfectly safe.These Dyes should only be use on the animals that they were created for or the Humans that they were created for.
