📅 Monday, 16 March 2026 · No. 5

My Grooming Notes: Brushing and Shedding Log

🌿 Daily Logs · ✎ 5 min · by Azmi in Meknes

My Grooming Notes Brushing Log — same angle, same light my log photo

Azmi's note My personal log from Meknes, not vet advice. Just what I did and saw tonight.

Hi, I’m Azmi and I love data. I brush my rabbit and log each session with a photo of the brush and the date. This is my grooming log, how often, how long, and what the coat looked like. This is not grooming advice, only my method to stay consistent and gentle. For mats, skin issues, or nail care questions I ask a vet or a professional groomer. I show only soft brushing and photo logging.

My brushing routine: 5 minutes on the balcony mat

I brush gently for five minutes, usually on the balcony mat in daylight. I start from the back and move with the fur, never against. I stop if the rabbit moves away and try later. The balcony mat is a 50 by 70 cm washable mat I place in daylight but not direct noon sun, morning 9:00 or late 17:00 light is perfect to see loose fur without squinting. I sit cross-legged, rabbit facing the wall hide, hay snack within nose reach. That snack is not a reward system, just a calm anchor so the session feels like normal snack time. Timer is 5 minutes on my phone. When it rings, I stop even mid-stroke, keeping the promise of short sessions is why my rabbit still comes to the mat voluntarily.

Stroke method: 10 gentle strokes on the back with the soft brush, check the brush, 10 on each side, check, finish with 5 on the rump where shedding shows most. I never brush belly, face, or feet, those zones are vet or pro only in my house. I note tool used, minutes, and fur amount: none, little, pile. None means clean brush, little means dust line, pile means visible puff to photograph. During shedding weeks I brush every two days, otherwise weekly. I keep the sessions calm with a hay snack nearby. If ears flatten or the rabbit hops off twice, session ends early and I write short + left in the sheet, that honesty keeps the log useful.

coat check brush and fur pile — Coat check photo from my log. Brush plus pile, same daylight.

My tools and cleaning

Friends ask about brushes, I show my two soft brushes and my notes on which one collected more without pulling. Brush A is a soft slicker with bent tips I use only with feather pressure. Brush B is a silicone palm pad I use for finishing passes. In my four-week test, Brush A collected more on dense rump fur, Brush B collected more on smooth back with zero tug. I clean the brush after each use and store it with the nail kit: tap out fur to paper, rinse only the silicone pad with water, air dry, no sprays. The slicker never gets wet, tap and comb out with an old comb. Both live in a cloth pouch away from dust. No brand push, photos show shape, my notes show which pass I used each day.

My shedding log, four weeks

Week	Sessions	Fur amount	Photo
W1	1 x 5 min	Little	Same angle
W2	2 x 5 min	Pile	Brush + pile
W3	2 x 4 min	Medium	Back view
W4	1 x 5 min	Little	Done

Typed details: W1 Mon 5 min Brush B little, daylight photo back view. W2 Wed 5 min Brush A pile, rump heavy, Thu 4 min Brush B medium short session ended early left twice. W3 Mon 4 min medium, Fri 4 min medium, balcony windy, fur flew, note wind. W4 Mon 5 min little, coat smooth, session calm full 5. Total month: 6 sessions, 28 minutes, 2 piles, 2 mediums, 2 littles. Peak was W2 to W3, classic shedding window in my log. I did not increase pressure or time during peak, only frequency from weekly to every two to three days. That frequency change is the only variable I moved, so the pile-to-little drop in W4 reads cleanly.

What my photos show month by month

Month by month, the mane photos from the same angle show change clearly. I keep lighting and distance the same so I can compare. Position: rabbit on mat facing hide, phone 60 cm behind at back height, daylight only. Three shots: back, left side, rump close. Same three every time. My sheet has a simple line chart of sessions versus fur amount. The chart is hand drawn: x is date, y is none-little-medium-pile. The line spikes W2-W3 and falls W4. That spike matches my weekly weigh-and-photo tracker dates, same days, calmer handling because coat was the focus. Together they are my history.

Meknes dust trick: after balcony sessions I shake the mat before going inside, otherwise dust plus loose fur travels to the litter corner. In winter I brush indoors near the window instead of balcony, same mat, same timer, but I add 2 minutes of room airing after because fur floats. In summer I brush at 8:30 before heat, never at noon tile-hot hour. Seasonal shift is time and place only, never pressure or duration.

Staying gentle and consistent

No advice, just my method to stay consistent and gentle. If you log too, keep entries tiny so you keep going. My entry is one line: date-tool-minutes-fur-photo number. Example: 09-14-B-5-little-301. Thirty characters and done. I also note left-twice or full-calm in the margin, those two words predict next session better than fur amount. Two left-twice in a row means I skip two days and do a snack-only mat sit with no brush. That reset worked twice in my log. I never pull mats, never cut fur, never bathe, those are professional jobs. My log stops at soft surface brushing and photo comparison.

Brush and coat photos taken by me on the balcony mat in daylight. Brushing notes only, no skin, nail, or mat treatment claims. For tangles, bald spots, or skin redness I contact a vet the same day.