Cat grabbing bunny

[Morningelephant]

Our half year old bunny and four month old cat have not had any problems due to the cat being a coward and running away from our bun. They were both on the bed being pet, both purring away when, still purring, he bites down on the back of our bunnies neck. He did not leave a mark and she did not seem to care but I do not know if this was normal or if I should separate him from her. 

[WRXFamily]

Since that’s how cats communicate with their young ones it’s normal for the cat but yes you should separate them. Bunnies are very fragile especially their spines. So if the cat mistakes the bun for one of its own and tries to carry the bun it could get scared and break its spine.

[Theo&Mickey]

My cats did this with my bunny, too, and I had to separate them. My bun now has a room to himself with the door closed.
Can you bunny proof an area where your rabbit can safely run and roam around without the cat getting to her?
It may not be that your kitten wants to harm the bunny, but it’s their way of playing and it can be rough and can also trigger the cat’s prey mode.

I don’t want to scare you but I saw a video online of a cat licking a rabbit and then it suddenly bit its head. Cats play with their prey.

Rabbits have very thin skin and a cat can easily do damage in countless ways, so I would separate them.

[12345ABCDE]

You need to keep your cat and rabbit away from each other if that’s going to happen. A cat could very easily kill a rabbit.

[tobyluv]

That is very dangerous. Cat saliva is full of bacteria and it could easily cause an infection if the rabbit’s skin got broken at all. Keep them separated.

[Deleted User]

You definitely need to keep the cat away from the rabbit. Building on what tobyluv said, cats are also known to pass a parasite in their feces that causes toxoplasmosis. I know a little about the parasite from taking some microbiology courses but you should look into it more, especially if your rabbit can access the cats litterbox. I don’t know much about toxoplasmosis in rabbits but I am sure they can contract it as well. contact with contaminated cat feces, or simply contact with anything else that has had contact with the cat feces can infect even you, so you’d take care to not let the rabbit have access to the cat litter box.

[Morningelephant]

Thank you so much for the responses, I am glad I stopped it. This is all very helpful for us, especially away from home and without a vet

[DanaNM]

Posted By BunNoob<3 on 7/18/2017 9:57 AM

You definitely need to keep the cat away from the rabbit. Building on what tobyluv said, cats are also known to pass a parasite in their feces that causes toxoplasmosis. I know a little about the parasite from taking some microbiology courses but you should look into it more, especially if your rabbit can access the cats litterbox. I don’t know much about toxoplasmosis in rabbits but I am sure they can contract it as well. contact with contaminated cat feces, or simply contact with anything else that has had contact with the cat feces can infect even you, so you’d take care to not let the rabbit have access to the cat litter box.

That’s awesome that you know about toxo! I’m a parasitologist.  

A bit more info: if you keep your cat indoors, so it doesn’t have access to rodents to kill, it will not contract toxo, and any previous infection it has will be cleared in about 6 weeks. 

If your cat allowed outdoors, then yes, definitely keep the litter box inaccessible by your bunnies. 

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Deleted User]

Oh good to know Dana! I have never had cats so I didn’t know if it was something that they normally carry or only contract in certain situations, but I did know that they could have it! Not the bunny would be that interested in litter covered poops…but as a precaution I just threw that in there I’m sure you know how easily microorganisms can spread!

[LittlePuffyTail]

I also didn’t know that, Dana so thanks.

[Vienna Blue in France]

if you keep your cat indoors, so it doesn’t have access to rodents to kill, it will not contract toxo, and any previous infection it has will be cleared in about 6 weeks. 

Phewie, thats really interesting…. because Zou decided it would be fun to jump INTO the cat litter box house the other day… and before i got there she decided to chomp a bit of the silica litter !!!! Two days in a row !!!! Luckily my buns have tummies of steel….
(Toxo didn’t even cross my mind!….)

[ThorBunny]

Interesting conversation about toxo! I’m a neuroscientist and spent some time studying the parasite!

That’s good that it clears cats in 6 weeks, I know that humans can have it for years! Interesting thought, in rodents toxo makes them more bold and also changes their brain chemistry so they are braver LURV the smell of cat pee. Obviously this is bad for a rat that doesn’t want to get eaten by a cat, but it’s not known to be harmful to healthy rodents in other ways. But I wonder if a rabbit who got toxo would get along better with a companion cat? Definitely better not to find out, just pondering the thought… oh biology.

[DanaNM]

Posted By ThorBunny on 7/18/2017 1:54 PM

Interesting conversation about toxo! I’m a neuroscientist and spent some time studying the parasite!

That’s good that it clears cats in 6 weeks, I know that humans can have it for years! Interesting thought, in rodents toxo makes them more bold and also changes their brain chemistry so they are braver LURV the smell of cat pee. Obviously this is bad for a rat that doesn’t want to get eaten by a cat, but it’s not known to be harmful to healthy rodents in other ways. But I wonder if a rabbit who got toxo would get along better with a companion cat? Definitely better not to find out, just pondering the thought… oh biology.

Hahah yay! I love talking about parasites. My advisor has written a paper (and gave a TED talk) on toxo! If anyone is interested in mind-altering parasites, check out the TEDx talk by Kevin Lafferty. Pretty interesting stuff! 

Humans (and rodents… and many many other animals) serve as an intermediate host, so they can have the infection for a very long time. Often it is more or less dormant, waiting for you to be eaten by a cat (!), but can become very active in immune compromised individuals (which is why they say pregnant women shouldn’t clean the cat box). 

Since cats are the final host, and the parasite really doesn’t do too much harm to them, and the infection just runs it’s course (assuming they don’t get reinfected)!

Humans are also most often infected by eating raw red meat that contains the parasite, and unpasteurized goat milk!

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Author]

Messages