Cats in rabbits litter box!!!

[angoralvr]

Ok, so when I got Henri I read a lot about how clay litter isn’t good for him which got me to thinking about how the dust probably isn’t good for my cats either. I started using yesterdays news litter in Henri’s bowes and decided that I would try it for my cats too. Well the switch for them is going well, the problem is, they have now started to use Henri’s boxes too. Henri started using their litter box when he first came home so I guess they thought it woudl be ok for them to use his. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can stop this? Can Henri get sick from them using the same box? I really don’t know if this is something I need to stop or not.  If Henri is ok with it should I just let it go?

[Sarita]

I found this on-line:

Cryptosporidium cuniculus—The rabbit is an intermidiate host of this protozoan. Cats are the definitive host. Rabbits in households with cats can potentially jump into the cat’s litter box, step in infected cat feces, and then ingest oocysts when cleaning their feet.

Infected rabbits may have no clinical signs, or may have fever and die within a few days.

The infection is treated with parasiticides. Rabbit owners who also own cats should be very careful to keep the cat’s litter box immaculately clean, to wash their hands after cleaning the litter box, and to keep the rabbits from using it, if possible.

Here’s the link:

http://www.gopetsamerica.com/small-animals/rabbit/internal-parasites-rabbits.aspx

It’s further down at the bottom of the article.

Henri probably would not like the cats using his box either.  I have no ideas how to prevent this – hopefully some other members will have good ideas.

 

[kralspace]

I have the same problem, with 3 rabbits and 3 cats, I’ve got a lot of litter boxes throughout the house. The bunnies have been bad about heavily marking the floor around the cat boxes, sometimes sitting in them and using them when I just cleaned them.

The bunnies boxes are lined with newspaper and filled with coastal hay, and while the cats don’t officially "use" them, they do love to lay in them. (I keep the top layer clean so there’s no poop on top)

After reading all this, I may try using an extra table to put the cat box on so the bunnies can’t easily get to it and see how that works. I can’t think of anyway to keep them out if it’s on the floor, the lovely Pringles can match any of the cats for leaping over fences.

[angoralvr]

I will definately move the cat box so that Henri can’t get into it as easily. As far as the cats getting in his box goes. I am not sure they are actually using them. I know they are laying in them but when cleaning out his boxes I haven’t noticed any cat poop in them. They may just be playing with his litter and laying in the boxes. I guess that switching their litter to something different might help with this too.

[Gravehearted]

Sarita – you rock, very helpful answer! I knew it wasn’t good for them, but wasn’t sure exactly why.

Angoragrl – it would be best to discourage them from using each other’s boxes at all. Maybe you can take any boxes that are normally on the floor for when he’s out and move them on top of his cage when he’s not out? I think your instinct to switch litter may help, since the boxes look the same it might be confusing for them.

Also cats sometimes carry Pasteuralla bacteria, which can be communicable to bunnies. If your cats playfully bites and scratch, be sure to monitor their interactions with Henri.

[angoralvr]

Thanks for the info. It looks like switching around litter boxes is what I am doing tonight. I think I am going to go get a pet gate to block Henri from the cat’s litter box. He does not go downstairs so that one is not a problem but he does go into the sunroom. If I block that doorway then he cannot get to it but there is like a passthrough window that the cats can still get through. I think that switching their litter again will keep them from thinking that Henri’s boxes are their own.

I have very carefully watched my cats’ interactions with Henri and they are amazing with him. Not once have any of them even shown him their claws and none of them bite either. I think I lucked out when it came to my four felines because I never had any problems with them scratching, biting, or doing anything inappropriate really.

Gravehearted- That brings up another interesting question. . . If my cats can carry something that through biting Henri could get him sick, does that mean they shouldn’t drink after eachother too?

[Gravehearted]

hmm, I didn’t see the drinking thing mentioned – but it makes sense that bacteria could be passed via the drinking water too 🙁

[angoralvr]

I was worried about that. . . There is virtually no way for me to keep the cats out of Henri’s water though unless I denied him access to it. Has anyone here had a problem with their cats getting their buns sick?

[BinkyBunny]

Sarita – that was great info! Do you know the answer to her most recent question about whether cats and rabbits can share a water dish, or could they pass things this way too?

[Sarita]

I asked another rabbit list I’m on about the water bowl issue and one of the members said she had the same concern about her cats and rabbits sharing water bowls and her vet assured her it was okay.

[angoralvr]

Thank you Sarita. You really gave me a lot of good information on this one!

[Deleted User]

I don’t think there is too much of a problem when my cat use rabbit litter box. But if you still want to keep the two separated, you can try grabbing the urine and poop (of the cats) from rabbits litter box to theirs. The cat will notice a familiar smell and go for the other box.

[Bam]

This thread is more than ten years old, so I’m locking it now. We ask members to not revive old threads, because it can create confusion =)

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