THE DANGERS OF CATS WITH RABBITS! PLEASE EVERYONE READ BASIL'S STORY!!!!!

Shop deals on ebay
Love your rabbit
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I_heart_Fraggles

I_heart_Fraggles

Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
Messages
2,602
Reaction score
66
Location
Tacoma WA, , USA
Basil was a beautiful happy 7 month old mini rex. He was loved very much by his family and was full of life and binkies.
On July,30,2012 his owners two year old male cat who had never been aggressive attacked Basil. The attack lasted all of 1 minute with a scratch to Basil's nose, a mild bite mark on his ear that did not puncture and a mild scratch just under his left eye.

I was in my friends home when the attach took place and I calmed him down and doctored his scratches with anti bacterial ointment from my bunny first aid kit.

The injuries did not look serious enough for the vet in fact they kinda looked like paper cuts. We returned Basil to his cage and I told my friend to cover the cage and keep him quiet. Yesterday July,31,2012 my friend came to me in the evening and said Basil was very sick. I went to him to find a strange creamy fluid coming from the scratches and his eye was swollen shut. My friend did not have the money to vet him so Jason and I agreed to vet him as soon as the specialist was opened in the a.m.

When I went this morning to pick him up we found that he had passed away. Basil died due to toxins carried in the cats claws when he received the scratches.

I spoke with Sas (Pipp) and she went threw the same thing with a bunny who received very minor scratches as well and was vetted for them. The fatality rate for this kind of injury can by as high as 80 percent. It has been described to Sas as a lethal injection.
Please be careful when you have bunnies and cats living together. Basil's family is heart broken for his lose and the word needs to be spread. Rest in peace sweet Basil bun.....:pink iris:
14476_011555_060000000.jpg

 
Oh that is so very sad! Did the cat and rabbit play together before or just cohabitate? I think it would break my cat's heart if I took "his" bunnies away. They so love to play together. :(
 
Yes Basil and Hova played together often and would chase and tussle. But Hova was never aggressive. Hova was sitting on a chair and Basil on the floor when Hova just snapped and truly attacked him. It was not play, we had to hit Hova with a broom to get him off Basil.
The bunny pictured is Basil but the cat is Ginger, another kitty that Basil lived with
 
That is very sad. My two cats always move away whenever the rabbits approach them and I always praise them for that. I never leave them unattended with each other. Was the cat neutered? Most cats have a high prey drive and cannot help but see a rabbit as prey. Cats are predator animals and rabbits are prey animals.

One other thing that needs to be known: never leave a rabbit and cat unsupervised for any length of time because attacks like this can happen within a blink of an eye.
 
I know how you feel Brandy. I have always made a joke about Fraggles and her kitty love but Frags will never be exposed to a cat again. Same goes for Muppet. In fact we need to find a new bun sitter as the current sitter has cats. I spent most of the night with Basil last night and will NOT risk my girls suffering threw that. I did have some left over tramadol from Muppet's last fiasco and gave him an 8th of a tab which relaxed him and soothed his pain. I was so hoping we could get him to Seattle exotic but he passed around 6am.


Yes Hova is neutered and Ginger is spayed.
 
The one good thing in our case is that Victoria avoids the rabbits in general. Andre loves them and grooms, but when he plays he never touches the rabbits. They take turns chasing each other but if Gary suddenly stops and turns around then Andre runs away. I have never seen either of them bat, swipe, or bite at the rabbits.

I am thinking about getting the cats soft paws though so there couldn't be an accident. I don't really see seperating them as a viable option.
 
Is this a problem with declawed cats? My boyfriend loves cats and I (obviously) love rabbits, so I guess we'll have to work something out...
 
I_heart_Fraggles wrote:
two year old male cat who had never been aggressive attacked Basil. The attack lasted all of 1 minute with a scratch to Basil's nose, a mild bite mark on his ear that did not puncture and a mild scratch just under his left eye.
Click to expand...

What a sad story :(. What strikes me and should serve as warning, is that there was no prior warning or hint of aggression AND the attack occurred so suddenly and quickly. I can certainly understand how anyone with a cat and rabbit would have justified concerns now.


 
Cats carry lots of dangerous bacteria:yuck (no offense to cat owners)

But pregnant women are advised to not clean cat boxes.

My friend broke up a scuffle between her two cats and accidentally got bit and clawed. Again, didn't even look that serious! She treated the cuts at home and went on her way.

She ended up in the hospital and almost lost her hand due to infection. No joke!!
I am so sorry to hear about this prescious bun :( but this is a great reminder that it is important to careful around cats!
 
So sad. :( I have 2 cats, both declawed, but only my youngest cat is allowed near Weston. They're about the same size and i'm always right there with them. My oldest cat might do okay with him, but I don't want to risk it. He is around 20 pounds and has hunting tendancies.
 
Poor little bun :( Must have been a terrible shock to the family when the cat attacked...

We don't have cats, and never will due to this very reason (I know a few people who have had experiences similar to this). I'll never allow them to be exposed to cats as I've seen what the bites even do to people. A woman I work with grooms and she did a cat that bit her, it swelled up and was horrible looking for days.
 
OMG what a horrible sad story. Like others I worked with someone who's cat attacked her, she got so badly infected.

I'm glad i'mallergic to cats (mysister and niece are deathly allergic, throat swells) so I will never have a cat in my dwelling. Just have to make sure any man I date does not have cats.

Rest In Peace Basil.:rainbow:

Susan:cry4:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top