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Cat/Feral Cat Warning re Rabbits

honeybunny

Wise Old Thumper
After the fox warning threads feel I have to post this
and please cat owners don't think I'm getting at you

We have had 3 seperate incidences on the last 11 weeks of cats killing pet rabbits.
One was a pet cat who attacked and bit a very gorgeous ex Honeybunny and despite vet attention the rabbit died:cry:

Next was someone who saw a large cat chasing their rabbits..and it ran off with one..the bun was a nethie..body never found

and last night I went to meet a family who wanted advice as a cat, they think feral as have seen a few where they live, had killed one of their rabbits 2 days ago. They managed to retrieve the body to bury but wanted advice re more security for their remaining bun and maybe a new partner.

Please don't think cats won't take on a rabbit, they will. and even if they don't kill it, cat bites are awful, filled with bacteria which quickly spreads around the body.

So while you are being vigilant re foxes, please also think cat
 
Yes, they are definitely capable of taking a small rabbit. And they can get into houses even more easily than foxes.

Sorry to hear about all the bunnies that got killed. :(
 
That's terrible :(
I've never really thought about cats being a problem.. the only cats in my garden are my own, and they're big wimps! They're fine with my rabbits but don't like them getting too close. My bridge bunny Widget (a nethie) used to chase Napoleon (big old ginger tom) round the garden. :oops:
 
Cat bites/scratches are awful. They cause nasty abscesses/infections in rabbits, and are often fatal. Even my vet was hospitalized recently due to blood poisoning from a cat bite :shock:

I always put my smaller rabbits in cat-proof runs, because I've seen some of the local cats looking a bit too interested in my wildies, Colin the nethie and the little dutch girls I hand-reared.
 
I've always been wary of cats, I don't have any so my buns aren't used to them. Just seeing them can sometimes spook them. Unfortunately we've moved to a place where there is a lot of them around. We've had to attach string tied around nails around the top of our fence to stop them from jumping up and into the garden. We don't want to harm the cats, just stop them coming into the garden.

So sorry for the buns who have been killed and their families.:cry:
 
Stes mom cat hunts the wild buns :(:(

ive had a cat sit on my window ledge watching the chippies :shock::shock:
 
How awful, it's bad enough for birds when a cat catches them, the problem being they don't have the ability to make a kill as such the prey suffer a long drawn out death. I wouldn't trust a cat either unless as some of the members on here, if the cat has been brought up around rabbits from a kitten they kind of know it's not allowed.
 
How very sad. :(:(

Skye is scared of Alfie, luckily, but we have lots of cats locally and I know that a few of them are very keen on the wildies from the field behind so I am constantly on the lookout.

Cat bites are incredibly nasty - a dh's friend's wife recently ended up in hospital (and still has a deep hole in her arm) after being bitten by a cat. :(
 
Thats terrible.

I let mine free range on our garden all evening and next door have cats. So far they have never come over onto our garden but I am not sure what I should do really.

I dont want to confine my bunnies to a run, but I cant be out with them all night. They all love their free range time so much I think its worth the risk.
 
I've had issues with my neighbours cat lately. I heard the chickens clucking really loud the other day and there was this cat, chasing them around the garden. It takes a brave cat to take on my cockeral, I can tell you! :roll: I've also had to ditch my movable run as the cat would get on the top or run round the edges chasing the buns about. :(

Luckily, I just seem to have issues with the one cat. A bit of a miracle really seeing as my three neighbours now have 12 cats between them. I still feel like I'm forever on guard duty though. :(
 
They all love their free range time so much I think its worth the risk.

But that's probably what the owners of the poor bunnies in the first post thought too. :(:(

Unless you're there all the time, there's no way of knowing whether they've ever come into the garden. In all the time I've been out with the buns while freeranging, I've only ever had a cat come into the garden twice but I scared them straight off. That's still two times too many though.
 
But that's probably what the owners of the poor bunnies in the first post thought too. :(:(

Unless you're there all the time, there's no way of knowing whether they've ever come into the garden. In all the time I've been out with the buns while freeranging, I've only ever had a cat come into the garden twice but I scared them straight off. That's still two times too many though.

Unfortunately I work full time and have planning and marking to do in an evening so cant be outside with the buns all night. I also have 3 single buns so for them all to have time free ranging I would need to be out for at least 3 hours.

I know there is a risk and I do check on them regularly and can see them from the window.
 
All the work Caroline at the Rabbit Residence is having done to make her enclosures more secure is because of a cat, not a fox. It's so sad. She literally has spent so much money on various ways to deter them or keep them out and they still get in. The bunnies used to be able to free range in their pens but now have to be shut up unless someone's there.:cry:
 
Jeez, I thought it was unusual about Pie and the fox but now feral cats...So glad I keep house buns!
 
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