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Devil Cat/Bilbo has a limp/Adviced on roofed runs please

Fifibutton

Wise Old Thumper
A Norwegian Forest cat, a notorious character in my village, the size of a terrier or bigger and with the traits of a beast was attacked today by one of my rabbits :shock:

We let out bunnies out for supervised play this evening, At one point we had our backs turned to the patio where the rabbits play surrounded by a 70m high metal fence on slabs (no roof though) to watch my son go down his slide when we heard some sort of rumpus. I turned round to see Bilbo chasing this huge beast of a cat off having bitten it's ear and drawn blood in the process :shock::shock: The cat was easily 5 times the size of Bilbo who was protecting his wifey bun Maise. I was terrified but we got a taxi to the vet and both buns were deemed fine,although they had higher heart rates than normal as can be expected. They are being monitored for extended shock symptoms but outwardly seem to have returned to normal.

We are now going to buy a metal run with a roof as this cat might try his luck again. He is a horrible unneutered tom and there have been numerous complaints about his behaviour but the owners don't care. I had to chase him out of the garden with a broom but he didn't seem fazed by me and wanted to go back to the rabbits. Basically he has ruined my garden for me, he hissed at my little boy too. I know this is a touchy subject but this incident has put me off cats even more and I hate roaming cats, they really do ruin it for people with gardens, small pets and wildlife. We have some rare frogs, birds and rodents up here that are constantly killed by cats :(

All I can say is in my 11 years of rabbit keeping and supervised playtime, nothing like this has ever happened before. I am taking it as a warning though. Supervised is not good enough anymore. That cat leapt my fence in one leap so its got to be a roofed run from now on. That means the rabbits get a smaller play area now :evil: But I can't compromise on safety. Keep an extra eye on your bunnies everyone because it can all be over too quickly and tragically and not just from cats. Foxes and birds of prey can be just as brazen in some cases.
 
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Bilbo has a limp this morning so its back to the vets we go. There is no obvious wound and he is eating and pooing ok just his front leg seems to be tender.

I'm not taking any chances though, we are getting two of these at least in order to create safe conditions.
 
Do you think you may be better off with wooden runs, which I always feel are more stable - particularly if a cat is likely to jump on them? Just a thought.
 
Do you think you may be better off with wooden runs, which I always feel are more stable - particularly if a cat is likely to jump on them? Just a thought.

Potentially I suppose. The run we have just now has no roof whatsoever which is how the cat got in but we always thought so long as an adult was out with the buns it would be fine.


Does anyone else use these metal runs? If so are they any good or are wooden framed ones better? My two concerns with wood are chewing and weather durability.
 
Well we are back from the vet and it seems the emergency vet missed a few things as did I. Bilbo does have a small cut at the back of the neck which is restricting his head movements. It should heal fairly quickly and he has been given a shot of baytril for potential infection. The vet reckons the cat did what all cats do apparently and tried to strangle Bilbo with its paws, like a headlock. OH said when he saw the scuffle that the cat did have an arm under Bilbo's neck. Bilbo gave as good as he got though. His limp is due to bruising in general down that side, the cat may have thrashed him about a bit or sat on him. He also had a splinter in his toe and some cat skin under his claws :mrgreen: So he has come away with more baytril and metacam. He is a bit glum although his wife seems to find him more attractive than usual :lol: So he should be ok and back to his cheery self in a few days.

The vet was very proud of him too for protecting his wife and sustaining injuries in the process. I think I will call him Bilbo the valiant from now on.
 
Potentially I suppose. The run we have just now has no roof whatsoever which is how the cat got in but we always thought so long as an adult was out with the buns it would be fine.


Does anyone else use these metal runs? If so are they any good or are wooden framed ones better? My two concerns with wood are chewing and weather durability.


Elmoandfern has a lovely wooden run from the Welfare Hutch Company (see her post 13/5 for pics).

You would obviously need to paint it to protect from the elements but the wire netting on the inside should prevent bunnies chewing.

It's a very good size: 10 x 6 x 3ft tall (which is, I'm sure, taller than the metal ones - and they need height to be able to stand up on hind legs etc). I would always go for wood as I consider they are much more stable and bunnies do not need to be supervised.
 
Wow that is an amazing run :D

I'm not sure if I'd be allowed to have that as I rent my property but the size is fantastic. Our patio is 8m by 3m so thats what the rabbits are used to and I really want to ensure they can keep using that space more safely. I have though of creating a metal frame as well and wrapping strong mesh around it but I just don't know what is the best solution.
 
The only trouble I can see with the metal run is that a cat could easily get a paw through the bars. I would prefer a wooden run with smaller mesh. I'm so glad your bunnies are OK, poor wee things. I've seriously considered an electric fence before now (run off a small battery - not the mains - before anyone has a hissy fit). It's such a shame you can't enjoy your own garden. Makes me so mad :censored:.
 
There were things at the pet show wooden rollers that you fit to the top of your fence angled to stop the cat jumping in the garden, or a mesh 45 degrees facing away from your garden about 12 to 20 I chew long doesn't need to be heavy just visible from the ground and the cat should think again about jumping in, might be an idea save boxing in your buns and will make the garden safer for you as well :?

Just found this http://www.protectapuss.co.uk/garden-barriers/ maybe speak to your neighbours make sure you can fit it facing I to their gardens?
 
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