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Rabbit Charging Cats

Ratvan

Warren Scout
Hi All,

So I have Knox who is a monochromatic (black and white) Dwarf Lop/Lion head mix, he is a house bunny. But does have access to a supervised outside area. We got Knox probably 4 months ago now, rescued from a National Pet Chain store here in the UK. Now he was up for adoption rather than sale due to "aggression issues" so we took him home.

I also have two indoor Domestic Cats, one (Gable) shows no interest at all and has pretty much stayed off the floor since we have bought Knox home, the issue is with our Female (Blossom). Knox will Charge at her with ears raised and get right up in her face. Obviously the cat does not appreciate this and Knox gets a fair few smacks from Blossom. She then stalks off, this interests Knox and the cycle repeats. NO blood has yet been spilt, she hits him with paws not claws. So far.

HOWEVER, he does not always charge her. When he approaches slowly they eventually snuggle down together (and Knox does that Flop) and I find them sleeping together all around the house (mainly in one of the cat beds)

So what exactly is it that Knox is doing when he charges? Is there anything that I can do to settle this behaviour? Is this a form of aggression and that is why he was not for sale?

Hope someone has an insight.

Thanks

Matt
 
Hi All,

So I have Knox who is a monochromatic (black and white) Dwarf Lop/Lion head mix, he is a house bunny. But does have access to a supervised outside area. We got Knox probably 4 months ago now, rescued from a National Pet Chain store here in the UK. Now he was up for adoption rather than sale due to "aggression issues" so we took him home.

I also have two indoor Domestic Cats, one (Gable) shows no interest at all and has pretty much stayed off the floor since we have bought Knox home, the issue is with our Female (Blossom). Knox will Charge at her with ears raised and get right up in her face. Obviously the cat does not appreciate this and Knox gets a fair few smacks from Blossom. She then stalks off, this interests Knox and the cycle repeats. NO blood has yet been spilt, she hits him with paws not claws. So far.

HOWEVER, he does not always charge her. When he approaches slowly they eventually snuggle down together (and Knox does that Flop) and I find them sleeping together all around the house (mainly in one of the cat beds)

So what exactly is it that Knox is doing when he charges? Is there anything that I can do to settle this behaviour? Is this a form of aggression and that is why he was not for sale?

Hope someone has an insight.

Thanks

Matt

Is Knox neutered ?

Personally I dont think it's a good idea to allow close interaction between a prey species (Rabbit) and a predator (Cat). It seems as though it is only a matter of time before the claws come out. Rabbits do need companionship, that of their own kind.

Did the Pet store advise you of the importance of getting Knox Vaccinated ( as well as neutered) ?

Information about vaccinations can be found here :

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?472636-Vaccinations-2019&p=7041560#post7041560

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund is also a great source of information regarding Rabbits :

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/
 
Is Knox neutered ?

Personally I dont think it's a good idea to allow close interaction between a prey species (Rabbit) and a predator (Cat). It seems as though it is only a matter of time before the claws come out. Rabbits do need companionship, that of their own kind.

Did the Pet store advise you of the importance of getting Knox Vaccinated ( as well as neutered) ?

Information about vaccinations can be found here :

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?472636-Vaccinations-2019&p=7041560#post7041560

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund is also a great source of information regarding Rabbits :

https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/

No he is not Neutered. Long story there. The short version is we got a voucher for free neutering when we collected him, we booked him in when he was approximately 6 months old. Knox does not like to be held, at all. Due to this the vet wouldn't neuter due to the bunny not being "tame" enough. We have since called back and asked to book him back in but the voucher is no longer valid and the costs are £150.00. Not happy as this is one of the better vets for Rabbits in the area.

All up to date on the vaccinations, same deal as with neutering. Just the vet actually did his job this time (I would love to change vets honestly but there isn't a decent one that specialises in Rabbits and Exotic Pets - hence why i am with him still) I have so many issues with this man and his "Facts" never an opinion

I do have other pets that Knox goes nowhere near, the cats are probably the lesser evil in my house
 
Welcome to the forum! :) I used to live in Leeds until recently, and I worked in a vets which accepted the vouchers from the pet store I think you adopted Knox from. I'm shocked the vet wouldn't neuter him due to not being 'tame' enough, I understand nervousness can be made worse in dogs/cats through early neutering but as far as I'm aware this isn't the case for rabbits as they are a prey species and therefore being held is usually very frightening for them. I would contact the vets and request to speak to the manager or politely put in writing that you tried to book Knox in for his neuter but was turned away and now the voucher is invalid, certainly at the branch I worked at we would often honour out of date vouchers if there was a reason out of the owners control for not booking them in time.
 
:wave: Hi Liz, where are you in East Yorkshire now? I was originally born in Portsmouth so the East Yorkshire Coast is one of my favourite spots. Also where I do a lot of collecting for my other pets. (Marine fish)

I have had a number of arguments with this particular vet. He is Rabbit Friendly but a "specialist" in Exotic Animals and Fish. We have fallen out over my snakes, lizards, Frogs, Fish (fresh, Brackish and Marine) in most cases I prefer to treat myself rather than take any of them to this guy. Basically he wants to put everything down. I have a couple of legal actions against him currently for legal negligence since I have lost a number of healthy animals in his "care".

I really do need to find someone else. Or try another branch that will accept those vouchers
 
I am near Hull in East Yorkshire at the moment :) Not sure what area of Leeds you're in, but I can recommend Holly House Vets in Moor Allerton and Abbey House Vets in Morley if those are anywhere near you? For general rabbit savvy knowledge, the voucher of course needs to be one of the chosen vets. Although with Abbey House it does depend of which vet you see, but there is one who holds the silver rabbit friendly award from the rabbit welfare association and fund.

I'm sorry you're having difficulties with your vet with your exotics.
 
I'm Guiseley. So neither of those are particularly far away.
My vets for my snakes are in Hartlepool so I don't mind travelling for a decent treatment
Thank you for those recommendations I think i'll try and speak to either of those and see if i can get him Neutered.
 
Not sure why you were quoted £150 as that seems really high. I had Benjamin neutered last week by a vet at my local Pets at Home and it was seventy pounds something - can't remember exactly what - and I thought that was bad enough!! It did include a pre op and post op check as well as a small bottle of Metacam.
 
Not sure why you were quoted £150 as that seems really high. I had Benjamin neutered last week by a vet at my local Pets at Home and it was seventy pounds something - can't remember exactly what - and I thought that was bad enough!! It did include a pre op and post op check as well as a small bottle of Metacam.
Pets at home is cheap for neutering though, whether your branch is rabbit savvy is hit and miss too, mine isn't. My vet charges a lot more for neutering and vaccinations tbh in comparison, but obviously I go there because rabbit savvy. I got the free neutering voucher for my two white buns they were in pets at homes adoption centre, but I wanted my vet to do them [emoji38] if your vets4pets is rabbit savvy though, that'd be amazing they're cheaper all round for the same service :D

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk
 
Hi All,

So I have Knox who is a monochromatic (black and white) Dwarf Lop/Lion head mix, he is a house bunny. But does have access to a supervised outside area. We got Knox probably 4 months ago now, rescued from a National Pet Chain store here in the UK. Now he was up for adoption rather than sale due to "aggression issues" so we took him home.

I also have two indoor Domestic Cats, one (Gable) shows no interest at all and has pretty much stayed off the floor since we have bought Knox home, the issue is with our Female (Blossom). Knox will Charge at her with ears raised and get right up in her face. Obviously the cat does not appreciate this and Knox gets a fair few smacks from Blossom. She then stalks off, this interests Knox and the cycle repeats. NO blood has yet been spilt, she hits him with paws not claws. So far.

HOWEVER, he does not always charge her. When he approaches slowly they eventually snuggle down together (and Knox does that Flop) and I find them sleeping together all around the house (mainly in one of the cat beds)

So what exactly is it that Knox is doing when he charges? Is there anything that I can do to settle this behaviour? Is this a form of aggression and that is why he was not for sale?

Hope someone has an insight.

Thanks

Matt
dear ratvan.--just for thought,-rabbits have concentric vision,-can see 360*,however there is a blind spot directly between their eyes,and being prey bunz they are very protective of it..what happens when knox is confronted with a mirror.??-the feline will grow tired of his behavior and gracefully move aside,until he calms down--but keep a supervised eye on their behavior,no blood letting..as a thought do your cats enjoy cat nip,-that might calm everyone down..--sincerely james waller from the other kent -usa
 
I agree with the points raised by the others, I think neutering should help, The vet delaying for those tactics is very odd imo and I’ve not heard that kind of reason before. Also I think £150 for a male rabbit neuter is expensive.

I also personally wouldn’t mix prey and predator species together, especially unsupervised. Sadly, even though you may think that an animal wouldn’t harm another, when you aren’t there to intervene, and instinct kicks in, the reality can be very tragically different :cry:

Is Knox eyesight ok?
 
Oh he is away from the cats when no one is around. My mother in law is practically attached to the sofa and we have a baby gate that the cats can jump and the bunny cannot so they have a refuge.

Yeah eyesight is fine, he has a particular box lid that he loves to throw around. We play hide and seek with that in other boxes, under stacks of cardboard tubes. I used to play warhammer 40k for 20+ years so cardboard building skills are decent. We're also clicker training through the toilet rolls for treats.

Interestingly I lay down this evening while he was cleaning himself and he rushed me and proceeded to lick the entirety of skin on my face, nibble my facial hair and then flop down asleep next to me. What usually happens with blossom is he rushes, she flinched and hisses, walks away, he charges, she howls, he freezes. If he rushes again he gets several firm Pat's. If he goes in slowly she cleans him back. Then they both nap either in the cat bed or cat barrel
 
Perhaps neutering would help, but maybe not. We have three rabbits and a cat; they normally ignore each other but I have seen Harvey rabbit getting annoyed with the cat (she was watching him too intently) and chasing her, obviously enjoying it (he jumped in the air and did a binky in the middle of it). Having said this, there has never been any fight or sign of aggression and the chase is not serious and only lasts a few seconds. The aim, as far as I can tell, seems to be just to make a point and establish an order.
 
Well spent the weekend playing with the Bunny, we used some of the toys that are on here before but I made some Rummage boxes and wrapped some herbs and hay in paper balls and he had a blast.
We also picked up some more of the "intelligent" toys which he loves
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It seems that he was much more chilled out around 6pm (when this typically happens) and didn't seem to charge the cats quite as much, he approached gently which this one is much happier with
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Better friends now
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I maybe able to get a hold of some rolls of turf from work. Would I be able to fit these into containers and rotate them so Knox has access to fresh and growing grass? I'd leave outside for a period of time (a month) to allow for any pesticides that reside within to be washed away. Any other concerns that I have not thought of?
 
Well things are definitely better with the Cats and Knox. We have been playing with the Bunny a lot more than usual and have got some "Brain Toys" and other enrichment items. Seems a lot happier and calmer, have also repalced some items within his hutch which seems to make him happier (I made a little wooden hut for him instead of the plastic shelf)
 
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