Tom has rabbits too!

Along with Tom I have four rabbits. These are rescues and I have had rabbits for at least 15 years. I do not let Tom mingle with the rabbits for safety sake. Rabbits safety that is. I have volunteered in rabbit sanctuaries and have some knowledge about rabbit health.  

aww, I love rabbits!! Photos!!

I posted some photos but 't know where they went!!

I love bunnies too!! I've had them in the past but I don't think it would be a good idea with 3 cats and a dog. 

I know of many people who have dogs and cats and rabbits. But I would not do it unless you can be sure they are separated all the time.

I could use some rabbit advice.  Would you mind if I sent you a pm?

Yes! Please do.

I had a rabbit when I was a child, it was very well with my cats !!

But sometimes the cats was playing a little too hard with him

I know of many instances where cats and rabbits mix. When I worked at a rabbit sanctuary there was a kitten that chased the young bunnies constantly.

However as most people know there is some sort of toxin in a cat's claw that can cause infection even to humans. If a cat breaks the skin of a rabbit that toxin can kill the rabbit within 24 hours. There will be no symptoms, the rabbit will just die.

yes it is true that one must be careful!

Its Tom the Cat said:

I know of many instances where cats and rabbits mix. When I worked at a rabbit sanctuary there was a kitten that chased the young bunnies constantly.
However as most people know there is some sort of toxin in a cat's claw that can cause infection even to humans. If a cat breaks the skin of a rabbit that toxin can kill the rabbit within 24 hours. There will be no symptoms, the rabbit will just die.

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This is not true at all.
Cat claws do not "contain a toxin." They could, in the case of a stray or feral (or even outdoor pet cat) have rotten flesh of something they killed. Which could have bacteria that would cause infection. But, since cats tend to groom so well, the more likely scenario is bacteria from saliva transferred to the paws/claws that cause an infection. All animals and people have saliva just full of bacteria.

The thing with a cat bite or scratch is that most of the time it doesn't really bleed much, sometimes not at all. So then the bacteria from the mouth or paw is stuck in the wound and can more easily lead to infection.

If a dog or child or anything else bites or scratches, but the wound doesn't bleed, same thing happens.

With rabbits, the skin is pretty thin and easily punctured without much effort from the cat. So if they play too rough and the cat accidently scratches it is important to clean this area very well. If left unattended or undetected, and it becomes infected, some rabbits may die before showing symptoms as that is part of their biology....weak prey gets eaten. Others may become lethargic and not eat, but a rabbit showing these symptoms is already pretty far gone and hard to save.

Many cats and rabbits get along just fine and are best buds. Best thing is to match sizes, or even the rabbit being larger than the cat. Mine...is about half the size of my cat, and fearless, but they also do not get unsupervised play!

I agree with kkoerner cats do not have poisonous claws but it isn't uncommon for people to think so.

There you go. Proof positive that everything you read on the Internet is not always true. Maybe toxins was the wrong word and I should have said bacteria. Cat scratch disease! I based my statement on many years working in a rabbit sanctuary. The vets and vet techs specialized in exotics and anytime we adopted out a rabbit one of the first questions was  "is there cat in the household". If the adopter said yes they were told that cats can injure rabbits especially from scratches and to be cautious.

Cats claws do not contain anything poison but have dirt from litter boxes, scratching from fleas and germs from vermin they may have caught.

Nevertheless I would keep my cat away from my rabbits and have done so in the past.

As a follow up I searched the House Rabbit Society and Rabbits online web sites and they both state that a rabbit can die from a cat scratch. If you Google the topic you will see many answers. But do remember you cannot trust everything you read on line. 

Its Tom the Cat said:

There you go. Proof positive that everything you read on the Internet is not always true. Maybe toxins was the wrong word and I should have said bacteria. Cat scratch disease! I based my statement on many years working in a rabbit sanctuary. The vets and vet techs specialized in exotics and anytime we adopted out a rabbit one of the first questions was  "is there cat in the household". If the adopter said yes they were told that cats can injure rabbits especially from scratches and to be cautious.
Cats claws do not contain anything poison but have dirt from litter boxes, scratching from fleas and germs from vermin they may have caught.
Nevertheless I would keep my cat away from my rabbits and have done so in the past.

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Its Tom the Cat said:

As a follow up I searched the House Rabbit Society and Rabbits online web sites and they both state that a rabbit can die from a cat scratch. If you Google the topic you will see many answers. But do remember you cannot trust everything you read on line. 

Click to expand...

Right, as I said...they CAN die from a cat scratch for sure! And being very careful is always the best pratice.
It's just that they don't die from a poison (which you already corrected), and it may not be 24 hours with no symptoms, but that even if they do show symptoms, it's most likely already too late as rabbits, and most prey animals, are notorious for hiding symptoms to prevent showing weakness and being eaten. It's just their nature.
This even includes simple colds. While they do show early symptoms, like crusty paws, signs that they are feeling sick don't happen until they are close to death. Any time you have a rabbit not eating, lethargic, etc... it's already an emergency!

As far as "cat scratch disease" goes...that is caused by the bacteria in the saliva. In fact, a person can get this if they have an open wound and are licked by a cat, not just a scratch, and it gets infected.

Rabbits, again, are susceptible to not only being scratched but also death from it (like you said, as did I!) Not because they are more susceptible to that bacteria but just because they have thin, easily scratched skin, and then hide their symptoms so it is too late by the time someone realizes the issue.

My information/knowledge comes from 10 years of raising/showing rabbits (though before I was solely responsible for my rabbits, I worked with them with my mother and have had at least 1, but usually more, rabbits as pets for 25 years). I also have a degree in Animal Biology and work in the Animal Welfare field. So, I'm not posting as a "Google master" or just a rabbit pet parent know it all. LOL as I know you aren't either.

I would love to see your bunny pics by the way, if you ever figure how to add them. Rabbits do happen to be my first favorite animal...and now cats get to share that spot as well!

Bottom line "better safe than sorry". And if I ever get back into the rabbit adoption work (which I hope I never do) I will still advise caution.

If the answer was always just "better safe than sorry" without doing any research into a "why" we should or shouldn't do something, we'd never learn anything new.

While I do agree that in this case, it may be better to be safe (keep them apart) than sorry (dead rabbit) I do not think that is the only two scenarios here. After all, supervised interaction, even with cat on a harness, could work....but that's all up to the pet parents and really not the issue here.

So no....bottom line is, here are the facts: rabbits can die from a cat scratch resulting in infection. You may not know it happened, it may be small, and they likely won't show symptoms until it is too late. Many cats and rabbits make great pals. However, even great pals could play too rough or have an accident. In the end, safeest is to keep separate or at least have supervised interaction with your cat on a harness and lead just in case. In other words, be careful.

I'm not sure why you hope to never "get back in the rabbit adoption work" but I don't think you have to work in rabbit adoptions to want to educate others on rabbit (or any animal) care, if there is a need. Many find animal information fascinating...especially those who come to a forum full of animal information!