City of IF

scissorkitty

Boo, sad news this morning. Last night my dad's pet rabbit, Gonzo, went nuts- biting, snarling, kicking... - attacked my dad and had to be put down. Quite a sad thing, as the little fellow was my dad's best pal. I've never heard of such a thing happening- any ideas as to what went wrong??

Reiso · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:04 pm Post subject:

Aside from something like rabies (which the rabbit's remains should immediately be tested for to protect your dad), I've not heard of a rabbit just going berserk like that before. But I've only had two rabbits before, and both of their lives were cut short through other circumstances. I've had a cat go feral on me before, but she was very abused by her previous owner as a kitten, and was never quite right after that, despite my best efforts. Nowadays all my cats are indoor cats, and they live much happier and longer lives. Anyway, there was nothing sudden about her transition, she just gradually got worse and worse, so the bunny thing is quite bizarre.

scissorkitty · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject:

Thanks anyway, Reiso. You know, I talked to my mom, and she hinted that the bunny had been "strange" for a while.. so maybe it was something like going feral. He wasn't a "new" bunny when my dad got him- he came from a family with small children who eventually just couldn't take care of him anymore. Maybe something happened and it all just caught up with him at the end?

Crunchyfrog · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 3998

Not really being a bunny person myself I know someone who did have one, and they said if the bunny was spooked by something either recently or in the past, that kind of behaviour towards a human can arise from resulting fear - either towards a specific person or just to humans in general.

Chinaren · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject:

I had one once, it was delicious.

Reiso · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 9:36 pm Post subject:

Chinaren wrote: I had one once, it was delicious.

So you're the neighbor across the street who had my outdoor lop-eared white bunny that Thanksgiving he disappeared. True story, actually (not the Chinaren part, but the Thanksgiving part).

The White Blacksmith · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 2629

No. I had a hamster once.

TruePurple · Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 256

I haven't had much experience with rabbits, didn't even know they could snarl. I wonder what a rabbit snarl sounds like.

But I have had experience with cats, both domestic and "feral". As far as I know cats raised up by humans never grow out of their childhood. Where as cats that have to survive on their own have instincts that kick in come adulthood that make them too fearful to usually ever tolerate a human touch or anything.

But feral doesn't mean violent. At least not the way I am using the word. Cats usually avoid physical conflict when ever possible unless desperate, especially with creatures larger then themselves, with some exceptions like particular cats (they have personalities & individuality) cat on cat conflict regarding territories & mates, and I guess certain breeds can be more brave.(like simese cats I hear) That is why a cat will usually run from a dog, usually larger and too noisy. A dog chases because it's instinct is to chase things that seem to run from it (which is why you shouldn't run from a aggressive dog unless you have a real chance of escaping, you will just work the dog up into a even more aggressive state, and why dogs will sometimes chase cars)

Anyway back to rabbits. As I am sure you know, rabbits are herbivores. And alot of animals hunt them. This means there base instincts are all fear. Unlike deer & some other herbivores, they don't have much for weapons either-just their teeth which are not really designed for attack. So a confrontational rabbit is a oddity indeed. So odd that my first guess would be rabies. Though that disease is very rare now and especially unlikely in a animal that had been inside most of it's life. Second guess would be some other disease that effects the mind, one that acts slowly. Only other possibility I can think of is the rabbit was abused, probably by kids (but not limited to that) & that it interpreted something done recently to it, maybe something done over the course of time, as more abuse (even if it wasn't, post traumatic stress disorder like)

For $50 bucks the local university in my area will test a dead animal for any disease etc. and incinerate it's body for you too. Not sure if you have anything like that in your area, but if you really wanted to know if it was disease...

Reiso · Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 12:21 pm Post subject:

TruePurple wrote: That is why a cat will usually run from a dog, usually larger and too noisy.

Obviously that is usually the case, but I am reminded of a couple pets of mine from a few years back. I had a Calico named Luna (Moon in... what is it, Latin? Gaelic? I've blanked), and a very huge Siberian Husky named Brisa (Spanish for breeze). Luna was very tiny, about as small as adult females can be, but she was there first, and everyone and everything there was hers first. She was Alpha female, and this is back when I let my cats go outside too, so even the yard was hers. She was normally quite docile and friendly, but after I got Brisa, she would very frequently chase the large dog all over the yard. Nothing bad ever came of it, but I can't even begin to put into words how funny it was to see this fuzzy little football chasing after what is essentially a sled dog... crazy funny.

-Random Unsolicited Anecdote Dept.

TruePurple · Joined: 18 Sep 2008 Posts: 256

Well we once had this 'love bird' we got when it flew onto a windowsill and we captured her. Named her Shacoo. Man this bird had attitude. Would chew herself free of her cage and pull on the small hairs on your neck.

One day my sister smuggled home a reasonably big, not quit fully grown but nearly, adolecent male cat from a relatives farm who was giving them away (but mom had told her no)

Shacoo chased that poor cat around the house by foot.(since she would escape her cage, but her wings were trimed, so she scuttled around on the ground as fast as her little legs would take her) I remember her sneaking up on the cat and bitting him from behind, he sure did jump. She had that poor cat so traumatized, I think he spent alot of time hiding from that bird till we could return him.

For those of you don't know, 'love birds' are about 5-6 inches tall and rather slender. Very small birds indeed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebird

@Reiso
While cat's tend to be afraid of anything bigger then them, dogs are pack animals that are instinctually use to taking down animals larger then themselves with help of their pack. So it is easier to imagine a small dog chasing after something large, especially when it is in a surroundings where it feels at home, part of its pack.(the humans become the pack to it, making it feel secure enough to be that brave & feelings of territoriality cause it to act on that bravery)

The White Blacksmith · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 2629

From my experience of dogs, I would say that (inside, at least) cats have the advatage unless the dogs are in packs. Dogs' noses are very sensitive and it is very easy for a cat to scratch the dog's nose, as they can jump higher and have sharper claws. Outside, the cats don't tend to fight as their can easily get too high for the dog to chase (unless it is a jack russell or similar jumpy breed).

:off:

scissorkitty · Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 5:22 pm Post subject:

I would LOVE to see a bird chase a cat around by foot. THAT'S delicious, Looney-Tunes Sylvestre and Tweety Bird style humour, right there!

Thanks for the ideas, guys. I think it must have been some sort of disease or brain infection, really. My dad is like Dr.Do-little to animals. I don't think he's EVER been bitten. He's just.. i don't know.. like a horse whisperer or something! :P