I Bought A Rabbit...

[Saf]

Frozen, of course. The whole thing, fur and everything. But I'm not sure what do with it. I got them some one day old chicks in the same order and Sawyer and Freckles got one each today, and they went down very well. But what should I do with the rabbit? Thaw it out over night then present them with it one morning and hope they figure out what to do, or should I cut it in half to give them a starting point? They're mainly eating commercial raw food, which I trust the quality of and I'm some way off having the confidence to start doing homemade, but I want to give them some kind of whole prey a couple of times a week or so to add variation and the other benefits it brings - pinky mice and chicks is quite straightforward but have I literally asked them to bite off more than they can chew with a whole rabbit?

 

[orange&white]

I would probably at minimum cut it in half. My senior cat can't even figure out what to do with an uncut chicken wing tip. I have to smash bones for him. My kitten would probably be happy and able to gnaw on half a rabbit, including the bones...after she carried it all over the house and pounced on it a few times.

Personally, I would cut pieces that are "meal sized" and freeze extra in baggies. Kitten could get bigger chunks with bone, while senior would still have to have his food cut/chopped/smashed up for him.

So...depends on your cats.

 

[Saf]

I guess as it's frozen I can't really thaw it out to cut it up and refreeze it now. I weighed it earlier. Only 350kg, so kind of a day's meal between them. I think I'll probably chance just laying it out in front of them one morning. I think Sawyer will know what to do, as he did when I gave him the chick - I had to cut it in half for Freckles before she understood it was actually food and not a new toy. I'll intervene if they're struggling. I'm actually a vegetarian, although somewhat lapsed of late, and I felt sorry for the little rabbit and the chicks that they hadn't had more of a life, and that they had just been bred to be food, although if I were a rabbit I'd rather be eaten by a cat than a snake - I got them from a reptile food supplier.

 

[Saf]

So this was how it went. I defrosted the rabbit out overnight and laid it out on the floor where they usually eat and, and, as I expected, my boy Sawyer was straight on the case. He picked it up and was swinging it around all over the place, tossing it across the room like he was trying to finish off a rabbit that was still struggling. The boy's got good instincts. And when he was satisfied he'd killed off the already dead rabbit, he started munching on its ears and ate then. Then he went all Navajo, scalped it and ate that. That's my boy, I thought. But then his youth caught up with him and try as he might, he couldn't crack open its skull and get at the brains so he left it alone a feeling a bit deflated I think. Then Freckles had a go, she tried to break through the hide but I could see it was too much for her so I decided to intervene. I thought the best thing to do was to cut it in half with a bread knife, which I proceeded to do. Being a vegetarian, my butchery skills are pretty limited as I obviously picked a bad place to cut from as a load rabbit poo came pouring out of it. They both took one sniff and walked away and wouldn't go near it again. Not even when I flushed all the offal down the toilet and skinned it and put one half each in their food bowls. I'm gonna leave it out for the foxes tonight I think and from now on I'll stick to one day old chicks and pinky mice till they're a bit older.

 

[orange&white]

So this was how it went. I defrosted the rabbit out overnight and laid it out on the floor where they usually eat and, and, as I expected, my boy Sawyer was straight on the case. He picked it up and was swinging it around all over the place, tossing it across the room like he was trying to finish off a rabbit that was still struggling. The boy's got good instincts. .

That's more fun than a puny old chicken gizzard: Gizzard Hunting Kitten

I thought the best thing to do was to cut it in half with a bread knife, which I proceeded to do. Being a vegetarian, my butchery skills are pretty limited as I obviously picked a bad place to cut from as a load rabbit poo came pouring out of it.

Only a vegetarian would try to butcher meat with a bread knife. No offense.

I'm gonna leave it out for the foxes tonight I think and from now on I'll stick to one day old chicks and pinky mice till they're a bit older.

Well then. It was a good try. The foxes will surely be happy.

 

[goingpostal]

You should skin and cut rabbit before offering and unless they are very small most of the bones are too dense for a cat. I buy whole ones and feed the head/bottom half to my dogs and the top half to my ferrets and cat. The ferrets will leave the spine but the cat can really only handle the ribs and maybe some arm bones but more for teeth cleaning. Small birds like quail or pigeon are good for bone in and have less guts, herbivores like rabbits/guinea pigs are loaded with poop.

 

[Saf]

That's more fun than a puny old chicken gizzard: Gizzard Hunting Kitten



Only a vegetarian would try to butcher meat with a bread knife. No offense.



Well then. It was a good try. The foxes will surely be happy.

You live and learn, who'd have thought a rabbit was basically full of s**t!

 

[orange&white]

You live and learn, who'd have thought a rabbit was basically full of s**t!

I know! They're supposed to be full of carrots!

 

[Saf]

You should skin and cut rabbit before offering and unless they are very small most of the bones are too dense for a cat. I buy whole ones and feed the head/bottom half to my dogs and the top half to my ferrets and cat. The ferrets will leave the spine but the cat can really only handle the ribs and maybe some arm bones but more for teeth cleaning. Small birds like quail or pigeon are good for bone in and have less guts, herbivores like rabbits/guinea pigs are loaded with poop.

I think Sawyer will manage it when he's an adult. I watched a couple videos on YouTube of cats eating rabbits and he knew what he was doing - it's encoded in his DNA. They go for the head first, crack it open, eat it then go into the body through the neck, munching on flesh and bones and then the organs, and when the poo starts flowing they move along and leave the back half for the flies or other scavengers, or maybe save it for later.

 

[Saf]

I checked this morning and sadly the flies got their first. At least they'll be some maggots to feed the birds along soon. A gave them a chick each this morning so they'd get over the dissapointed of the rabbit. One good thing about having two kittens quite different to each other is that they learn from one another. Freckles was chucking the chick all over the place having seen Sawyer with the rabbit. But she's not quite got the idea yet. He was slamming it on the ground, against the wall and against the fridge. She was slinging it all over the place, it ended up the water bowl, which I had to clean and replace of course, and she narrowly missed slinging it in the litter tray and twice she threw it in Sawyer's direction and I had get it off him and back to her. She out does him in a lot of ways though. Much more wary, which he's learnt from and she'll be the tougher cat out in the real world. They go outside side in a temporary enclosure at the moment and I'll let them out soon as they're vaccinated and neueterd now. It's a very safe cat area. One of her other brothers from next door was sitting in my garden earlier and she was giving him the evil eye from behind the chicken wire. And he won't be sitting there anymore when she gets out. The runt of the litter often ends up the toughest cat and I think she might have some scores to settle.