lynne2809
Well-Known Member
Hi all!
I am wondering if it is common for rabbits to contract upper respiratory infections from cats in the same household. My family has 4 cats and 1 rabbit (Mickey). Mickey free roams in his own room, so he never has direct contact with any of the cats.
A few weeks ago, one of the cats had to go to the ER and stayed in the ICU for GI issues. She came home and shortly after, she started sneezing and had watery eyes. We took her to her primary vet and they prescribed a course of antibiotics for her. She's totally fine now, but the other 3 cats have started sneezing constantly all day and have watery eyes as well. I assume that our cat picked something up at the ER and brought it home and spread it to our other cats.
I am away at school and my dad takes care of both the cats and Mickey at home, so I am wondering if Mickey is at risk to catch whatever the cats have. Again, Mickey has no direct contact with any of the cats and I have advised my dad to thoroughly wash his hands before going to see or take care of Mickey. I know that a lot of different things could be causing the URI in the cats - as far as I know, most of the viruses that could be causing the URI in the cats would NOT be transmissible to Mickey (because they are species-specific), but I am worried about Mickey catching a bacteria from them if that is the cause of their URI. If it were something like Bordetella or another bacteria causing the URI in the cats, should I be concerned about Mickey developing a URI? I know that URIs can be really serious in rabbits and they can progress to pneumonia and be very dangerous, so I'm just very worried! Thank you in advance!
I am wondering if it is common for rabbits to contract upper respiratory infections from cats in the same household. My family has 4 cats and 1 rabbit (Mickey). Mickey free roams in his own room, so he never has direct contact with any of the cats.
A few weeks ago, one of the cats had to go to the ER and stayed in the ICU for GI issues. She came home and shortly after, she started sneezing and had watery eyes. We took her to her primary vet and they prescribed a course of antibiotics for her. She's totally fine now, but the other 3 cats have started sneezing constantly all day and have watery eyes as well. I assume that our cat picked something up at the ER and brought it home and spread it to our other cats.
I am away at school and my dad takes care of both the cats and Mickey at home, so I am wondering if Mickey is at risk to catch whatever the cats have. Again, Mickey has no direct contact with any of the cats and I have advised my dad to thoroughly wash his hands before going to see or take care of Mickey. I know that a lot of different things could be causing the URI in the cats - as far as I know, most of the viruses that could be causing the URI in the cats would NOT be transmissible to Mickey (because they are species-specific), but I am worried about Mickey catching a bacteria from them if that is the cause of their URI. If it were something like Bordetella or another bacteria causing the URI in the cats, should I be concerned about Mickey developing a URI? I know that URIs can be really serious in rabbits and they can progress to pneumonia and be very dangerous, so I'm just very worried! Thank you in advance!
