# Please help, cross breeding rabbits and cats??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2000, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241 "2000-08-29T20:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/21 "2000-08-30T02:29:45Z")
The pictures on that site are horrible, but I’m betting they’re a breed of cat known as [Munchkins](http://www.breedlist.com/munchkin-breeders.html). As others have said, no actual rabbit/cat offspring. Someone’s yanking your chain on the cabbit thing. > [@](#): > > _ **MC** said:_ > You probably didn’t want to know, but I ran across a site that had a collection of pictures of animals in the act. The wierdo thing was, it was different animals: **a rabbit and chicken,** Where did you _think_ Easter eggs come from, then? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/22 "2000-08-30T02:34:53Z")
Also, FWIW, the [Twisty Cat](http://worldpet.net/protest/). ---
**Author:** ![Wood\_Thrush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/23 "2000-08-30T02:51:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Danielinthewolvesden \* > \*\*Lagomorphs & Carniveria are different Families, in the order Mammalia, and there has never been a cross-family breeding. \*\* In the _ **class** _ Mammalia, cats are in the _ **order** _ Carnivora and rabbits in the _ **order** _ Lagomorpha. As I wrote earlier, rabbits and cats are not even in the same order. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/24 "2000-08-30T07:08:20Z")
Sorry wood, you’re right, it was just a brain-fart. Still, there has never been a cross-family breeding, or a cross-order breeding. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/25 "2000-08-30T08:33:24Z")
This question was bumped up to the higher authority a while back. Dex? Any word? ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/26 "2000-08-30T12:45:25Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Wood Thrush \* \*\* > [@](#): > > In the _ **class** _ Mammalia, cats are in the _ **order** _ Carnivora and rabbits in the _ **order** _ Lagomorpha. > > As I wrote earlier, rabbits and cats are not even in the same order. \*\* And they’re not on each others Christmas card lists. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/27 "2000-08-30T13:28:47Z")
RM: \<\\> Huh? On the jackalope, please note that Cecil recently did this one to death in a column. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/28 "2000-08-30T14:03:38Z")
The pix on the site are either deformed cats… or someone got themselves a copy of Photoshop. Or both! ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/29 "2000-08-30T14:35:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yabob \* > **some members of the dog family - wolf+dog, coydogs** Current thought is that wolves and dogs actually are the same species, and that what we thin kof as _Canis familiaris_ is simply a domesticated variety of _Canis lupus_. African wild dogs and Aussie dingoes are thought to be all in this species as well. Also, animals do crossbreed (rarely, when forced) but plants are known for lots of cross-breeding, naturally. This is how we got several citrus fruits, different species of corn, and so forth. I must admit I’ve no idea whether there have been interfamily crosses or not, though I’d suspect not. LL ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/30 "2000-08-30T15:53:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Current thought is that wolves and dogs actually are the same species, and that what we thin kof as Canis familiaris is simply a domesticated variety of Canis lupus. African wild dogs and Aussie dingoes are thought to be all in this species as well. I can accept that, but I’ll still point to the phenomenon of coydogs - the coyote is Canis Latrans, and can hybridize with the domestic dog. The hybrid is not nearly as common as some people think, but is at least possible. A coyote-wolf hybrid may be possible, too, apparently. Coyotes have turned up in the Eastern US in the last few years, and the Eastern ones are bigger than their Western counterparts. You can find opinions like this on the reason for that: > [@](#): > > One reason, scientists say, is probably widespread interbreeding between coyotes and Eastern timber wolves, which still inhabit the upper Great Lakes region and eastern Canada. (While wolf packs kill coyotes, lone wolves > looking for mates sometimes breed with them.) > > Do coyotes often mate with domestic dogs to produce what are called coydogs? “I don’t think it is widespread,” Gomper said. “It may occur, but true cases of it occurring in the wild are fairly rare.” Quoted from “The Cape Cod Times”: [http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/archives/1999/aug/8/coyote08side.htm](http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/archives/1999/aug/8/coyote08side.htm) ---
**Author:** ![MrKurtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MrKurtz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKurtz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/31 "2000-08-30T17:45:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dijon Warlock \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _ **MC** said:_ > > You probably didn’t want to know, but I ran across a site that had a collection of pictures of animals in the act. The wierdo thing was, it was different animals: **a rabbit and chicken,** > > Where did you _think_ Easter eggs come from, then? 😃 \*\* [http://www.geocities.com/b120282/pictures/easter.jpg](http://www.geocities.com/b120282/pictures/easter.jpg) Makes me wonder if Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner were really ‘just friends’. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/32 "2000-08-30T18:05:31Z")
As far as I’m concerned, the inbreeding of deformed animals to create or propagate the deformity is an example of the worst kind of human arrogance, and the reason I got my Manx cat spayed. (We had a Manx when I was a kid, and I bought one as an adult. The further I looked into breeding her, the more horrified I became. It changed forever the way I feel about inbreeding pets for deformities and pedigrees.) In regards to another aspect of this discussion, why some species of plants or animals tend to hybridize and others do not: The concept of “species” is a human invention, and necessarily somewhat arbitrary in its application. As organisms evolve, they follow no codified rules; they just change over time. The point at which enough changes have accumulated for them to be designated a different species is not a distinct one, and taxonomists just do the best they can, like the rest of us. So hybridization is just an illustration of the inexact nature of taxonomy. This is not to say that if two species hybridize, the taxonomists got it “wrong” and they should be one species; only that the concept of “species” has soft edges and gray areas. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/33 "2000-08-31T04:39:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CKDextHavn \* > \*\*RM: \<\\> > > Huh? > \*\* I received an email from you timestamped Sat, 20 May 2000 16:58:17 EDT from the [TheStrDope@aol.com](mailto:TheStrDope@aol.com) address, asking about my question “Are there cabbits?” You said you were screening the questions for Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/34 "2000-08-31T05:43:12Z")
I was under the impression that one of the simplest points when deciding who goes in what species was whethter they could breed - all animals who can interbreed are one species. So all dogs, coyotes & wolves are on e species. Cats and rabbits can’t interbreed - different species. But perhaps that was merely a simplified way of describing clasification, and not hte basis for classifications? ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/35 "2000-08-31T09:00:40Z")
mer: close- species are those which do not normally interbreed in the wild. Thus, some species could interbreed under unusual circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/36 "2000-08-31T18:57:41Z")
RM: \<\< I received an email from you timestamped Sat, 20 May 2000 16:58:17 EDT from the [TheStrDope@aol.com](mailto:TheStrDope@aol.com) address, asking about my question “Are there cabbits?” You said you were screening the questions for Cecil.\>\> Oh. Sorry. I didn’t associate. When Cecil’s mail gets overwhelming, I have helped screen from time to time… Like, weeding out the questions Cecil has already asked, weeding out the solicitations (“You too can earn $10,000 a week in your spare time!”), the obviously frivilous or unanswerable questions, etc. Recognizing your name, RM, I did pass the question on to Cecil… but I dunno the status of it since them. And I didn’t remember about that, sorry, must be senility setting in. I’ll see if I can find out what happened with it. Some questions that do get through screening, Cecil decides he’s not interested in. Some get put in a pile where Cecil knows the answer, of course, but staff needs to do some back-up research to be able to PROVE the answer and cite sources. So, the process can be a long one. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/37 "2000-08-31T19:23:48Z")
Personally, I think the question is frivolous enough not to deserve Cecil’s attention. And I’d hate for the breeders of those poor deformed cats to get any more publicity. ---
**Author:** ![sk8rixtx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@sk8rixtx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sk8rixtx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/38 "2000-08-31T21:18:51Z")
> [@](#): > > How about this Cabbit > That is what came to mind upon seeing the title of this thread. > Tenchi forever! Lunasea- You like Tenchi too? You rock!!! ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2000, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241/39 "2000-09-01T06:13:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > **Personally, I think the question is frivolous enough not to deserve Cecil’s attention.** What was I thinking?! O yeah. I was thinking about [Slug](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_073) Signorino and something else to do with [cats](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_190.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-cross-breeding-rabbits-and-cats/31241.md?page=1)