Your morning adorable: Cat grooms friendly rabbit

Our cat-licking-(insert non-feline species name here) video kick continues Thursday with Ava, a rescued cat who's good pals with Nibbles, a Dutch rabbit.

According to the pair's owner, YouTube user bluetree3000, the little nips Ava makes are nothing more than "love bites," and in "bunny body language Ava's grooming acknowledges that Nibbles is the alpha bunny."

We like Ava already, but her story gets better: She's a rescue who was found with a swollen abdomen. A veterinary exam showed that Ava's swelling was the result of a gunshot wound; a bullet had become embedded in her body and caused a hernia to develop. Fortunately, Ava "had surgery to repair the hernia and is the sweetest cat we've ever known despite her horrible ordeal," bluetree says. Now that's a success story we can appreciate!

RELATED:
Your morning adorable: Cat licks friendly rat
Your morning adorable: Cat licks sleeping dog

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: bluetree3000 via YouTube

Comments

[Nikita Cat]

OK, now this is ridiculous, and more alarming than the video with the Cat & the Rat!

The Cat is acknolwledging the superiority of the Bunny?

Someone has Psychologcal problems, and I'm not sure if it's the critters, or the Human who made that silly deduction!

I just think that the Cat, finding the flesh too tough to bite through, may be trying to soften it up through licking. ;-D

[Tina]

NikitaCat,

Yes, in the bunny's mind, the cat is acknowledging that the bunny is superior. The rabbit is presenting, i.e. saying 'Groom me!' If the rabbit can compel another bunny to groom them, they've established dominance. Sometimes rabbit pairs take turns, but generally there is a dominant bun who always gets his/her way.

That doesn't mean your cat flavor-testing/softening theory isn't also incorrect, though.