Cat on couch, rabbit wants to check it out...bad idea?

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Ok so clearly Miss Sophie is feeling right at home now, she's running confidently around the living room but today, she just all of a sudden jumped up on my couch! Needless to say, my cat who was sleeping peacefully in her bed on the couch was less than impressed! Sophie obviously has no boundaries because she went right up to Chipsie the cat! Yikes, I put my hand between them because I thought there would be an altercation. My cat is quite gentle but she doesn't like when Sophie makes a sudden movement towards her. She has hissed a few times at Sophie and isn't happy about the invasion of space. I shuffled Sophie away from the cat bed and decided to gently push her off the couch. My question is this: Should I try to keep her off the couch? It's an Ikea couch so it's quite low to the ground so it's not like she has a long way to jump down. If I decide to allow her up there, I was thinking it would be a good opportunity to man handle her a bit, yknow get her used to me picking her up and such. Or is this a bad idea. I would definitely prevent her from invading the cat's bed. Or should I let her approach my cat and let them sort it out between themselves? Within reason of coarse, I would be there to intervene if things got hairy! Comments/ suggestions?

 

[PaGal]

Others let their buns on their couches and Thumper gets onto ours when he wants. Some people due have problems with their buns peeing on them. Apparently buns like to pee on soft things. I have never had that problem myself with Thumper.

As far as the cat goes I would say use your best judgment and your knowledge of your bun and cat, no one knows them as well as you. I'm sure there are different variables that go into any bun/cat relationship such as whether the cat has a strong prey drive or not, the size of the bun compared to the size of the cat.

If it were me I would let there be interaction but with my supervision, ready to step in at a moment. Some buns will play with and chase cats. Unless your cat has mobility issues it does have the option of leaving where it is at the moment. Do you think your cat would scratch or bite if annoyed or would she just get up and leave?

 

[JBun]

I wouldn't allow your cat to get agitated or allow any aggressiveness towards your rabbit. Cat scratches and bites can prove deadly for rabbits, because of the dangerous bacteria.

My rabbit loves to bound up onto my couch, right onto the laptop. She's been good about not peeing too, but I know some rabbits find soft cushy couches, irresistable peeing spots.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Hmm, ok that leaves me things to think about. I didn't realise they like peeing on fabrics! My cat is 18 years old and very gentle. But having said that, we are talking about predator/ prey so I know that anything is possible. It's been rare that my cat has lashed out and when she does, it's always more of a warning because she has never used her claws. The only time she used to use her claws
Was when I had my other cat. My other cat used to pester the _ out of her and so she would finally lash out and bite and scratch. But mostly my cat is more of a "I'm outta here!" kind of cat. I agree there is no set in stone way of going about this but I do find your experiences helpful to me to help make a decision. Well I'm going to have to give this more thought, maybe I will try for now to keep her off the couch, just until cat and rabbit get a little more used to each other. It was pretty cute to have her on the sofa though!! What a lil rascal xox

 

[Sweetie]

Cats and rabbits can interact with each other. I have two cats that stay away from the rabbits. When they are near each other, they don't bother each other. The cats move away from the rabbits and I praise the cats for that. Just make sure that the cats know what the boundaries are with the rabbits.

 

[Shmoo06]

My lion head is too scared to jump up onto the couch. He's gotten to the point where he puts his paws up and thinks about it, but he never goes there.
Stitch on the other hand will periodically jump onto my couch, and I let him. If I move too much though, he gets scared. lol. When he was a single bun and wasn't neutered, he went through a period where he was all over my couch all the time. It was basically when he was going through puberty because he was all over me, and I usually sit on or in front of the couch. He did pee on it once, but never again. I always get scared though if he sits in one spot for too long. lol.

I can't help with the cat situation. I'm allergic. Which is actually why I ended up with buns in the first place. I wanted a pet, but can't have a dog with my work schedule & I'm allergic to cats. lol.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Well, keeping Sophie off the couch is proving to be quite challenging! She loves to jump up there now that she's discovered it lol. I've put a thick blanket on the couch just in case she pees, at least I can launder it. I turned my back for a second this afternoon and she was on the couch, in the cat's bed and "digging" at it? What's up with that? Anyway, I shooed her off it, I don't want my cat to think this new animal is taking over her things. Having a rabbit is definitely different, I'm used to my cat listening to me when I don't want her to do something. It's the bunny takeover...OMG, run for your lives!!

 

[JBun]

Lol! It goes like this - dogs, cats, rabbits. Dogs llsten best to instructions and do what you say, cats listen but decide if it suits their mood or benefits them in some way, rabbits? dig, dig, dig, 'what, did you say something to me?' Chew, chew, chew, 'what? I didn't hear that, you wanted me to.... what did you say?' back to chewing, 'she saw US! Hurry run for our hidey box, hehehehehe'. Sneaky little furballs, they know exactly what they are doing. They wait til your back is turned, then when you do catch them, they take off and do a little happy binky on their way out. Oh yes, they know EXACTLY what they are doing!

 

[Millinex]

I have 2 cats, one just avoids my rabbit, the other cat frequently plays with my rabbit. No, he doesn't bite and scratch (taught him not to), but he does do that fake pouncing, chasing each other, laying next to each other etc. Sometimes they go have a drink together at the water dish.

Depends on your cat TBH

 

[Phoenixfyre]

I have 2 cats, both older (14 & 15) and neither particularly were thrilled by my bringing home a rabbit. I've had the bunny for 3 months now and the cats are intrigued completely by her when she is in her pen or cage. When she is out though is another story! Neither exhibit any interest in pursuing her, rather I worry about the bunny chasing the cats and them retaliating. So I watch them all like a hawk. Mostly the cats just move up onto something when they see the rabbit. The bunny is fine with my couch but loves to leave little gifts on my bed, thankfully she hasn't peed on it though. The cats tend to sleep there...and the bunny is enchanted by them...and I've caught her trying to groom them while they are asleep. One cat just runs away in a huff, sometimes hissing....the other just gets the "oh crap...now what?" expression and sighs. She may flick her tail around but she doesn't actually do anything...unless the rabbit tries to climb on her, then she gets up in a huff.

Mostly I'd suggest just watching them very, very carefully. You know your cats and how they are most likely to behave.

 

[Pipsqueak]

It does depend on the cat, I know some peoples cats and rabbits are best friends. I think that if you don't mind Sophie on the couch maybe you could sit between her and the cat, that way your cat can get used to the fact that Sophie is allowed on the couch, and you'll be there to make sure they don't do anything.

 

[Sweetie]

One thing: don't ever let your cat play with your rabbit. Cats play with their prey before killing it. It is in their nature to play with prey before killing the prey. I don't allow my cats to play with my rabbits, but they can be around them.

 

[MagPie]

Depends on the cats and the rabbit. My rabbit is very much the boss and is not afraid to let the cats know. My older cat loves everyone and rather just sleep. My younger cat did scratch/bite my rabbit when I first got him because my rabbit was chasing the cat. Happened to quick for me to break them up. Anyway the cats are his buddies now. The younger cat tries to play with him and the rabbit beats him up haha.

Harvey, the rabbit, does love to be up on the sofa with all of us. He'll take a nap on the back and crawl all over the cats and the cats don't mind. Every now and then he'll snuggle with me. Oh he used to pee/mark the sofa, before he was neutered. Now he doesn't.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Luckily I heeded your cautions about rabbits peeing on couches, she peed on the blanket I had on the couch!! My husband was petting her nose and she was all chillaxed, then she got this look and I was like uh oh! She hopped away and sure enough the lil beastie left some pee behind! Good thing I had the blanket there! Oh well, I guess I have to really try to keep her off now. One thing that seems to be working as a barrier is cardboard. Not standing up, rather layed down on the ground in front of the couch. She hates walking on it so she can't jump up on the couch.....for now lol...maybe she'll decide that walking on cardboard is worth the risk just so she can hop up on the sofa. The other thing I noticed is that she only stays on the carpet in the living room, she won't walk on the hardwoods! She tried to one time and she slipped and scrabbled about, scaring the heck out of herself lol. So far my cat has hissed and swatted her a few times but hasn't made contact. I definitely will continue to keep a close eye on both of them. Sophie, the lil rascal hops after my cat when her back is turned! Cruisin' for a bruisin' I'd say!

 

[Sweetie]

Sweetie always warns me when she has to go potty. She will actually dig on the couch or me and I ask her if she has to go potty, if she keeps doing it or does it again, then I take her to her cage and she goes potty in her litter box. Maybe look for a sign that she gives before she does potty on the couch, then you can take her to her cage to go potty.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

I knew she was about to do it but between the "look" in her eye and me recognizing what she was about to do, took about 2 seconds. Not enough time to stop her from doing it. So I'm just going to keep her off the sofa from now on.

 

[waite.sarah89]

I frequently see B up on the couch with our cat Miley. They seem to get along very well. I have also gotten to see B flopped on the living room rug beside the cat and dog. Sometimes the hamster will join in her exercise ball. It's pretty funny (and great of course) to see all of them coexisting peacefully.

 

[Millinex]

One thing: don't ever let your cat play with your rabbit. Cats play with their prey before killing it. It is in their nature to play with prey before killing the prey. I don't allow my cats to play with my rabbits, but they can be around them.

Depends on the cat. Mine plays fine with the rabbit, granted the rabbit is bigger than him. My cat also fetches, and can't kill anything. Plays with bugs never even kills them.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

Just wanted to give an update on Sophie and my cat. They are really starting to get along now! They sniff each others faces and my cat will let Sophie sit beside her sometimes too. It's so sweet to see them close together! Sophie still likes to sneak up on Chipsie to sniff her while she's sleeping but she's starting to learn to give her space. There have only been a few head swats, no claws, so things are definitely improving. Whenever the two of them are close together, I praise them both for being good girls. Now as far as Sophie peeing on the couch, well she has done it twice, on the blanket, so I just keep a good eye on her now.

 

[Ilovemyrabbit]

Yay! That's great that they are getting along well. Just make sure to watch the 2 of them when they are out together.