cats and rabbits?

[SnowyShiloh]

My boyfriend and I were planning on getting a Flemish Giant when we move to a bigger place in May, but because of my own fears about having a bunny with such a short lifespan (which several wonderful people have spent time trying to get me not to worry about), I'm not so sure about a Flemmie. At least not right now, maybe sometime in the future.

Paul and I are instead talking about maybe getting a kitty when we move. He's never had a cat and my parents had cats until I was 2. I love cats. I did a lot of research yesterday and there is a lot of good info about cats and rabbits, like this article from the House Rabbit Society: http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-11/cats-and-rabbits.html

What are people here's experiences with having cats and rabbits in the same home? If you got the cat after the rabbits, how did you pick the cat and do intros? I was thinking we would get a cat from the shelter or one of the cat rescues around here (unlike rabbits which there are hardly any of, there are a lot of kitties needing homes in our area on Petfinder).

Would an adult cat be better since it's personality would already be developed and we could pick a laid back one, or would a young cat be better so it could grow up with the bunnies?

I would want to make sure the cat got along with our bunnies before picking one, or at least that the cat didn't seem to want to eat them and that the bunnies weren't terrified of it. I would also keep the bunnies and cat separated in different rooms with the door closed while we were sleeping or at work/school until I was sure the cat wouldn't hurt them.

 

[irishbunny]

I have three cats and none of them show any interest in the bunnies, they sometimes stalk them but they never try to attack them and if one of the bunnies comes over they run away. I have heard of cats killing rabbits though, but I think it's mostly when they are hungry, I'm sure your cat will be well fed. I'd also get a small kitty, just in case

 

[kirst3buns]

My cats were older adult cats before we got any rabbits. I have one cat that shows no interest whatsoever in bunnies and the other one is interested occasionally (she prefers the rabbits water bowl to her own).

I think a lot depends on the bunnies personalities too. My one cat that shows no interest looks totally appalled and somewhat terrified when cornered by a rabbit and usually tries to get out of their way. My other cat was friends with Penny but always looked like she would eat Cadbury if she had a chance. Cadbury was a netherland and terrified of the cat. I always made sure his run time was in the bedroom where the cats weren't allowed. I think the fact that Cadbury acted more like prey triggered the hunter instinct in my cat. The same cat would choose to hang out with Penny and lay next to her when the rabbits were out. I never felt comfortable enough to leave them unsupervised though for any length of time because of this cats reaction to my smaller rabbit.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

I had my cat, Ollie, for several years before we got rabbits. Now Ollie and Millie are regularly in the same room together and he doesn't bother Millie at all - in factshe chaseshim around the room!

I'd say that as long as you get a gentle natured cat who doesn't stalk/hunt etc and introduce them slowly then you shouldn't have a problem. That being said I would never leave a cat and rabbit alone together - just in case!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Thanks, everyone! I would never leave them alone together either. I was thinking about the whole bunny personality thing and none of my bunnies are timid or nervous. Phoebe Mae is the smallest but she's also the most outgoing and the one I could best imagine striking up a friendship with a cat. Rory's so aggressive with other rabbits that I'm actually afraid he would run up to the cat and bite it, and what if the cat bit back? :faint:I know you're supposed to leave the bunny in his cage at first until you're confident the cat will respond okay to it, but at some point Rory would have to be let out in the cat's presence and I just have this image of him charging the cat...

Do those of you with cats and rabbits let the cats in the same room as your rabbits when the bunnies are safely in their cages but you're not home? I'm imagining a curious cat batting at the bunny through the cage bars. We will have a spare bedroom that the bunnies can be in with a closed door when we're not home. Regardless, I think a declawed cat would be best just in case he tried to scratch the bunnies, even in play. I'm aware that declawing is inhumane, but there are plenty of kitties at the shelter that were declawed by their previous owners. I think they also have little plastic nubs you can glue to your cat's nails as an alternative to declawing, I forget what they're called?

Oh also one of the cat rescues up here has a 2 week trial period before you officially adopt a cat. So we could try to pick a bunny friendly cat, then have 2 weeks to let it settle in and get an idea of how it would handle having bunny siblings before committing.

 

[irishbunny]

I don't think the claws would be a problem, because I would stop any behaviour like that between a cat and rabbit, claws or not because play could get serious very quick and the cat could latch onto the rabbits neck, claws or no claws. I don't mind my cats being in the same room as the cats, Misty will thump and get scared but Princess and Thumper will run up and sniff the rabbit, the cats just look at them but don't go at them. I guess it depends on how the bunnies react to the cat and how the cat reacts to the bunnies.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Irishbunny, of course I'd stop behavior like that, but animals are animals and I'm not psychic so there's always the chance that the cat could gently swipe at one of the bunnies and scratch them.

Also, I have two cockatiels who will definitely be kept in a different room from the cat, with the door closed, and one of those eye and hook locks on the door just in case the cat wiggles the door open... The bird cage is really heavy with narrow vertical bars and up off the floor by several feet (aka hard to knock over and hard to climb), but if for SOME REASON the cat were to get to the cage, and somehow stick it's paw through the bars even though I think the bars are too close together, if the cat didn't have nails or the nails were covered it wouldn't be able to actually damage the birds. Not physically at least, I'm sure the birds would be majorly freaked out though!

I'll also probably get little padlocks for the cage doors in the unlikely event the bird manages to knock the cage off it's stand.

I suppose I might sound a little paranoid, but pet safety is my #1 goal! When I had my ratties, my birds were kept upstairs in our bedroom with the door closed when we weren't home in the off chance the rats escaped their cage and decided to go hunting.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I've been checking out Petfinder every couple days and know all the names of the cats at the cat rescue here in town! This guy was just added today and I think I'm in love:

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=13586704

He looks like a stray kitten that adopted me when I was little (my mom wouldn't let me keep him) and my aunt's cat was named Mousemeat. We're planning on getting our cat after we move to a bigger place, which was going to be sometime next week but Rory is still under the weather and we want him to back to his usual self before moving, and certainly before getting a cat. Maybe Mouse will still be there when the time comes.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

two cats, three rabbits, no problems.

The rabbits harass the cats, who tolerate them very well. Rabbits seem to have no concept of personal space, and will start sniffing my cats' faces. Suki boxes their ears, and they binkie away. Sigmund will patiently let Evie dig at his tail for a minute or two, then he gently excuses himself, in that whole "trying to walk away politely by dragging my butt away" thing that they do around kids.

Soft paws (glue on plastic sheath covers) are excellent!

Remember, with a declawed animal, you may wind up running into "inappropriate" elimination and behaviour problems. Some are so traumatized by the combo of litter and a fresh wound that they refuse to use a litterbox anymore. They also tend to be a bit more liberal with their teeth if nervous.... My Sigmund isn't like that, but I can see how he would be in the right scenario. He doesn't use his front paws for much... poor fella still thinks he has claws.

I'm pretty confident that you shouldn't have a problem, provided you choose a good-tempered animal.
Your kitten sounds promising Would have to keep an extra close eye on the claws, as the little ones just swing furiously at anything that looks like fun...

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

My grandmother had her cat years before she ever got a bunny. She did a few supervised intros and watched them when the bunny was out, but the cat really didn't mind him.

That cat passed away last year unexpectedly and my grandmother recently got a new kitten. This kitten LOVES the bunny. They roll around and play together often, they chase each other. When it is time for the bunny to go back in the hutch, she says the cat follows him in and they eat their dinner together! It's really fun to watch them interact.

Both cats were declawed, so she didn't have to worry about nails too much. The one thing she did have trouble with was the kitten biting when he was little. It was just playfulness, not trying to hurt the bunny, but she did have to watch and correct him. Now, sometimes he will almost bite but then remember and back off. He's pretty good about it now.

 

[TinysMom]

Obviously it will depend upon the cat...

But here is some of my experience - since they say a picture is worth a thousand words - this will be a lengthy post..

and one of my favorite videos of Drew - one of the most independent-minded bunnies we ever had...

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Aww Peg, that video is so adorable! I can just see a kitty loving on Rory like that. I hope he would befriend the cat since he doesn't like bunnies. The pictures of the kitty with the bunnies are cute, you have to look for a second to see which isn't a bunny. Autumn and OakRidgeRabbits, good to hear you've had good experiences too. I'm not really worried anymore because I've been reading a lot about cats and bunnies and have posted on another cat forum too. Now we just have to get the right kitty! I know I shouldn't get too attached to the cat I linked to earlier, but he's so sweet. To be honest, I really like all the kitties at that cat rescue and would want any of them, providing they don't try to disembowel the bunnies.

Do you think we should try to bring all three bunnies to the cat rescue to see which cat likes them, or should we just bring 1 bunny? I'm concerned that the bunnies may act freaked out at the cat rescue because of the scent of 30 cats and act more scared than they would if they were at our home with just 1 cat.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Would it be possible just to "borrow" a cat at a time for 1-2 days?
I brought Slatey in to see Sigmund at the Shelter, but I doubt it was effective... Sigmund was fairly sick at the time, unbeknowest to me (or supposedly the workers), and was timid.

I would think that the overwhelming cat scent might mess with the bunnies heads (?)

If you can borrow a cat, I think you would get a glimpse of the interaction in an environment where the rabbits' scents are already dominant. Might be a stabilizing factor...
Either which way, neither critter will enjoy the car ride Might as well stress the cat out rather than your buns.