Cats?

[KittyKatMe]

I let my buns run around the house everyday, but I feel bad locking my dog outside and my cat in one room for up to 3 hours. My dog, Lucy, is a beagle and can and will try to kill them My Maine Coon cat, BeBe, has never been introduces to the bunbuns. I am always afraid she will do the same thing. She is about 7 1/2 lbs, so i don't think she could do too much damage. She is very docile and friendly, although she will try to go fishing. She is a young cat, and very playful, but the worst hunter I have ever seen because she was bottlefed. I really want to let her be in the full house while the buns are out. Does anyone know of a good, safe method of introducing them? Or should I just not do it at all because of the possible dangers? The bunnies are used to my cat that recently passed away, but they have never met this one. I don't know if BeBe has had experience with small animals, as she was first in a home, then given to the shelter, then adopted out, then given back to the shelter, then was in a foster home, then I adopted her. So I] have no way of knowing if there were any bunnies alonng the way.

 

[whitelop]

I don't really know if there is a right way to introduce cats and rabbits. I just kind of let them meet each other. I have 3 cats that are around my rabbit all the time and we've never had an issue. The cats clean the rabbit and the rabbit loves the cats.
If you are going to introduce them then just be there and be prepared to put your cat away. If the cat gets aggressive or too playful then she could scratch and hurt your buns. I would make sure that you're always around if the cat and buns are out together. Just to be sure that nothing happens.

Also one thing to be aware of is, cats carry some kind of bacteria under their claws that if they scratch a rabbit, the scratch could become infect and do some serious damage to the rabbit. There is another thread by I_heart_fraggles that explains it better. So just watch out.

Good luck if you try to do this. A lot of people have cats and rabbits live together peacefully, hopefully it works.
Oh and one of my cats is half Maine Coon, shes a great cat!

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

:yeahthat:

My cat, Gracie, is also a Maine Coon cat. She was raised with my first rabbit, they were babies together and they were wonderful friends...they cuddled and played. They went through a basic bonding period but it was very short because Gracie gave in immediately The rabbit definitely was the boss in that relationship, which, I've read, is often the case. Gracie really grieved when my first rabbit died.

Because of the cat scratch danger that Morgan mentioned above, I've been afraid to let Gracie be with my new bunnies. I'm really sad about it. But have been afraid to risk it. Breaks my heart because Gracie cries to go in the bunny room. When I let the bunnies out, I have to put Gracie on the back porch.

But, aside from that danger, cats and rabbits generally make great friends.

 

[Imbrium]

here's the thread the others have mentioned about the dangers of cat scratches: http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=74390&forum_id=1&highlight=cats

that's not to say you shouldn't introduce them, just that you should make an informed decision

 

[Nancy McClelland]

This is kind of dead even. Heard wonderful stories of cats and rabbits and also horror stories of bunnies dying from and infected scratch.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Larry--Same here. I've been pondering this a lot because Scout and Gracie were so good together, before I knew better. Not one skirmish in eight years. I'm trying to think of some solution. Supervision doesn't really work because if there's going to be a scratch, it's going to be sudden.

:?

 

[Imbrium]

a declawed cat would be somewhat safer, as then you'd only have to worry about bites (which can cause the same potentially fatal problems as scratches) and some cats really don't bite at all... and if they do, there are usually warnings that they're getting irritated before the bite actually occurs, so with close supervision the risk would be pretty minimal.

 

[whitelop]

Here is a link from HRS. It might help.
http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-11/cats-and-rabbits.html

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Morgan--thanks for the link. I'll check it out.
Jennifer--you're right, bites would be easier to prevent.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Kat--I just looked at Morgan's link. It's a really good description of the cat/rabbit relationship and gives great introduction tips.

 

[MiserySmith]

I'd also like to add.. for extra safety for anyone trying to intro cats and buns you could get claw caps.
I know, I know. Most people think they're weird.. but I've actually heard great reviews about them(as long as you get a generally good kind) and it would guarantee those claws won't hurt anyone. http://www.softclaws.com/index.php?pet=cat

 

[CosmosMomma]

My kitty just kinda introduced himself to the bun. When I brought Cosmo home I never separated them I just sat on the floor with Cosmo ready to grab him up right away if need be. Dizzy pawed at him a few times and tried to romp with him like he would another cat, but now he just jumps in Cosmo's cage and cuddles with him