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A cat and a house rabbit

honved

New Kit
Hi

I'm a new poster looking for advice from rabbitty people. My family have a house rabbit, a little Netherland Dwarf who we got from a rescue centre. She is very friendly, up to a point, and well trained since she uses her cage as a litter tray and will go back into it on command. She's also a bit aloof, keeps herself to herself and spends a lot of time under the dining room table while we (two adults and two teenage kids) are in the lounge. She is calm and laid back and gets her nails clipped without fuss and will let my daughter look at her teeth if she's in the mood. She's about four or five and is spayed.

We're now wondering if we could have a cat, since someone we know needs to have theirs adopted/fostered since they are going abroad for some time. The cat has never been housed with another pet and is also an indoors only pet and has been spayed. The cat is very affectionate and I have never seen her chase anything. She's also laid back about being handled and since she is semi longhaired she gets groomed regularly and tolerates that very well.

Now, I've visited loads of cat and rabbit advice pages and most of them seem to think that cats and rabbits can and will get along very well. The introduction needs careful handling and obviously an eye needs to be kept on whether one or other is being bullied and I believe that the rabbitty half can be as guilty of this as the cat half.

I'd appreciate opinions/experiences and views on this since if it isn't right for either pet then we will need to have a rethink about our friends and their cat.
 
Hi and welcome :wave:

My bunnies live in our garage/outside but when they do come inside the house, they get on fine with our indoor cats. I think it totally depends on their personalities to be honest.

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Lian x
 
:wave: weve had cats n rabbits together since 2001....now we have diff cats and of course diff buns..BUT this is the weirdest set up we have ever had..we tok in two straggly kittnes and theyve grown up thinking bif is their mummy and bertie is their dady..they grew up alongside baby willow who they thought of as their baby sister..pmsl..shes a full grown enormous frenchie now btw but shell be their little sis forever:lol:
bandit is a little lionhead and its him they find so interesting..lop eared bunnies for osme reason seem to be accpeted more..or is it just my lot:lol:

adult cats from rescues maybe if theyre timid and shy maybe..but even kittens are a no no if they come from hunting parents who have taken them out hunting with them or bought back live prey and taught them...are a no no.
cats are hunters by nature.....they cant help it..and i have found the size if bun doesnt really matter as the bun is the more agressive one once it becomes boss of the household..does esp are sooooo tettirorial and cats think they are but up against a fesity doe..no chance!:lol:

some are fine like ours..we never have to confince the littlies but we do at night since they rebonded as a pair..to give them confidence overnight.they love playing dash aorund the house at 3 amwith the cats..but the biggect bun loves playing it even more and ive had to gate my stairs off cos of her keepoing the neighbours awake doing her wilderbesst of the serengeti impersonation along with the cats:lol::lol:

to see salem wash a bunny till it purrs is soooo sweet..but even he can get a bit overplayful or rub aorund them too much and they get peed off with him and go for him.he get supset then as he considers himself and his sis as pseudo bunny.....even eating greens veggies and hay:lol:

get your kitty but be aware you may end up having to section them away from each other. you maynot but until oyu get to know them both really well its not worth the risks.
 
:shock::oops: didnt read porperly did i:oops:

sounds like shes ideal..but be careful anyway.....let the bun have the territory first as all his..then slowly intorduce kittyand shell get the message thats its buns..and bun owns everything:lol::lol:

works in my house:lol:
 
hey we have a house bun and cat, they get along fine, snuggle up too! Keep an eye on them for the first few weeks. I still keep Hector (rabbit) in the utility room whilst i am at work then let them out to play together in the evening if no one there to keep an eye on them in the day x:wave:
 
I have 11 cats and my rabbits get along fine with them. Some of the cats look at the rabbits with this funny expression like "what are you?" :lol:

My cat Kitty is in my room 24/7 with my rabbits and she never tries to hurt them and will somtimes share the same box with one of them.
My duck, Dill, on the other hand doesnt like rabbits very much and head butts them if they get too close to her.
 
My male nethie was about three when we got two little kittens. They sniffed, he chased. End of. They were fine. But then Edward also chased the dogs (border collies:shock:). He was completely in charge of the garden.:D
 
hey we have a house bun and cat, they get along fine, snuggle up too! Keep an eye on them for the first few weeks. I still keep Hector (rabbit) in the utility room whilst i am at work then let them out to play together in the evening if no one there to keep an eye on them in the day x:wave:

That's what we are looking to do. All the responses sound very positive and along the lines that I was thinking so thanks for your input, all of you.

:D
 
My cat will hiss at the bunnies and then runs away (although she is a bit of a jessie)

We just supervise them when they're together and it seems to work fine.
 
I have 4 cats & 5 buns. When I 1st bring a new bun into the living room the cats are sent to another part of the house. That way the bun regards the living room as their territory & will see off the cat if they get too close, though buns are quite happy to let cats sleep on chairs etc. Buns will also try to steal the cats food so I always make sure the buns have their own food when cats are eating. All in all Id say both species respect each other & do get on together its just that sometimes the buns like to put the cats in their place.
 
We have two cats :D

My cat is brilliant with the rabbits and I trust her 100% with them, but I would never leave them alone together because I am frightened one of the rabbits may hurt her if they binky next to her :D I even free range my rats with my cat in the room :lol:

Here is Smirnoff and Harry looking for somewhere to sleep :lol:

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My mums cat cant be near the rabbits at all because he plays rough, and again if one of the rabbits was to kick out it would hurt the cat :)
 
one of my cats has taken to sleeping in the rabbits hutch when their out and about. It actually makes me feel more relaxed, as if Ross will protect the rabbits from other cats.
 
The cat arrives on Friday so we will see how it all goes. We went to see the cat last night and spent time with it on our own giving it some rabbit chat and getting a lot more information about litter trays, food and stuff like that.
 
aw the piccy of the white bunny...the cat is sleeping exactly like my old snuggles did and my house bun used to come up to him like that..when his heart failure got worse shed wash him turn him over like alog even..trim his toenails for him etc he loved it after being terriified at first...she missed him so much when he died she stopped eating and got stasis and teeth overgrowth as she was a dental bun and had to be pts.

i love the ratty n moggy together...soo cute.
 
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