Cats & Rabbits

We have a cat, Pudge, who is two years old and terrified of the rabbit. At the moment Olly is an indoor bun, housed in a large cage and given free roam first thing in the morning and in the evening, plus lots of cuddles on our lap (not sure who enjoys that more, us or him!).

We are currently keeping Olly and Pudge apart when he is runs free as he is quite small and I am not sure what the cat might do. At the moment she glares at him, pats him on the head with her paw through the bars of his pen (don't think her claws are out) and runs away if he comes up to her. The rabbit seems remarkable unconcerned by her and will happily hop up to her to have a sniff if she is brave enough to come close.

The have on one occasion, shared a lap (my son's). The cat laid next to him snuggled up to his leg and Olly was on his lap.

My question is - is there anything I can do to help the cat come to terms with Olly? Anyone got any experience of this?

you could try letting them spend time closely supervised by yourselves. cats are cowards sometimes and if theres only paws when bun is caged..not when bun is out and about and the cat runs off if bun comes up..then its a good sign id say.
my old cats were both 7yrs old and my cat was 6yrs old when we got kibbles..she had one of those cages that had a plastic base with clear plastic sides and a grid lid. but when my two older cats saw her they went up to the cage sniffed fluffed up their tails and leggedit. my cat however went up and introduced herself..they became best pals..the neuter tom was the love of kibbles life even made her have a false pregnancy tabby however was her nemesis..if kibbles was very ill with her dental probs(she was a dental bun with lots of probs) and tabby hadupset tummy again and was being straved then taby would prowl around her cage and sit on top trying to swat her..no claws tho but i owuldnt trust that sistuation but the rest of the time theyd paly and if they fought..theyd have a quick box like hares an taby would have to run away or kibbles would have beaten her to a pulp!
we lost our tom to heart failure and kibbles pined away she was pts about a month and a bit after he died and the other two cats missed her so much they wouldnt eat for 48 hrs and kept looking for her ubder my bed etc as she ran free in the house in the end!
we got our second bun a uppy eared bun and the cats would swat him as he ran past as he was sooo fast and annoyed them trying to sleep but they were quite close in the end.....when he died suddenly they were uspet then too..tabby was recovering form kidney surgery etc and didnt relasie he was gone for a while. whereas my cat was looking of rhim for a week or more.
we got a mini lop a month or so after and as soon as he arrived he was held down for ehr to sniff..she licked him on the ehad sniffy kissed his nose and her tail wchih had beeb kept donw since woozle died went up int he air and she purred real loud.

both catsd passed away within a few months of each other and our mini lop had ot have a partner as he was sooo lonely without them!

we have two cats now from kittens and theyre two......they grew up thinking bif was their mum and bertie was their dad. when we got our young frenchie they regarded her as baby sister..still do even tho shes massive!!

bandit they get more excited by as hes so hyper and nervous..they liek creeping up on him patting him or nudging him bunny style just to make him jump then walk off laughing..till bif chases them to tell them off but they love their mummy and if she tells them off they get embarressed and sulk.

never ever leave them loose together..but ifoyu ifnd they get on real well they can beleft to play within your sight etc..but best cage up whilst out or overnight.

ours all live as a family very confused family!!

if youre cat is a prolific hunter..my advice is...keep your guard up as those cats cant help killing prey so close at hand. my tow get over excited playing with the buns every now and then but the buns usually tell em to get lost and they do unless its willow she likes to wrestle the cats play chase with them..and peek a boo and even follow my leader...she loves em AND THINKS she is a cat but then we have the cats who thinkt heyre rabbits..very odd!!

keep and eye but what oyu did on your sons lap with the cat and bun side by side is a very good idea to start with. put some pen panels etc or soemthing to stop kitty from pawing thru the bars....or provide bun with safe haven form paws!
then they can get to know each other by scent sight and even being close by each other.
baby buns or tiny breeds are more at risk than medium to large buns...the smalles we have is a lionhead and hes th eone they know they can make jump but they wash him etc and he likes to wash them so its only play.
bif isnt much bigger than bandit really but shes their mum so they listent o her!

play it by ear..spend time togehter on the floor with them. it might work it might not..but a try is the best thing. ive foind each time that the cats and buns are great company for each other i think its the fact that alot of bunny and cat body language is very similar and they will only love oyu if they feel likeit unlike a slavishly devoted dog!

I think supervised time together could be really positive for your cat, maybe give him a treat or lots of fuss when he politely tolerates bun. Our cat Dave, was a real wimp with our new kittens (I mean really scared) but strangly when he met Josie the bun, he was instantly intrigued (and not in the I'm going to eat you way), he absolutely adores her, shes now his little buddy. He's never raised a paw or claw to her and shows no interest in her as prey... but to be honest Dave is a cat who gets chased by Blackbirds and Wrens!

Our three kittens on the other hand, I would not dream of letting near her, they are rescued feral kittens and all litter sisters and are now only 6 months and they watch her through the conservatory doors and from the size of their pupils you know what they are thinking! Silly Josie just enjoys having an audience though! :lol:

One of my hutches is in a large enclosure with the door open so that the rabbits can come and go as they please. Over the summer, a neighbours cat used to sleep in the rabbits bedroom and my rabbits would be in the living area. The cat just liked somewhere warm to sleep and the rabbits weren't at all bothered. In fact, the cat was wary of them because she made a dash for it when she wanted go leave the bedroom and go home. We have a few cats round here and they are more nosey than anything else. I wouldn't have allowed this if the rabbits were scared, but they weren't. Think that yours will get used to each other and be ok. Kittens can be a bit playful though at first and one round here used to swipe at the rabbits. Good luck!

Thanks for all your advice. My cat is not a hunter at all - in nearly three years the only creatures she can catch are moths and crane flies!

I think I am going to continue with bun in his pen and the cat freely roaming, some more lap and then some supervised free roam for both. I am fairly certain that cat'll leg it from Olly.

i think youre doing fine with the idea..i wish you the best and hope oyu get cabbits:lol: thats what mine are..not rabits in willows case and not cats in the cats case..but cabbits:lol: