Female mini lop suddenly hates my female cat!

Hi all,
I have two dwarf rabbits that live indoors quite happily. Both fixed. Both bonded. I'm suddenly having trouble with my female though! She is 8 months old, by the way.
We have recently moved into a new apartment, in the old apartment when she was about 4 months old, she was fine. Teeny bit shy perhaps but would let me stroke her, even pick her up and cuddle her. Both my rabbits got on with my cat, even when my cat wanted to play with them. Most of the time they either played back or acted like she wasn't even in the room.
Until I moved. Now my female (Belle) is very shy of me - I have to bond with her as though it were from the beginning again and I haven't been able to let her run around with my cat in the same room because the first time I let them both out a few days after the move, she fully attacked my cat. Like she grunted, lunged and fully ravaged her taking a small chunk out of her leg and chased her right out of the room wanting to finish her off!
Every time my cat walks past the hutch now, Belle hops after my cat in the direction that my cat's walking past and she's tried to bite her through the hutch bars before. She stares at the cat intently whenever she's near and I know she's thinking "don't you come any closer."
She was never like this before and she is fully intending to do some real, serious damage.
I've wondered if perhaps it's a territory thing, with it being a new environment, but I really want them all to get along like they used to but I don't know how to encourage them to be friends again in case my cat gets hurt again. Or worse.
My cat wouldn't attack Belle, she's petrified of her now. I don't think that's fair to anyone involved!

I don't know why she's suddenly just flipped, my male (Winston) is absolutely fine with everyone and everything, but Belle and my cat have become mortal enemies in an instant and Belle is suddenly really wary of me. What could have caused this switch in behaviour? What can I do to resolve it?

Edit: I only let her out when I've put my cat in my bedroom now, so they both still get plenty of playtime daily, and I'm still working on bonding with Belle again. No picking up - just strokes, treats, praise, sitting with her on the floor and in the run of the hutch, all that stuff. It's taking a long, long time. I despair...

Welcome to the forum. I haven't heard of a rabbit suddenly attacking a household cat like that before but stress can cause bonded pairs to fall out. It sounds like Belle is stressed from the move or could it just be hormones? Is she spayed? Sorry that I don't have any advice or experience vwith this but wanted to say welcome and bump this up so someone who can help might see it.

bunnytoes said:

Welcome to the forum. I haven't heard of a rabbit suddenly attacking a household cat like that before but stress can cause bonded pairs to fall out. It sounds like Belle is stressed from the move or could it just be hormones? Is she spayed? Sorry that I don't have any advice or experience vwith this but wanted to say welcome and bump this up so someone who can help might see it.

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Hi there, thanks for the welcome and bump. She is spayed, yeah. Still having the most trouble handling her too, I don't know what to do for the best.

Still, kind of a disappointing volume of response for a website full of rabbit owners. I'm surprised that so far 99% of the users who have viewed this thread are completely stumped. It can't be that unusual, surely? Poor Belle...

Did you have your cat prior to having your buns in your last apt? It sounds like it might be a territory issue? As far as her behavior towards you, maybe she's still adjusting after the move and feeding off your energy?? Sorry I couldn't be more definitive in helping you! Best of luck!

I don't have any solutions. One of my indoor rabbits (Athena) charges at any of the cats, male or female. The boy cats especially are terrified of her. We don't let the rabbits and cats share any accomodations as a consequence. The rabbits have the dining room and kitchen (which still gives them room for all the exercise they need) - the cats, they have the rest of the house.

Aimray12 said:

Still, kind of a disappointing volume of response for a website full of rabbit owners. I'm surprised that so far 99% of the users who have viewed this thread are completely stumped. It can't be that unusual, surely? Poor Belle...

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I'm not an expert, just a bunny keeper reading this thread because I want to learn more about rabbits in different situations. I hope you manage to find the answer to this problem. My thoughts are maybe the cat has frightened her. Rabbits are prey animals and cats can, after all, kill bunnies. Or maybe the move has unsettled her and she feels the need to be on the defence. I am sure with your kindness you can rebuild the bond between you, not so sure about making the cat and bunny be friends though, especially if the cat is now frightened of the rabbit.

the first thing to do would be to take her to the vet to rule out a medical cause for the change in behaviour. failing that i would work on making her feel comfortable and safe in your new apartment and then slowly reintroducing the cat. if you can section off the room so that the cat and rabbits are separated but can see each other (perhaps puppy panels or similar?) it might allow them to get used to each other again without any risk to either.