cats & a rabbit

At some stage (not just yet), i want to allow Jack a bit more freedom upstairs and then eventually downstairs. This will mean he'll have to meet the cats and vice versa.

any tips?

my cats are two smallish females; one has shown an interest in jack's room - the other isn't bothered. i don't think that they will scrap as such but i don't want Jack to get frightened.

the cats arn't what i describe as 'ratters' they've caught the odd butterfly in their time and even brought me mouse as a lovely present a few years ago! so i don't think that they'll see Jack as food/toy - especially as he's bigger than them!

what do you think?

should i introduce

a) on neutral(ish) terrority like the living room (the cats have access to all rooms except for Jacks so completely neutral would be impossible)
b) in jack's room
c) just outside on the landing so he can run back to his room and his cage for safety.
OR
d) do i bother with a formal intro, or just wait and see what happens over the next few weeks and let the intros just naturally happen - when each are brave enough to see each other?

I wouldn't bother with neutral territory too much they aren't going to scrap like two bunnies meeting would. Its very important you are there to supervise so I'm not sure about just letting them meet as and when incase its the moment your in the next room.

I think the best way would perhaps be with Jack or your lap or in his cage so you have him safe. If he decides to run back into his room thats culd start a 'chase rabbit' reaction in the cats. Let them sniff each other and see what the reactions are and take it from there.

Tam

I've never done it, but I would think you need to let the cats have a good sniff about and get to know what a rabbit is. Once their curiosity is satisfied they'll going to be a lot less interested in chasing bunny about. I think leaving Jack in his cage and letting the cats sniff him at first is going to be the best plan. And once he's not frightened of them sniffing about him and the initial interest has worn off on the part of the cats, you can have some supervised play where Jack gets to hop about and the cats get to watch.

My cats all run from both the bunnies I have had. When bunnie sniffs round them when they eat (they share a room) they move away from him.
Sometimes bunnie is persistant and they get narked but never done anything bad.

My parents have 2 cats that mix with my bunny when i go to stay with them. One is a small young female and she is scared of bunny. The second is a big old male tom cat. He seems to think bunny is his playmate.. He hides round corners and jumps out at him. I always stay in the room when the cat is there and he has never hurt bunny. He tries to pat bunny on the nose but he just plays, no claws... but u never know do u.
Chris

i have kept cats and rabbits together. when i was young we used to let pepsi (a netherland dwarf) run about the garden and he and our big ginger cat would spend hours chasing eachother round the tree. first cat would chase, then bun would turn round and chase then cat and so on . both seemed happy with the arrangement!

then, later i had domino, a dutch, and he would try to hump Ebony Inka...who is a bit of a mouser..too small to be a ratter....but the would both just run away.

now we have Norman, he began to show an intrest in Bern and was rewarded with series or nips on the back of the legs as she chased him round the room!! norm is a playfully boistrous cat and will run after you bvoxing with your legs...but he gives the buns a wide berth. he has been well and truly put in his place! :lol:

i think that the rabbit behaviour of investigating the 'new bunny' by going straight up the the cat, and sticking their face in their face is agressive body language to a cat. and the cat running indicates to the bun that they are higher up in the hierachy. so buns seem to end up in charge!

my posts always end up as essays!! :shock: :roll:

cheers for your replies. i feel reassured. i'm definitely going to keep hold of jack (lap/cage) and let them sniff each other out first - didn't think of the 'chase rabbit back to cage' game. i'm sure things will be fine, given time, just don't want Jack to get traumatised. it wont be for a while anyway, i want him to feel a home first. i'll let you know how it goes and what happens though!

thanks again.

i have two siamese cats and a rabbit. the rabbit lives on my balcony (its all his, straw and hay all over the floor and his hutch at one end). my living room leads onto my balcony via a glass door. the cats and rabbit often stare at each other through the door (i know this as i find little wet nose smears on the glass every day when i come home from work). i let Dubbs my rabbit in in the evenings for a runaround and the cats just ignore him mostly. Dubb sniffs around the cats but they dont seem bothered. a couple of times the cats have got a bit over playful with Dubbs and i have had to seperate them. i would never leave Dubbs unsupervised with them though.

jack is still v happy in his room, his confidence is growing and he's starting sneaking towards the door, he's yet to venture through - i think in about a week's time he'll have cracked it. In the meantime, i'm going to get him used to our bathroom - it's just next door to his room. I really need to get in and do a proper cage clean as my attempts at the moment are not good enough as he's always bouncing back in to see what i'm up to!

i think when he's confident to come out of his room and go in and out of the bathroom i'll know that he's feeling 'at home' and then i'll look at introductions.

At the moment when his door is open the cats are prevented from coming up the stairs using a baby gate or if they are in our bedroom then i close the door.

thanks for letting me know that cats & rabbits do co-exist! fingers crossed so will mine soon!

juliex