Bonding with a cat?

Hi all, been a while!

Anyhoo, my OH's colleague has a 3yr old cat & she's moving house but cannot take her with.

I've been slowly coming around to the idea of a cat as a pet for a while now. I was heavily allergic as a kid, quite bad when my friend got one a few years ago but I stayed with them for a couple of weeks when he got 2 more, & I've kind of developed an immunity.

My only concern is bonding with Phoebs. Is it possible? He's almost 3 now & is quite a chilled out yet playful when he wants to be bunny & I've seen so many stories of cats & rabbits in the same house with no issue but would they have been introduced from birth?

Just not sure. Any advice is appreciated.

Molly and Louie

I adopted Louie when Molly was about 12, they got on just fine even when Louie was a tiny baby.

Molly lived with 3 rabbits over the years and was fine with all of them

It depends on the cat and the rabbit really. Boots was too in your face bold for my cat Smokey, so Smokey is actually wary of rabbits :lol:

My dog (might as well be a cat, she's a chihuahua x pom ) bonded with my rabbits easily - although one is heavier than her! :lol:

Thanks all! Lily - Louis looks like he could be Phoebs' brother!

It seems like it just depends on the cat & the rabbit's temperament when they're together. Is there anything specific we should do when introducing them?

I would be wary if the cat is a keen hunter and/or particularly large, and the rabbit was small. Our childhood cat would frequently come back from the fields with half-grown wild rabbits that she'd caught!

capable said:

I would be wary if the cat is a keen hunter and/or particularly large, and the rabbit was small. Our childhood cat would frequently come back from the fields with half-grown wild rabbits that she'd caught!

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From what I'm led to believe, the cat is very much a house cat & not a hunter at all.

Phoebs is just under 3kg & the cat I think isn't that much bigger. Don't think he'd have any major problems, just wary as it's "his house"!

I have 4 cats and 3 rabbits, and they co-exist peacefully indoors (though the cats like to try to eat the rabbits pellets). Outside when the rabbits are free ranging one of the more hyper cats will bounce at them, but never in anything more than play. The cats seem to think the buns are very weirdly behaving cats!
3 cats were kittens when they met the rabbits, and about 18 months when the rabbits moved inside. One cat was a stable cat, so much older (12) and used to hunting, but if anything she is scared of the bunnies. All the rabbits are approx. 3kg and the cats just a bit heavier.
Now they all like to sleep in the same room, and I've never had a problem inside. Although I don't intentionally leave them together when I'm out, a couple of times (including a 3 day trip away when the door wasn't closed properly!) I've come in to them in the same room with no signs of scratches or stress.

Another cat and bunny household here. I have six cats (yes, I know ) and four buns. My two older rabbits now live indoors and we have no issues at all - one of the younger cats, Daisy, loves the buns and, Bella, especially curls up to sleep with her ( I'm desperately trying to get a piccy of this). I'd be wary too if I had really tiny rabbits - Trevor and Alys, my new buns are still quite young/small and I haven't free ranged them with the cats yet, just in case.

Had the sh1ts put up my idea slightly by someone today who pretty much said all he's seen of such pairings is a dead rabbit. Cats are natural predators but I can't see this one being that way.

You can never tell how two animals would react until they're together but I'm wary that there could be a chance they'd hate each other & the cat would win. The last thing I want is to keep the cat & have to confine Phoebs to his cage. I'd just rather not have the cat.

Thoughts welcomed!

Cats (and dogs) are predators and you don't know what they will do if they are unattended and their instincts kick in. My cat is never allowed to mix unattended with our rabbit.

We have a large cat who is a prolific Hunter and he likes to hang out with our outdoor rabbits, they will even cuddle up together. Truth be told he is a little intimidated by our conti as he is so much bigger than him.
We would never leave them unattended together though, they are happy enough to play together but if a loud noise spooks the rabbits and they take off, a couple of times Marvin (cat) has forgotten they are "his" rabbits and taken Chase. Both times he has swerved at the last second and ran and hid with a horrified expression on his face. He can definitely tell the difference between our rabbits and the wild ones but he still has natural instincts which can override any training.
I would be carefull.