Haha, she sounds like a diva. Thumping can mean a variety of things, it could mean that she was scared, annoyed or angry. Some peoples bunnys thump when they are angry, my bunny thumps when she has heard something, she perks her ears (Perks her ears as much as she can for a lop) and thumps.

She was probably afraid of your cat, one of my bunnys hates my dog and hides in his cage every time my dog is in the pen, he has gotten better though.

To look up more on bunny language you could go on language of lagamorphs to teach you about bunny language, it is very useful.

I agree with Moonlight_Wolf. Your bunny is probably scared or angry about the cat being around. I’m all for desensitization, so I would try bringing the cat around for small amounts of time to get your bunny used to it. Of course, this should be done after the bunny is fully settled into her new environment – one week probably isn’t enough time, but after a month or so you could try it again. Try to keep the sessions short and stop if your bunny gets agitated. You could also try feeding the bunny when the cat is around, so she associates the cat with good things.

I suggest you introduce them while they are on different sides of the pen. That way your bunny will feel secure and they cannot get too close.

But your bunny is still getting to know you and your place, so give her time to settle in and feel secure before you start introducing them again. Right now everything is still new and scary.

I agree – my bunnies will thump and run and hide when scared by something. But they always thump first. If the rabbit had no where to run and hide then it would more than likely still thump. Next intro you might want to give the bunny a place to run and hide in so then you’d know if it was scared or not. I use to put a small cardboard box in my first rabbits cage to give her a private place (this was before she became a free range bunny). Just a thought for you.

Or there is going to be an earthquake…

Or is that just Maryann that does that??

Desensitization (assuming your bun is scared/angry with the cat) needs to go slowly

So try giving your bun a blanky with the smell of the cat on it, for short periods of time. Then maybe handling the bunny after handling the cat. Then have the cat ‘in view’ and give a couple raisins to your bun. Then start introducing closer and for longer. Take your bunnies stance and reactions to guide you as to when you can proceed to the next ‘level’-ie if she looks stressed, is stomping or trying to hide then go down one level and stay there until she is secure again Ideally I’d say a few weeks of a few sessions a day

I read this and had to tell you about my experiences with Chubs (my little diva boy) and thumping.

1) My friend brought his puppy over for a little while. The puppy completely ignored Chubs and was content to lay on the rug and chew on a stick. After he left, Chubs came out (he’d been ignoring us) and sniffed the rug. Then he thumped like 5 times and ran off to pout for a little while. Haha.

2) I was gone for Thanksgiving weekend and had a bunny sitter stay at my house. When I got home last night all excited to see my boys after missing them all weekend, I got on the floor to give Chubs a snuggle and he must have smelled my dad’s dog on my clothes. He thumped at me for probably 5 straight minutes behind his chair before he’d come out and give me cuddles!

Clearly, if I ever want to get a dog, I will need to do very slow introductions. Although I think Chub’s thumps are due to irritation and jealousy more than fear…he is not scared of anything it seems!

Thumps… what do you mean by that. I think stamping his feet………..? Explain it to me.

Hehe yes by thumps I mean that he stomps his back feet. Have you heard yours do this? They can do it for lots of reasons- fear, annoyance, wanting attention, etc. Chubs tends to do it when he is annoyed with me for some reason and Comet hasn’t done it yet!

Monkey has only thumped once since I got her, and that was when we were packing up her stuff to take it to my mom in laws house laaate one night, around 3 am, during our massive heatwave we had here. She was not impressed with me taking her box away from her

My guess is that he was annoyed with your cat, since you say he had places to hide but didn’t run away. Lol. Though I would recommend going veryyyyy slowly with the introductions once your bun has settled in at your house. Leroy thumps at me when he’s mad at me. I have to keep him out of my bedroom, but he scratches at the door and thumps his back feet demanding to get in. He also thumps loudly when he starts his Bunny 500 or before jumping on the couch. (The thumps before jumping on the couch are out of impudence, he KNOWS he’s not supposed to be on the furniture ). I think it’s just his way of communicating. Some bunnies are more “thumpy” than others.

onyx has never thumped but stu has thumped once and that was when i was cleaning out their area and i got in his way…how dare i!! and he thumped at me. saucey little guy