Bunny and cat help!! :(

[Ally]

We have a rabbit and a cat who we keep separated typically. They have supervised playtime but it’s pretty short and they both seem rather uncomfortable. I don’t think they’re ever going to get used to each other honestly. So, we used to keep our bunny in our room at night and closed the cat out. Now that we have a baby I don’t feel comfortable closing the bedroom doors as of yet, what can we do about keeping them separated at night? Will it stress my rabbit to move her cage into the closet every night? I can crack it slightly for some light, but not much obviously as the cat will get in. He sticks his paws in her cage and bats at her. We’ve tried correcting his behavior but he waits until we’re asleep to do it. Tl;dr She has plenty of out of cage time, but I need something to do with her at night to keep her out of cats reach.

[Mimzy]

Hi Ally, I imagine this is really stressful, I will try to help you out as I have 2 cats & 2 bunnies in my household. I don’t quite have this issue though, as I’m able to keep the door closed to the old cat & the new cat is used to the bunnies.
However, it gets hot during the summer & in order to keep my room cooler, I wanted to keep my door open. I still needed something in the doorway though 1) to keep my bird from flying outside the room, & 2) to keep the cat from coming in & the bunnies from going out.

First….
I made a gate out of NIC grids (you can get a baby gate though) & attach it like normal to the door frame.
I would make sure that kitty paws can’t fit through the gate holes, so a screened baby gate might work better.

If you’re afraid that the cat or bunny might tear the screen, You might be able to attach plexi glass or something in front of the screen, that way neither cat or bunny can scratch at it.

Second….

We know cats can jump pretty high (so can bunnies), to prevent this, you can get a magnet mesh screen to fit in the door frame much like THIS ONE. I used this screen to keep my bird from flying out. It allows the room to stay open & you can still pass through. It did get a little annoying after a while, so I have been considering getting an actual screen door with shades or something lol, a little odd but oh well

Otherwise, I think your bunny can definitely get used to being moved to another area during night time. I would try to avoid leaving it in a small closet with the door closed though as it can get hot & stuffy. If it is a small closet, I would try to somehow make a 2nd barrier around the cage, fence it off somehow so that if the cat still tried to reach the bunny, the 2nd barrier would prevent it from being able to reach all the way. Hope one of these ideas helps or gives you an idea for something that might work better!

[Elliriyanna]

Would it be possible to get an extra tall baby gate? Some of them have a latch and door so you can walk through at night if needed.

Another option is ( I am assuming the baby isn’t in your room) do you have a baby monitor? They are a lifesaver when you are out of earshot.

[Deleted User]

I was going to suggest a baby gate too, lol! Because Henry could fit through it, we threaded chicken wire (yes, very attractive – NOT!) through it. But I have to admit I’m not experienced with cats and loved Mimzy’s idea of a screen door. Hey, it can’t look anymore silly than a baby gate with chicken wire, ha ha ha ha! But for the safety of your bunny and knowing that both bun’s and cat’s can jump and climb high obstacles, I would definitely go the screen door. Brilliant idea Mimzy!

Cheer’s!

[blubudgie]

I’ve heard of ways to slowly introduce cats and rabbits together, maybe you can look that up and try it? 

 
Maybe you add a screen door to your closet? Like the ones people have at their front door. I’m not sure how hard that would be though. I was thinking about doing that to my bf’s bedroom door because I keep my birds in there and his housemate has cats roaming the house. They’re always trying to get inside. 

Other than that I don’t have many good suggestions, but I would be careful of using even an extra tall baby gate. If your cat happens to be athletic and very motivated, it could climb or jump over the gate. I’ve seen a cat jump/climb over a 6 foot tall wooden fence before o___o The cats at my bf’s house are fat, but they have definitely jumped over things higher than a tall baby gate before. 

[Author]

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