how to intro bunny and cat

[sammyp]

 Hi all, I’ve read around a bit (the few things I could find) on bunny/cat interactions, and was just hoping for some general tips or advice from those who have a successfully integrated bunny cat household.

Kitty already lives here, is six months old, spayed and a brat! There will doubtless be some initial jealousy on her part, as she is used to being the sole focus of attention.

Bunny is still young (not actually sure of his exact age, maybe 10-12 weeks?) anyway, still quite small. I will obviously keep them seperate until bunny has settled in completely (have a room that’s off-limits to the cat to start raising bunny in.) and will be spending a few hours a day in bunny room to acclimatise him to me. (he will be caged at night and when I’m out)

Should I give them each something that smells like the other first? (before introducing?) I could put kitty in her carrier for the first couple of introductions and let bunny hop around – would that help?

Anyway, any tips would be welcome, I just want it to go off as smoothly as possible!

[Furface]

I don’t think that I would try the carrier thing – the cat may resent it & the bunny for it.

Giving each of them something that smells of the other sounds like a good idea – bunnies are chewers so a towel might not be the best.
My area Dollar Store has small fleece blankets, 2 of these would be ideal, let each of them sleep/play with one & then switch.
Watch the bunny with the blanket to make sure she doesn’t chew/eat it.
Watch the cat with the bunny blanket – if she trying attacking the blanket, stop her. Try to have her be calm with that smell.
You could even wet a corner (wringe it out , not dripping) of it & wipe her face – this reminds them of their mommy washing them, most cats love it.

When I brought home baby Bugsy, I put her in my walk in closet as I hadn’t built my NIC cage yet.
For the first few days I would put the cats out of the bedroom & go in the closet to sit & lay down with Bugsy.
She was a very brave bunny so she was quite used to me by the 4th day.

Then I would leave the bedroom door open & of course the cats followed me in there.
For a week or maybe longer I would sit it the closet doorway with the Bugsy inside & the cats on the other side of my legs.
I would pet Bugsy for a few seconds & say to the cats, “Mommy’s bunny.”
Then I would pet the cats & say, “Mommy still loves you.”
I would alternate – petting for a few seconds each critter but always talking gently, quietly & lovingly to the cats.
If they tryed climbing over my legs, I would gently push them back & quietly say, “No, not yet, soon you can meet Bugsy.”
I started with short 5 min sessions, several per day, & increased the time each day as long as everything when smoothly.
From the 2nd day on I would also pick every one up & give a quick cuddle.
During the cuddle –
if I was cuddling Bugsy, the cats were allowed to put their front feet on me & sniff the bunny,
if I was cuddling a cat, Bugsy was allowed to climb on me & sniff the cat.

Then I proggressed to sitting in the back of walkin closet with Bugsy with the cats free to come & go but me there to supervise.

Things went fairly smoothly for me, although, my cats were 12 years old at the time.

Bonnie was also spayed at 6 months of age so she had never been a mommy. Bonnie cat adopted that little bunny.
They seemed to hit it off right from the start. They are the pair in my avatar.

Clyde cat never did take to the bunny. Bugsy knew he didn’t like her because he would run away instead of grooming her royal head.
This made Bugsy very mad. She would chase & attack that poor old cat all the time.
They would have fights that reminded me of the tasmanian devil cartoons.
The only blood that was ever shed was mine, I stuck my hand in the break up a fight! – Advice; wear gloves or use a broom.

Try to give your cat some extra attention so she doesn’t feel quite so – “that darn bunny gets all the love now.”
A few extra kitty treats & a new toy might also help her feel less replaced.

[sammyp]

 Hi thanks,

I will definetly try the face washing idea, and will just take the intro’s really slowly and see how things progress. I think the most important thing will be to get the bun used to me first and then once he’s comfy with me, start introducing Maro. I will keep plenty of treats handy for both kitty and bunny! 

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Should I give them each something that smells like the other first? (before introducing?) I could put kitty in her carrier for the first couple of introductions and let bunny hop around – would that help?

YES that’s perfect. The other thing you could do is put the rabbit in a carrier and let the cat smell her through the carrier. That way the bunny is safe and the cat can smell and check her out easily with no worries.

I think a lot cat/rabbit interactions work out really well Furface has some great pointers for you Let us know how it goes!

[KatnipCrzy]

As everyone suggested- go slow to prevent the bunny from being frightened.  But I have cats and 3 rabbits- 2 of the rabbits I got as youngsters and 1 as an adult.  Cotton, the first rabbit I got, loved the cats at first and would cuddle and nap with them.  Then she got hormonal before her 6 month spay date and started to demand grooming for the cats and when they did not compy she would nip them in the belly.  Needless to say the cats are not real fond of her anymore- they regard her more with suspicion than affection.

So all 3 bunnies now ignore the cats- even when the cats are on my lap and the bunnies jump up on the couch to beg for Craisins- the bunnies will walk across the cats like they are not even there- causing the cats to meow in protest- but the bunnies still do not pay them any attention.

I think the intro was so easy because my cats are indoor only, incredibly spoiled and have Zero prey drive.  The cats prefer different types of attention that the nose rubs, treats and pets that the bunnies do so there is no jealousy issues between my cats and rabbits.  My cats love to sleep on my lap- and the bunnies are more concerned with begging for treats, chinning everything, binkying and zooming around during their time out of their pens.

[BinkyBunny]

We did slow supervised introductions in our living room which is where the “neutral” everybody’s territory is. It was obvious right away that P-kitty couldn’t have cared less, and the rabbits were cautiously curious and would sometimes display aggravation with a grunt or do the “turn around and flick their feet” move. They don’t seek him out, but if the cat wanders into the bunnyroom (which he knows he’s not supposed to go into and rarely does) they first run, then they come out of their house and look at him, and Jack begins spraying, and P-kitty normally just leaves.

However, my fear is that P-kitty will be laying down somewhere, and one of the bunnies will come over sniff him and nip him, and as a reaction, P-kitty would swat at them and scratch their eye or something, so they are only out together when I am supervising. (which is most of the time since I work from a home office). I know exactly where Kitty at all times. I have my eagle eye on him! Normally, they don’t cross paths that much and it never is a big event when they do, but I’m always careful just in case. (Jack would NEVER snuggle with P-kitty that’s for sure, but Vivian may be up for it, I just haven’t nurtured/encouraged the cat bunny relationship past where they are now)

I don’t know if you have seen this article by the House Rabbit Society about Cat/Rabbit introductions, but if not it’s worth checking out. http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-11/…bbits.html

[MimzMum]

One caveat I would add when having rabbit and cat in the same house, especially if it’s an older cat who is used to getting it’s way.
I had an incident the other day with my older housecat, she has taken to sleeping on my bed since my son left for college. She can’t access his room anymore and she is lonely, so she’s starting to glomp me for comfort.
Unfortunately, the bed is also running space for one of my rabbits. Now these two have met before and they pretty much ignore each other, but the other night he was out, and she got on the bed, but instead of shooing her off I thought I’d see if we could share the space. They did great for about an hour while I petted both of them, but once my bunny started hopping around and throwing binkies, it began to worry the cat, so when he came up to sniff her one last time, she took a swipe at his face. She was summarily punished and banned from the room for the night. But I can’t keep her out of there continually, so she hopefully has learned I won’t cotton to that behavior. Luckily the bunny escaped unscathed, and thumped in his pen to show his displeasure. (I felt like thumping someone too, but I used the squirt bottle instead.)
Even so, I can’t feel totally comfortable leaving the two of them alone together, and I don’t think vigilance should ever abate when it comes to predator and prey species. Some drive, somewhere deep within-even if it’s just jealousy, will rise to the surface and express itself…and I don’t want that to result in a lost eye or lacerations.
I say, trust but verify. Keep an eye on kitty, you never know if she may decide bunny looks good to eat or beat on. 0_o

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