I’m New and have some questions??

[nikki82]

hello everyone.. i am loving this site i belong to something simular online that is a pug forum..

Me and my husband are thinking of getting a rabbit..i watched one for about 6 months but the people had it in an outdoor hutch..( it was a sweet rabbit, but i couldn’t see myself keepign the bun outside all the time)

so my questions are:

1: I also have a kitten, so need to make sure that whatever cage i choose the cat can’t get in…

2: i was doing some browseing on the car info on this site, and saw a really neat looking habitat that was made from a dog crate…any info as to how i would go about setting this up ( i actually have an extra dog crate at my hosue already.

3: if i get a young bunny that is not litterbox trained yet.. would i need to use litter all over the cage? to me that would defeat the purpose of trying to litterbox train and probably confuse the bun…advice on basic setup of cage would be great

4: also my current vet for my kitten and pug also works with exotics and other small animals so that is great that a new vet doesn’t need to be found right? do rabbits need any shots?

ok well i think thats all for now.. sorry for all the questions

 

 

 

 

[MooBunnay]

Hello and Welcome to Binky Bunny Nikki!

There are a few things you will want to consider before bringing a bunny into a home with both a cat and a dog (I’m assuming you have a dog for the “pug forum” . First of all – rabbits cannot stay in their indoor cage all of the time, they need time to run around and play, either in one room of the house, or many people on the forum give their bunnies time to run all around the house (generally supervised for the whole time). Would you be able to do this with a dog and a cat in the house? Remember, though all your pets are domestic animals, they still do have many of their natural instincts, and dogs and cats are “predators” while rabbits are “prey” – and so the dogs and cats can really frighten a rabbit if not supervised when playing together. A cat or a dog can even seriously frighten a rabbit that is in a cage, so you will want the rabbit in a room that the cat and dog can’t get into while not supervised.

If you have thought about these things and are ready to progress – I HIGHLY recommend getting a rabbit from a rescue. In this situation you do not want a baby rabbit because they will probably be even more frightened by the dog and cat, you will want to go to a rescue so that you can get the rescuers opinions on which rabbits would do best in your household, you’ll also need their help in introducing the dog, cat and rabbit to each other. Also, in a rescue situation you would probably have the ability to introduce all your animals to see how things go before committing to adopting the rabbit. In a purchasing situation, if the animals do not get along and the rabbit is in a situation where he is in danger because he is frightened by your animals, you are not left with any options.

Now – to answer your other questions – rabbits do not get shots, however they DO need to be spayed or neutered. This can be quite expensive, but if you adopt from a rescue, that will most likely already be taken care of for you. Rabbits do have various health problems that come up in life, and need to be monitored very closely because they hide their sickness’s very well. ALso, check out the links at the top of this page for litter training information (its under “Bunny Info”), I think that will answer your questions, and then come back to us if you need more specific help in a certain area

[Beka27]

welcome here!  it’s great that you’re planning on keeping your future rabbit indoors.  that cuts down on health issues tremendously, and it will make your bun much happier!

some rabbits can get along with other housepets, and your kitten may be okay with a rabbit.  but if you’re looking for a cage where the cat cannot get in, you may  want to consider building a NIC cube condo.  they can be built to accomodate different size areas.  there are pics of them in the habitat section on this site, as well as link to where they can be purchased.  you will be a little more limited on what you can do with a dog crate.  i know some people do use the dog crate and then they attach an xpen to it to increase the rabbit’s running space a bit.

if you get a young bunny, your first step will be altering it.  altered buns are so much easier to littertrain and care for in general because the pesky hormones are not in the way of good behavior.  or you may want to consider adopting an older (1-3 years old) rabbit from a shelter or rescue.  older rabbits are already altered in most cases and easier to train than young ones.  they can still live 8-12 years or longer, so they’ll be around for a very long time, regardless.

i think most people do not put disposable bedding material in the rest of the cage, only litter in the litterbox.  you can use soft bedding material (rugs, towels, or grass mats) in the cage for sleeping or lounging.  this is less likely to confuse the training process.

rabbits do not need shots in the U.S.  i can’t speak for other places around the world, and i’m not sure where you’re from.  that’s great that your regular vet sees rabbits, but you may want to double-check to make sure they are competent in that area.  there are some "trick questions" you can ask to see if they’re up-to-date with the latest info.

will your rabbit have run of a bunny-proofed area?  it is suggested that house rabbits get a minimum of 4 hours out of cage time a day.  this is important for excercise and the well-being of the rabbit.  if you haven’t already, you will want to check out rabbit.org  that is the House Rabbit Society page and there is tons of great info, and some things to consider before bringing a rabbit home.

[nikki82]

i just wanted to thank everyone for all the advice…

I know my pug won’t have issues with the bunny he is very laid back and has been around other small pets before with no problem
I am however worried about the cat because she is still a kitten, so her reaction is unpredictable…

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Welcome Nikki!!

As long as you have an area or room for your bunny to have a stretch and run (daily) where the kitty/dog won’t bother her you’ll do fine! You could try introducing them as you go along depending on the temperments!

Do you have any pics of your dog/kitty to post? We’d love to see them!!

[ScooterandAnnette]

We don’t have dogs but we do have 3 cats along with our 4 bunnies.  When we just had 1 bunny and an older adult cat (adopted from the shelter) we were a little concerned about how they would get along, but it turned out that the bunny scared the cat so that wasn’t an issue.  We kept adding bunnies and cats, and the two other cats were adopted as kittens.  With Sierra we just watched her while the bunnies were out and they interacted – she did try to wrestle with them a few times but we gave her a squirt from the water bottle and the bunnies also let her know that they were not impressed, and it didn’t take her long to stop doing that.  She actually kind of thought she was a bunny for a while, she’d get right in with them when the fresh fruit and veggies were put out and start munching away on romaine or cantaloupe with them.  The youngest one was also a kitten when adopted but he had been a stray so w really weren’t sure how he’d react to the bunnies.  We did end up closing to door to the livingroom (where the bunnies are) overnight for a while so that he wouldn’t climb into their enclosure – not so much because we thought he’d hurt them but because we knew it would annoy the bunnies.  Everyone coexists pretty happily now.

Here’s a little montage with all the various pets:

– Annette

[Lisa_43]

Hi and welcome, you will certainly get all the help you need here.

Enjoy.

[JK]

Wow what a family!  They are all so precious!  I love the little black & white bun.  Great pics!

[skunklionshow]

We have 2 bunnies & 4 cats.  Our bunny condo was originally a dog crate.  We cut off the top & one side and added NIC cubes on the side and built up.  Their condo is currently 4 levels.  I wanted to make use of her original cage which was a dog crate, but knew I needed her to have more space, so we built up.

Our cats are seniors 3 are 13 y.o and 1 is 7 y.o.  The youngest gets most excited by the bunnies.  He will occassionally chase Jessica when she’s running like a goof in the hall and up/down the steps.  One of my 13 y.o. only gets hype after Leo has been chasing Jessi around trying to hump her.  Another of the older ones actually jumped into the cage, it doesn’t have a top, which Jessica readily defended against the intruder.

I do not let the buns out unsupervised….we had a potty problem w/ Jessica pooping & peeing on the cat beds or anywhere cat and that was after she was spayed!  I agree that you should check out a shelter bun, where the staff will know how the bun would get along w/ a dog/cat.  One thing that might work to your advantage is having a small dog and kitten.  Some kittens can be dominated by smaller animals and trained to get along just fine.  Hope that made sense…good luck!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Welcome here.

I have 4 cats and 2 rabbits. When I first got Stormy he was a baby bunny and we introduced him to the cats very slowly. One at a time. They all pretty much ignored him. When I got a kitten I let them get acqainted through the cage so they could get used to each other without her chasing him. You will probably have to reinforce that the bunny is not a toy. Now my bunnies and kitten play with each other and chase and hide.

Good luck if you chose to get a bunny. They can be a lot of work but they are very much worth it

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