Indoor Rabbit Pen in a Home With Cats

[MollyMcKinn]

Hello! I’m a soon-to-be bunny owner! I’m adopting a 2 year old dwarf rabbit. She has been kept in a cage her whole life and I love the idea of using a puppy pen, or building a condo out of wire shelving for her. However I’m needing some tips on how to keep her safe from our cats while we’re not home. If you have cats and rabbits what type of housing do you use? I’m open to any suggestions, or pictures if you have them. Thanks!

[Bianca]

My rabbits have only just become house bunnies. But I keep them in a sectioned off area of the study, so when I am not around the study door is shut and the cats and dog can’t get in. Mind you, I don’t think my cat would have any idea what to do with a rabbit and would probably just meow at them a bit then walk away. o_O

Good luck, and good on you for wanting to provide a bunny with a much bigger and nicer home than she is used to!

[Timber]

I’m not sure how much it would help, but if you build a cage out of wire shelving, you can make a top out of some grids pretty easily.

[tobyluv]

This page has many pictures of wire cube pens that are totally enclosed, including the top. https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/GreatHabitats/tabid/229/Default.aspx

[Vienna Blue in France]

welcome Molly – and what a lucky bunny !!

[MollyMcKinn]

I’ve seen some of the wire shelving cages with tops, but I’m concerned with my fat lazy cat jumping on top of it for a rest and collapsing the whole thing! How sturdy are the shelves if that were to happen? Also, I’m worried about a cat sticking his paw in to “play” with those types of pens because the squares are kind of large. I think I may have to go with closing a room off while we’re not home as Bianca suggested, but I’m open to more suggestions!

[Timber]

I think you could make it pretty sturdy, but my concern would also be with the cats getting their paws through the holes. It seems that that would be pretty stressful for a bunny.

[MollyMcKinn]

I’m thinking of building the pen with storage cubes and zip ties, then adding chicken wire to parts of the cage that can be accessed by the kitties. Since I now have a large corner of our office to put her pen it, I’m not wanting to build upward and risking a cat pulling the entire thing down. I’m hoping this will be sturdy and safe so I can trust unsupervised kitties at least while we’re home, just not in the same room. How does this sound?

[Betsy]

We’ve got three cats, and had two rabbits (now just one, RIP Vega). 

They all get along great – though we slowly introduced the rabbits to the cats, and we only allow supervised open-cage time with all of them.

We built our own cage for the bunnies using the cube-and-zip-tie system, and it’s been great. Ours does have a “roof” as well, and it’s strong enough to hold a fat cat, as you can see

What you see here is about half the length of the cage. It sits on an old coffee table of ours, so it’s easier to clean etc. – a bit raised. 

I’ll add – note the wooden “beams” that run lengthwise and width-wise – that is what makes the whole thing stable and gives more strength to the top.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Great pic, thanks Betsy – always nice to see different set ups.

[Betsy]

Thanks – though it’s a “funny” picture. All cats, no rabbit.  

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yup, but I can see why the cats like it – from a very good vantage point looking outdoors !! Cats love being up high !
My friend’s cat sits high up on top of her huuuuge double fridge… using shelves to get up there !! LOL My friend gave up trying to stop her going up there and ended up putting the cat cushion up there !!

[MollyMcKinn]

Thanks for the reinforcement idea Betsy! I will definitely keep that in mind. Two of our cats I have no worries about, but one we took in off the street and I’m worried how the introduction process will go with him since his prey drive has actually been his means of survival in the past, much unlike my two fat house cats! I’m hoping they will all get along, but I need the peace of mind when I’m away nothing can happen to my tiny bun!

[Vienna Blue in France]

Absolutely – its just ABSOLUTELY NOT worth taking the risk…

I only left my rainbow dog alone with my bun after she let her jump through (and around) her 4 paws and under her belly whilst not even looking down and with a look on her face that it was all really quite normal !!

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