Scarlett and the cats?

[Scarlett]

Scarlett seems to be enjoying her new NIC condo and I feel so much better that she has more space during the day while I’m at work. While she’s in the cage, the spare room (HER room, technically) door is open and the cats can wander in and out as they please. When I’m home, that door gets shut and Scarlett has full run of that room. 

I’m wondering if I could keep that door open…with a gate so Scarlett can’t get out but I can still see her and socialize (I do spend time with her nightly in the room but it would be nice to be able to see her as I make dinner and do household stuff.)  But the cats make me worry.  I have no fear with Scarlett and my cat, Duck. They’ve been introduced outside of cages and Scarlett immediately went sniffing at Duck then settled down right beside her and allowed Duck to groom her. They do this for hours and I quite often find Duck snuggled up right next to Scar’s cage and Scarlett snuggled up to Duck from the inside. Duck is a special needs cat and can’t jump or really run and isn’t much into the chasing kind of play so if it was just Duck, this would be a non-issue. But I have Ms. Indy…who is possibly the sweetest evil cat ever.  She has good intentions but plays rough and loves to stalk and pounce. Now she’s completely used to Scar and I’ve never seen her act aggressively towards her but they’ve never been introduced outside of the cage. Indy is a sweet cat, just playful. I know she’d never intentionally hurt anyone/thing but I just don’t know that I can trust her. I think a gate would probably stop Indy from going in there but if she really wanted to get in she would find a way. 

I guess my question is…has anyone had success in introducing a playful cat to their rabbit? Can they live in peace together? *GASP* could there be a possibility of free roaming Scarlett???

[Beka27]

Have you considered replacing the traditional door with a screen door? The door could be fully shut but interaction could still occur.

[Scarlett]

Hmmm good thought but I’d have two concerns with that…couldn’t Scarlett easily chew through that? And my other concern is that Indy often tries to climb screen doors/windows and wrecks them.

[Otti]

Honestly you can’t be sure that your cat will be safe around her unless you test out how they act around each other outside of the cage in a supervised environment. You say your cat Indy wouldn’t hurt anything, but if she still has the instinct to pounce and essentially hunt, there’s a chance that even if she’s just playing, she could see Scarlet as prey.

Considering how well cats jump/climb, anything other than a full door protection of some sort would be taking chances, unless you determine over time that the cat can in fact be trusted with the rabbit.

I have a really lazy domestic cat at home in Milan, and even he occasionally (like once a year) acts really out of character and manages to somehow capture a pigeon or large insect on one of our balconies. He’s definitely not a ‘hunter’ generally, but the instinct remains and sometimes shows. We’ve had him since he was a baby so he still displays these hunting instincts even though he’s never actually had to ‘hunt’ for his food.

He was actually deathly scared of our rabbits while I was growing up, but I don’t know how he would have acted if he had been allowed to interact with them freely (they were my siblings’ rabbits and were almost always caged, which not that I’m more informed I realize was really not okay).

[Beka27]

It would depend what type of door you got. This idea wouldn’t work with all cats/rabbits, only you would know for sure if it would work or not, but it was an idea ;o)

[Scarlett]

Posted By Otti on 11/02/2010 11:05 AM
Honestly you can’t be sure that your cat will be safe around her unless you test out how they act around each other outside of the cage in a supervised environment. You say your cat Indy wouldn’t hurt anything, but if she still has the instinct to pounce and essentially hunt, there’s a chance that even if she’s just playing, she could see Scarlet as prey.

do you have any suggestions on how to test it out? Just both let them go in the closed off room and supervise??

It’s such a tough call. I have so much faith in Indy not being harmful but ya, you can never be too sure. I mean I wish they could all just be free roam through out the house (even if it’s just when I’m home) but I just don’t know how to implement that.  I have so much fear that something will happen…I just hope that Scarlett isn’t getting jipped because of that fear.

[Karla]

Karl want on holiday at my parents place a while back and they have 4 cats. There was no introduction at all. They are quite old, so they are not that playful anymore though. When I was a kid, we had free-roaming bunnies and cats as well and there were no problems either.

All cats I have known have been slightly scared of the bunnies and have tried to avoid them. My cat lets them sniff his tail, but then he leaves as he is obviously very annoyed with them for not letting him rest – and trust me, he can be a real meanie to other cats.

I would not be so scared about it, but of course you know your cat best. If I were you, I would simply let them out together and just watch. If your cat gets ready to jump Scarlett, then say no and move her.

[Scarlett]

Thank you, Karla. I really am scared but you know, Indy does listen well and it doesn’t take much to distract her. AND it takes a long time for her to actually pounce so I would have plenty of time to distract her with something else. I think tomorrow, I’m going to give it a try.

[Balefulregards]

In some ways I am going through a very similar thing with Loki (cat) and Coco and Jackson.

Loki LOVES to charge the rabbits. It has become his new favorite game. If I close the door ( and we do) he waits outside and rushes the room as soon as the door is open a crack.

Of course the joy is seeing the rabbits scatter. Which Jackson does for EVERYTHING. He is my scaredy-bun.

Coco, starting about a week ago, is holding her ground with him. He charges and she faces and stares at him. He will come and touch noses with her. If he gets too close, she makes a very distinctive Grunt at him – the same noise she makes at the Broom. He will back off and sit down and watch her.

At least once a day, I do a session where I sit with Loki between my legs and hold him while Coco and Jackson both come and give him a thorough sniffing. I am hoping that by acclimating them to him and vice versa, they will be able to come to some mutual agreement.

Our former cat was perfectly fine with Coco from Day One. Would sleep in a basket in the room with coco….

However, Loki – I just can’t trust him yet and we would never allow him access to the rabbits while we weren’t in the house. If we go out, the rabbits door is Closed.

[Scarlett]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Indy doesn’t seem overly interested in Scarlett to be honest. I think I’ll introduce them outside the cage for short periods of time first. I can get Indy in a harness a lot easier than Scarlett so I’ll keep control of Indy and see what happens.

[Otti]

I would definitely hold one or the other in my lap for a while for the first introductions, not just on the floor with a harness. Just a suggestion You’ll quickly see if your cat is too scared to get close etc. Honestly, I don’t know if I’d ever feel comfortable leaving them alone unsupervised, even after a while that they’re okay together, because animal’s are instinctive and their behavior can change quickly for no apparent reason. That’s just my opinion and my own comfort level though. If the cat and rabbit had grown up together or coexisted for a very long time peacefully (years) I’d probably feel differently.

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