Should I upgraded my bun to a pen?

[Rachel]

Right now my bunny, an 8 mo old male who’s the size of a five mo old cat, is living in a 8ish sqft dog cage. I want to move him into a puppy pen with fleece laid out under it and all his toys and hides in there. My girlfriend says we can’t because our cat would have “easy access” to him. We have a 5 mo old kitten who is always suspicious of new animals so naturally she thought the bunny was the strangest thing ever and did not like him when we first brought him home, but she stopped hissing at him after she got to sniff him a few times. Now she either ignores him or they play together (supervised, of course, the bun isn’t out if someone can’t watch him). I’ve seen the bunny chase her around around until she jumps out of his reach then she’ll chase him swat his rump (no claws). This is when he’s let out for free time. When he’s in his cage the cat completely ignores him except to dip a paw in his water bowl when I refill it, but she does this to the dog too. Keeping all this in mind, do you think an open topped puppy pen would be a good upgrade or do you think it could cause problems for the bunny? If it is a bad idea what alternatives might I pursue?

[Sleepy]

I have pens for both my buns and I find the pen infinitely better than cages I’ve had for previous buns. Pens tend to have a bit more flexibility for maneuvering, they’re easier for cleaning, and I’ve been able to create more run room with them.

If you’re worried about the cat getting at the bun, you might want to consider slipping on a top of some sort, just in case.

[ButtersBear]

Your bunny will definitely appreciate having more room with a puppy pen. I’ve upgraded from those small cages at pet stores for rabbits/guinea pigs to a one level cube cage to a two level cube cage to a three level cube cage….to finally the open playpen (with extra cube pieces binder clipped together for extra panels, since I had them). I don’t know how high your cat can jump, but maybe if you get a taller pen it will be less likely to try to jump inside. I have a 30″ pen (this one: http://www.amazon.com/MidWest-Exercise-Pen-30-Inch-Black/dp/B000H8YTJI) but there’s a 48″ option, too (which I should have gotten because my bunny hopped over the pen onto the couch a few weeks ago)! There are also exercise pen / playpen covers, but that might make your cat more likely to jump on top of it because she sees a surface she can land on. My rabbit ate the fleece blanket I put underneath, and we’re using a bedsheet right now but will probably upgrade to linoleum or something else soon.

[flemishwhite]

I have no experience with rabbits and cats, however there are quite a few youtube videos showing cats and rabbits interacting.  I’d like to think that a cat and rabbit sharing a house would get along especially if the two are about the same size.  Although rabbits can go into shock when faced with a unknown predator, I think when rabbits become familiar with a cat or dog of about the same size, they will defend themselves.  

We have a pen, about 3 feet by 6 feet for our two Flemish rabbits.  It’s in our living room.  They’ve used it since they were about 2 months old.  At first we would herd them back into the pen whenever we went to bed or left the house.  It was usually a struggle to get them back into the pen…they didn’t want to be penned up.  Later they began fighting at night, so we stopped penning them at night.  We just let them stay outside the pen where ever in the living room they wanted to be.  They are going on 7 months old now,  The pen door has been continuously open for over three months.  Now that they aren’t forced to be in the pen, they spend quite a bit of time in there.  I guess knowing that they are perfectly free to come and go, makes them very relaxed about voluntarily going in there.

The pen does have a covered top, so I think they feel safe in there.  They often lay under the coffee table.  We have several cardboard boxes under a dining room table, which is pushed up against a wall, they like to stay under the table being hid behind the boxes.  They like to play with the boxes, push them around, jump in the boxes, and eat the boxes!  

[Author]

Messages