worried about my cat with my bunny

[Entwife]

Hello!! Long time lurker first time poster.

I have had my lovely lovely bun, Buddy, for nearly 6 years now and he is quite honestly the best thing that ever happened to me. 

Recently I took in a cat that needed rehoming (Bran, 3) and he’s great… to me!

At first they were good with each other, mainly curious and lots of sniffing as I introduced them through a cage and Buddy was very quickly relaxed around Bran, his behaviour hasn’t altered at all.

However when I let them out together for the first time I noticed that Bran was being semi-aggressive towards Buddy, something obviously I won’t stand for. It was mainly chase-play and a lot of rolling to his back. Buddy was fine and didn’t express any fear but this is behaviour isn’t something I can encourage at all, so since I have been keeping the cat out while Buds exercises. I would like to have them around each other without worrying about Bran’s claws and teeth. 

So really I’m asking; what should I do? Would you suggest a spray bottle? Or am I best just keeping them apart for good? I never plan to leave them supervised but I would love to give Buddy back the freedom he had!! Bran is a lovely cat but and I would really love for them tolerate each other a little better. 

Any advice at all is greatly appreciated, thank you!!!!!!! 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m experiencing something similar right now. I’ve always had cats that were completely uninterested in my buns. Last month, I adopted a youngish cat (foster fail ) and he’s a bit playful with the bunnies. My senior bunny isn’t too concerned but Kyle (the cat) often chases my big boy, Sterling and Sterling gets pretty upset sometimes. I know he’s just playing. There is no aggression but I want him to stop so I’m planning on trying a spray bottle. I will let you know how it works.

[Kat9055]

My cat is a polydactyl, so this advice doesn’t work for me, but soft claws (claw caps) works great for my friend’s cats. They only take a couple minutes to apply. It won’t solve the problem, but it may help out!

[LittlePuffyTail]

Thanks for mentioning that, Kat. I usually advise to use those or at least clip kitty’s nails very short. Cat scratches on a bunny can get infected and abscess.

[Kat9055]

Yep, I clip all 20-something nails every few weeks on my polydactyl just to be safe.

[Nev]

I’m not a rabbit expert, but I know cats

Highly supervised exercise for Buddy. Especially with a cat you are just starting to know… you never know. Bran could seem fine for one minute, then think he is a jungle cat stalking prey the next. Even if just play, Buddy could get seriously hurt.

We adopted our bun, Daisy, in August. We had a 10 year old cat (who passed away in September ) that never gave Daisy the time of day, just pretended she didn’t exist. Now we have a pair of 21 week old male kittens who are terrible brats. Daisy didn’t hesitate to show them who is “alpha cat” around here. They don’t play together necessarily, but Daisy will chase them around. Daisy has recently had surgery (eye removed – an infection that wouldn’t heal, I would heed the above advice about cat claws and infection VERY seriously, Daisy wasn’t harmed by a cat, however we have since learned that infections in rabbits is no joke!) – the “boys” will lay down near her, – almost as if they can sense she isn’t feeling well and want to show support.

It can take a LONG time for two cat strangers to get acclimated to each other. Allow lots of extra time, consideration and supervision for your pair, their instincts are hunter and prey, that needs time to get over.

[Author]

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