House rabbits and a cat...is it possible?

[louloubelle]

I have two sibling neutered buns, a boy and a girl, 3 and a half years old. They have the run of the lounge and kitchen area from 8 til we go to bed. They live in a big big cage in the kitchen, covered at night so the foxes don't stare at them too much during the night! Also have 4 children 8 and under. Rabbits happy to play on the floor, not too keen on being picked up.

My husband has always had cats and would love one now as well as the buns...can it ever work without being too traumatic for them? I have read various stuff that says a kitten would grow up with them and be fine, others which say no, always a predator etc...Does it work for you or are we destined to have only bunnies (which are very much mine not DH's or DC's.)

Any thoughts welcome!

[FernieB]

No experience of this, but I would say no. I have a house bun and my neighbour has 3 cats which find him very interesting through the window. He ignores them - I don't think he finds them threatening as he's nearly the same size as them. I don't know if they would try to attack him, but I'm very careful about closed doors etc as they are definitely trying to stalk him through the window.

Would a cat really be more interactive with your DH/DC than the rabbits? From the cats I know, they appear to either be asleep inside or off out roaming. My DC would also like a cat, but I'm not a cat lover (I feed the birds) - I've told them the only way we'd have one is if we moved further out into the country and it was an outdoor cat.

[louloubelle]

Thanks for replying. I was of the same opinion (am also an avid bird feeder) but after a chat with the vet yesterday thought the whole thing was worth looking into. She suggested a rescue cat, still fairly young but more able to tell personality than a wild guess about a kitten. I just feel that I have always had rabbits, my husband and children have never had a cat because of them, maybe I ought to consider it...

[FernieB]

If you get a cat, who will feed it and generally look after it? If the answer is your DH/DC then maybe consider it, but if it's you, then I think it's your decision to make.

[Midori1999]

Yes, cats and house rabbits can work fine! We have two house rabbits that we got a few months ago and our (indoor) cat is about four years old and had never seen a rabbit! The car is fine with them and vice versa, although the rabbits do live upstairs so they've had supervised contact only so far. One of our rabbits came from a home with cats though and had been fine for three years and one of the ladies at the rabbit rescue we got the other rabbit from (very good and reputable rescue!) keeps house rabbits, cats and greyhound together with no problems at all, so it's absolutely possible.

[louloubelle]

That's really interesting, thankyou for replying. Good to hear a story where it works as well as cautious ones too. I have spoken to a couple of shelters, may I ask which one you used?

[TotallyTopical]

In my limited experience of cats and rabbits, rabbits are vicious wee buggers and cats soon get wary of them! I've always had outdoor rabbits and they spend some time in a fenced off area of garden and have never been bothered by my cats or neighbourhood cats.

[GingerJulep]

If the rabbits are larger (than the cat ideally) you might be fine.

Our giant (outdoor) rabbits got on fine with most normal sized cats. But some would still swipe at them and one paw could easily take out an eye.

Would be very cautious and only start if you have the option to separate if necessary.

[TackyChristmastreedelivery]

We have introduced our first ever rabbit to a cat, and it has gone fine. The rabbit chases the cat off if it comes near his cage but apart from that they ignore each other.

We have also got a new kitten (poor old cat has had much to put up with) and he and the rabbit get on great. They play and chase each other and kitten sits in rabbits cage licking him.

So it might work?

We also introduced gp's at the same time, the rabbits and the gp's wander about together and everyone seems to be getting on fine!!! [bhmm]