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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

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Forum BEHAVIOR Cats vs. Rabbits

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    • zoologist
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        You’d think with rabbits being prey animals and cats being predators that I would have a problem with our cats chasing poor Tofu around the house, right? WRONG. It’s the COMPLETE opposite.

        We have an elderly cat, Gizmo, who does not like to play. Tofu goes after Gizmo and stops short, just enough to freak her out, make Gizmo hiss and swat, and then Tofu goes on his merry way. 

        Freddie, who is 3, and Tofu seemed to get along…. yesterday. They were licking noses, and Freddie was grooming Tofu and Tofu was just sitting there. If Freddie got a little too grabby, Tofu would dart away and everyone was ok.

        This morning Tofu was running around the room like a CRAZY bunny! Then I saw him go after Freddie. Poor Fred. He just sat there like “wtf are you doing… OMG, get away!” . Tofu would literally run under freddie, buck his head up to make freddie jump away, and go after him again. I don’t get it.

        Luckily Tofu hopped into his cage so I closed everything up and now he’s resting, but I don’t feel comfortable letting him out. Also he is un-neutered (something I’m working on)


      • IsabellaRobyn
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          You could maybe have the cats in a different room while Tofu (Great name btw) is out and about? I have a cat but I’ve never let him meet Belle so I don’t have any experience on this. There are other members on here though that have cats and bunnies together and I’m sure they’ll get to you when they come online .


        • Brandy
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            I have 6 rabbits and 2 cats. They all interact when they want to. My older cat, Victoria, is not overly fond of the rabbits but just wants to sleep. Gary tends to use her as a speed bump, but by the time she stands up to hiss he is long gone. Andre (cat) LOVES his bunnies! He grooms them and plays with them. They all at least tollerate his attempts for the most part. Sophie will grunt if he gets too close trying to lick her. Gary and Andre will chase each other all over the house for an hour at a time, taking turns who is in the lead.

            This is a very common sight in our house- Andre on the right, Becky on the left:

            It sounds to me like Tofu was trying to get the cat to play. Gary will bow and rock to entice Andre to chase him. I have seen Becky hop on Andre to initiate play as well. It’s hard when the intentions are good but there’s interspecies communication difficulties. I would just watch to make sure everyone is having fun and step in if they are not.


          • Deleted User
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              I understand your concern! I have two cats and Skipper. Skipper is not a spayed bun (we’re working out that) and she will try and hump the cats. Skipper gets really frustrated that they don’t understand the “licking order” and that she’s at the top. So after a few seconds of offering her head to be licked and the cats not doing a thing she’ll go after them. This behavior used to not take place until she hit about 6 months of age. The cats used to love sitting by her before this. How old is Tofu? Has he hit his hormonal stage?


            • LBJ10
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                My cat passed before we got the buns, so I don’t know how they would react to a cat. The dog wants to play with them, but they just ignore her for the most part. I think it upsets her because we had chinchillas before and they loved to play with her. These new “chinchillas” aren’t any fun.


              • LittlePuffyTail
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                  I can relate. At one point, I had 5 cats along with my 3 buns and I never worried about the cats hurting the rabbits, it was the other way around! My Mini-Rex, Stormy, used to be a little kitty terrorizer in his younger days. He would try to bite their tails if they wagged them near him. He thought it was great fun to chase the cats out of HIS living room. He especially liked to bug my grumpy cat, Nefera. He would instigate and get her going until she would slap him across the face with her paw. Then he would try to bite her.

                  My buns are not free range. When I let them out for play time, I pen off part of the living room. My cats can either come in or stay out, depending on whether they feel like dealing with the buns. My two cats I have now and my 3 buns pretty much ignore each other.

                  Are your buns free range? I think it’s important that the cats have an area to get away from the bunnies.


                • zoologist
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                    Tofu has the run of the house when he’s out of the cage. Most of the cats just sit on the cat tree or the couch (anywhere up high) to get away from him.


                  • LittlePuffyTail
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                      What about putting a baby gate in the doorway of a room so the cats can have a room all to themselves? My cats can jump over them but my rabbits won’t.


                    • samiboo
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                        hahaha i have a cat named gizmo to. after he’s fixed he should calm down but my bun zola still freaks out the cats try giving him the “look” whistle or say nu huh tofu in a stern calm voice. he should listen and learn


                      • SnowflakeN'Elie
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                          I can somewhat relate! We have 2 4 year old cats, and every time Snowy gets close, they jump up and dash off – she scares them to death. Snowflake always looks really sad and pulls the lonely-me face at me after they do that =(.
                          I can’t give any advice, except to let them work it out in their own way. Maybe, if Freddie doesn’t mind, he could have on room to himself while Tofu’s out…depending of course how long Tofu is out each day…?


                        • zoologist
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                            unfortunately giving Fred his own room isn’t possible. we have 4 cats, one of which is a “room cat” and only lives in the bedroom, she won’t venture into the rest of the apartment. Fred is in loveeeeeeeeee with this cat, and would never leave her alone. Plus we have mice living in the bedroom as well and Freddie likes to bat at their habitat.


                          • Lyri
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                              I actually have both of my cats and my two bunnies in the same room. I live in a two bedroom apartment, so as you know, space is limited. At night i have to lock them all up in the room becaue the kitties like to go around and tear things up. The first few nights i had the bunnies in the same room, i slept in there as well on the floor, to make sure things would be okay. My one cat (Mufasa) is deathly afraid of them. When they get near her she runs away as fast as possible, but then she’ll creep up behind them and sniff them (trying to figure out what they are i guess). My other cat, Moo-cow, though loves them. She’s not gotten to the stage yet where she will lay down with them or play with them, but she does walk around them and sniff them and tollerate them. I leave the buns locked in their cage at night, but once we are up for the day, i left them out and they are fine. When the cats get tired of the bunnies, they simply walk out of the room and come downstairs. This doesn’t happen often though. For being afraid of the bunnies, spending the last few weeks together with them in the bunny/cat room at night, Mufasa seems almost protective of them now. I’ll sneak in there at night sometimes and see Mufasa sleeping on TOP of the bunny cage (which is hard to do with it having a peek room) and anytime the bunnies get near the stairs in the hallway, mufasa will bat at the bunnies until they go back to their room. It’s adorable really.


                            • LizzyBunn
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                                I have three cats and two rabbits. The rabbits definitely like to sass the cats and one of the cats really likes to sass back. Our oldest female cat is cautious about the bunns and skirts around them but overall they are mostly indifferent.
                                They’ve all been together for almost three years now and their relationships have definitely evolved. Unless your older cat is really bothered I’d let them figure it out, your bunn should eventually learn that he doesn’t want to play and move on to something more exciting.


                              • Tina Daniels
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                                  I love your buns name! I actually thought I was getting a bun for Christmas, got a case of silken tofu instead. ( not as lame as it sounds. I did want it …)

                                  So this cracks me up.


                                • Sarita
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                                  18851 posts Send Private Message

                                    Hi Tina, I’m going to lock this thread – we ask that members don’t pull up threads over a month old and reply to them.
                                    Thanks.

                                Viewing 14 reply threads
                                • The topic ‘Cats vs. Rabbits’ is closed to new replies.

                                Forum BEHAVIOR Cats vs. Rabbits