Introducing a kitten

[RosiePosie]

We adopted a 3 month old kitten and introduced Rosie (Who is 7 months old) to him while he was in the kennel. Neither seemed to care a bot eachothers presence and so we let him out and they’ve been free roaming together since then. Now, he is very rambunctious, so is Rosie, but she is also very chill too. All he wants to do is play and chase Rosie, which she is not interested in doing. However I do see her running away and him not too far away, then turn around and the roles are reversed.
Has anyone one had any experience with this? I just caught him on top of her trying to play like she’s another cat and so I separated them for now. Poor Rosie is I think a bit confused.

[Boing]

I read somewhere once that cats play one game. It’s called hunting. I love cats, but completely agree with this statement. My cat and rabbit are friends, but they don’t play together, largely because the cat loves chasing and pouncing, and the bunny loves gnawing and binkying. They will rest together and sometimes my bunny will convince my cat to groom him. She’ll give a half hearted lick followed by a disgusted face. She thinks bunnies taste awful (fine by me…).

I would redirect the kitten to appropriate toys! You may have to experiment to see what type of toy your kitten likes best. Different cats have different prey preferences and are thus attracted to different toys. (-from the cat shrink, http://www.amazon.ca/Think-Like-Cat-Well-Adjusted-Cat–Not/dp/0143119796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444779090&sr=8-1&keywords=pam+johnson+bennett) Some like stuffed catnip toys, some like toys that roll. Some like toys with bells inside; others require silent ‘prey’ to stalk and ‘kill’. Most like balls – the key is to determine what size of ball they prefer. Some like big, some like medium, small, etc.

That said, I have yet to meet a cat who didn’t like this type of ball. http://www.petsmart.ca/supplies-training/toys/whisker-city-pet-halloween-4-pack-lattice-ball-cat-toy-zid36-5236831/cat-36-catid-200099?_t=pfm%3Dsearch You can get a 6 pack at the dollar store for $1.25. Most cat toys in pet stores are more expensive, but are made in the same countries, out of the same materials as those for a fraction of the cost in the dollar store.

The exception is Yeowww catnip toys. They are made in the US of US cotton (grown, harvested, woven) and US organic catnip. Cats can tell the difference in quality. The little sardines are often sold by petstores singly and are cheap. Pet Valu carries them in Canada. Just make sure that your bunny doesn’t get to them. My cat has several of these with patches from where he was eagerly emptying them of that yummy catnip. I even suspect her of giving him a rejected shape (she gives him her rejected toys). http://www.duckyworld.com/products/catnip-toys/

Some cats will chase a laser pointer too. Just make sure that he doesn’t look at the laser.

The importance of toys to cats can’t be overestimated! Also, if the kitten has options he will be less likely to view the bunny as an interactive toy. You may nevertheless have to keep them separated unless supervised. My cat is 10, not a kitten, and I still watch them when they’re together.

Good luck!

[Hazel]

Cats and bunnies can become friends, but there’s no guarantee. It simply depends on their personalities. And as Boing has said, even if they learn to get along, they should  never be left together unsupervised. They don’t speak the same language, a misunderstanding can quickly end up with one of them getting hurt.

Our cat and bunny have learned to get along, but it took some time for the cat to understand what was and what wasn’t acceptable behavior around the bunny. Well, she understood pretty quickly, but for her to decide to comply took a little longer. Most importantly, you should tire your cat out as much as possible before letting it interact with your bun. I’ve said this many times before, a tired kitty is a good kitty! Clicker training has helped us a lot. We rewarded our cat with a click and treat when she acted appropriately around the bun, meaning, she would sit/lay down and be calm, or show polite interest in the bunny without getting riled up. If she did anything that we didn’t want, stalking, chasing, pawing, we would snap her out of it by calling her or making some other noise. Stop your cat as soon as you see any sign of him going into hunting mode, if he starts staring at the bunny, crouching, lining his body up with the bun with his feet tucked under, really anything other than relaxed body language should be nipped in the butt straight away.

Good luck!

[RosiePosie]

Thanks! Its been almost a week and Rosie is adjusting well. Eddie likes to hunt and pounce on her, but they only get supervised time together just to be on the safe side. When Rosie has had enough of him playing she pushes him off the couch or ottoman and if he persists she will run off to her cage. She seems to have put up her own boundaries! Its still not too cold outside for her so I’ve been putting her out in her play area outside as much as I can so she can have some time away from the little guy. Once my office is set up she’ll come down there with me and won’t have to hang around him all the time.

[Mr. Bun-bun]

Mr. Bun-bun thinks he is a dog. Lol. I have a chi and she loves her bun. However, the problem now is that my bun acts like a dog. My chi, chula, barks all the time and ehen she does bun is right behind her to investigate. It is too cute. The cuddle together all the time. They are always chasing each other.

[Philomena]

Atleast they seem to be getting along. My bun will straight up go after my cat. The poor cat just wants to be left alone to do her own thing but then Philomena just goes after her. That poor cat gets so confused and never knows how to handle the situation. She won’t hurt the bunny because every time Philomena got too close my dog would chase the cat away. Never had a problem with my dog they would sleep next to each other.

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