I adopted my cat 2 years ago, he is about 4 years old now (approximate age as they found him a stray). He has been such an easy going mellow cat, always affectionate and friendly with everyone he meets. He was an indoor/outdoor cat but we have recently had to keep him inside full time as he has taken to not coming home altogether for days at a time. About 3 weeks ago, (perhaps I didn’t think this through well enough in the beginning) I came across an opportunity to foster a bunny for a local shelter and I couldn’t turn it down.
I’ve never had a pet rabbit before, but I figured the cat would adjust and it wouldn’t be a big deal (I’m a big believer of letting pets sort things out on their own). The cat (Bagheera) was intrigued at first and sniffed and watched through the x pen and eventually paid less and less attention to the new fluffy guy (Wicket). We figured this would be a good time to let the bunny out of the pen and have some monitored interactions with the cat (as we wanted the bunny to come out to play and socialize). At first we locked the cat away while the bunny explored and after a couple days we introduced the two very casually. I had the cat cuddling with me on the couch and we opened the bunnys pen for him to hop around. The cat was very interested but stayed with me on the couch, flicking his tail.
Wicket is a very bold Mr. Rabbit, we do not know his age as he was also found a stray. He explored a bit before hopping right up on the couch to sniff Bagheera. Bagheera swatted him quickly (good thing we keep his claws short) but Wicket stood his ground and got another swat. As I said I believe in letting animals sort things out on their own, so we try to discourage the cat from doing this with hopes that eventually they will sort it out.
It has been a couple weeks now and Wicket chases Bagheera around, Bagheera sometimes chases back, never to attack (he doesnt really know what to do) but if the bunny gets too close Bagheera swats him pretty good (fur flying :S). But Wicket keeps confronting the cat, I feel that perhaps Wicket is trying to assert dominance? But I am getting concerned that they won’t just sort it out between themselves and that we will have to keep them separated because every time time the cat swats Wicket I feel badly and I worry that one of these times his claws will actually scratch Wicket, injure him and potentially get infected. There have been a couple instances where I am holding bagheera and prevent him from swatting while Wicket sniffs him and Bagheera gets very put off about it and does a low whine (not a growl). And as soon as I loosen my grip he will either swat or run away.
Can anyone provide insight as to Wicket’s behavior and/or suggestions about socializing them? I am at a loss, dreaming that someday they will enjoy each other or at least be able to be in the same room without being confrontational.
PS. I should note, we have now decided to adopt Wicket and keep him forever, we love him so much <3 so we realllly want to make this work!
Thanks