# My rabbit is terrorizing my cat.



## yramnot (Aug 3, 2010)

I have two male Holland lops, neutered, and about seven months old. Jack is slightly bigger at 4.5 pounds, while Peter is at 3.5. Now, I also have a cat named Kenai. He's a large male ragdoll mix weighing in at about 20 pounds. Now, one would think that my cat could easily defend himself, but that hasn't proven to be so.

When I first got my rabbits, I worried that Kenai would try to harm them because he is a very skilled hunter. We never see mice in the apartment; we only know they were there because of his horrific mouse farts the day after eating one. He proved my fears wrong when I allowed him to interact with the bunnies. He was very friendly, and delighted in playing with them. He was always exceptionally gentle with them.

Now, suddenly things have changed. After giving my rabbits free run of the house, I noticed a sudden behavior change. Kenai was terrified of my rabbits, when he used to adore them and love playing with them. He hasn't come into my room on his own in weeks because of his fear. I have to actually carry him in and put him on my bed (which is a loft bed, high above the floor where the rabbits can't reach). I didn't understand why this fear had suddenly come on, and although I understand that this was a very risky thing to do, I decided to put them together in an unfamiliar room and see how they interacted. I had to see for myself exactly what was going on between them. The room was quite large, so there was no risk of the animals feeling overcrowded. The rabbits had their own spacious side, and the cat had his own.

As always, Kenai was horrified by them. He huddled in the corner of the room, refusing to move. Now, Jack did not appear to be a problem. He seemed interested in Kenai, but never approached, went about his business playing and eating hay. Peter, however, had a very different reaction. He actively approached Kenai from across the room with ears plastered against his head (as best as a lop rabbit can do, anyway), sniffed him, and then charged at him.

The entire thing happened so fast, I didn't fully comprehend what I had seen until after the fact. This 4 pound rabbit was attacking my 20 pound cat, and bit him. Actually BIT him. I was able to break up the fight before anything serious happened, but the rabbit's intentions were quite clear. He had fully intended to harm that cat. I had seen enough, and I put the rabbits in their cage, where they are as I type. I tended Kenai's bite, and attempted to console him as best I could.


This is ridiculous, for many reasons, and I wanted to know if anyone had any constructive advice on how to handle this situation. I love my rabbits, but I love my cat also. I would not tolerate this kind of behavior if my cat were the aggressor, and I see no reason to tolerate it when the rabbit is the aggressor either. Why has Peter suddenly become so aggressive? He used to be friends with my cat. What happened?


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## Pipp (Aug 3, 2010)

Hormones and territorial issues. Pipp, my 2lb dwarf, was sweet with cats until she hit puberty, then she zeroed in on my 18lb cat whenever she was in her territory. She'd circled around behind her and would either latch onto her tail or get under her stomach and try for her belly. 

The only solution I came up with was to limit Pipp's territory to just my room with no cats allowed, which actually was fine with Pipp, patrolling the whole house was exhausting. You may not have that luxury space-wise if you want both the cat and the rabbits in your room.

My other dwarf, Sherry, would 'tag team' with my mini-rex Dill and play 'cat ambush'. They'd hang out at the side of a narrow corridor leading to the cat dish and when any of the cats tried to get to their food, the rabbits would jump out and scare the bejesus out of them. 

My rabbits really only disliked Houli, the 18 pounder, not my other two cats (Houli's mother and a small gimped cat), not sure why, but Houli was the crankiest of the lot and probably hissed at them in annoyance early on. They got along fine with my other two cats -- except for the 'ambush' game. 

And Pipp is territorial about me as well as my room. If I pet any cat in front of her, she'll charge the cat. 

Not sure this helps you much. 


sas :goodluck


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## yramnot (Aug 3, 2010)

It helps, but not in the way I'm looking for. At least I know I'm not the only one!  I'm looking more for ways to encourage them to co-exist peacefully together again. As I said in my post, I would not tolerate this behavior if my cat were the aggressor, and I'm not going to tolerate it when it's the other way around. If I have to keep them locked up in their cage, so be it.


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## Luluznewz (Aug 3, 2010)

I dont think keeping them locked in the cage is the way to go about it. I would try to find a room where you are okay with the cat not going. By having both rabbits and a cat you are committing yourself to keep them both happy.

If the cat was attacking the rabbits in your room then the cat would not be allowed in. Now that the rabbits are attacking the cat you can either move the rabbits out of your room and not let them in or not allow the cat in.

I stay at my parents house for part of the year. We have three large dogs that would not be gentle with the rabbits outside of their cage. I simply do not allow the dogs in my room. The rabbit's cage is secure in case of a slip up. I just keep them separated. Its one of the challenges of havign multiple types of animals in your life.

Alternatively maybe you could attempt to teach your rabbit that its not okay. Get a spray bottle and spray them when they run at the cat.


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## Pipp (Aug 3, 2010)

I'm pretty sure the rabbit will get over it with time, it's just going to be a bit (heh!) hard on the cat in the meantime. 

I expect that the bunny will grudgingly share, but the cat is unlikely to trust the bunny again and probably won't be hanging out in the bunny room too much regardless. 

I honestly didn't try too hard because I had the space -- Pipp got my room, the cats got the rest of the house. My little Skye kitty misses cuddling on my lap, it's sad, but I'm only allowed one 'mate' and I went with Pipp over the cat. 

But I did for awhile have a series of pathways for the cats where the height bunny couldn't reach. It didn't work for my gimped Skye cat, but Houli could still come into my room if used the furniture to make her way to a bunny-free zone. She'd jump from the TV stand to the bed to the dresser, etc, and hang out, although she couldn't spend a lot of time on my lap before Pipp would drive her off. 

But Sherry managed to co-exist peacefully with the cats -- albeit somewhat nervously on the cat's part -- eventually. 

A word of caution... I briefly had another mini-rex here, Scooter, who was ridiculously cat aggressive. He wouldn't just bite to drive off the cats, he was out to maim or kill for some reason. And it was the death of him. He had been here a week when he went after my blind and deaf 21 year old cat, and it was a brawl with the cat on the losing end -- except she did end up biting down on his ear in the scuffle. Cat bacteria is very poisonous to rabbits. I took him to the vet right away and got him antibiotics, but the vet wasn't experienced, he diagnosed the bite as a hematoma and under-dosed the bicillin shot. But it was a bite and it did go septic and he did die from it. 


sas :clover:


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## yramnot (Aug 3, 2010)

I don't think keeping them caged would help much either, but I'm willing to consider all options. I'll try out the spray bottle thing, and moving their home base to the spare bedroom. It's not even both rabbits that are causing trouble, and it has only been going on for a short period of time. It's just Peter. Jack is indifferent to the entire situation, and would be quite content to play with Kenai if he weren't terrified of rabbits in general at this point. Both rabbits used to be friends with the cat until recently. Something changed.


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## yramnot (Aug 3, 2010)

Good news! The spray bottle thing seems to be working. I just feel bad for my cat, cuz it was a little rough on him. I leashed him, and then attached his leash to the doorknob so he couldn't just take refuge on the top bunk. When Peter approached him aggressively, I sprayed him down good. It only took one try for the rabbit to stop. 

For about fifteen minutes he didn't even want to go near the cat, but when he did, he approached cautiously and with respect. No charging or biting. Just light sniffing. I think this will probably do the trick if I remain consistent!


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## Pipp (Aug 3, 2010)

:thumbup


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