My rabbit is acting different.

Question
My rabbit is not acting the same anymore. He seems sad and when I try to feed him his favorite vegetable (cilantro) he does not want to eat it. He eats a little bit but hes never excited about his favorite foods anymore. Is it because we don't let him out of his cage enough? Ever since we got a new cat, we had to keep the rabbit in his cage more because our cat likes to scratch and bite. The rabbit loves the cat and always searches for him but we have to keep them apart to protect the rabbit from getting hurt. Do you know whats wrong with my rabbit? Please let me know. Thank you.

Answer
Dear Rajia,

The rabbit certainly could be depressed about suddenly becoming a "second class citizen" with the arrival of the new cat.  I would strongly suggest you confine the cat and the rabbit for equal amounts of time, and allow the bunny at least half the day for free running time.  It's not fair that he's the one confined, not the newcomer cat.

Please also see:

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sickbun.html

You can also find information about bonding rabbits and cats here:

http://www.rabbit.org/journal/2-11/cats-and-rabbits.html

But be very careful.  A cat with a strong hunting drive, or a very active kitten, need to be watched all the time with the rabbit.  Of course the cat "likes" the rabbit, since he's prey!  You must be sure the cat's intentions are non-violent.

The rabbit should have as much priority as the cat.

Hope this helps.

Dana