Rabbit/Cat Bonding Tips

Question
Hi Dana,
I have a baby dwarf rabbit who so far is a great pet. He is still young (8 weeks or so) but he loves playing, being held and petted, and pretty much any attention in general. He has the run of our large one room apartment when we're home (many hours a day morning and night) and the rest of the time he chills out in a large cage on the floor against a wall. He is also doing very well on his litter training. Here is my situation, our neighbor down the hall has two male cats that we used to let into our apartment often just to hang out. Since we got the rabbit (we've had Companion 2 weeks) we haven't let the cats in at all. One cat (the elder) I don't ever want to introduce to Companion, as he is pretty wild and not a very predictable or calm cat in general, but the other is young (9 months?), sweet, and well behaved. I know cats/rabbits can be good company for one another and I've read about introducing them to each other, but I have a couple specific concerns: Companion is still rather young and very small because of his breed, so I'm afraid the Cat might see him as prey even if Companion acts brave, just because he is much smaller than the cat. Also, is Companion just plain to young or too new to this new 'territory?' If so, how long should I wait to introduce them? I have also heard mention of cat bacteria from even a small bite or scratch that otherwise wouldn't really injure an animal being deadly to rabbits. Can you tell me more about this? Thanks!
-Ashleigh & Companion

Answer
Dear Ashleigh,

Your wise to be cautious.  I would not introduce the cat to the rabbit unless the cat was completely confined, as in some type of carrier or cage, so that you can carefully monitor his behavior when he sees Companion.  Though cats can be sweet and well-behaved with humans, everything can change in an instant at the sight of a small, furry animal that smells like prey.

The bacteria you mention is a real threat.  Cat mouths and claws are filthy with Pasteurella and Bartonella, either of which can cause fatal systemic infections from a puncture wound, even from play.  Whenever we have baby wild rabbits come in who have been captured by cats, the *first* thing our rabbit-savvy vets do is put the baby on fluroquinolone antibiotics (Baytril or ciprofloxacin) to prevent infection, even if there are no visible wounds.  It can take only a tiny puncture to cause irreparable harm.

We have a stray cat who has "adopted" us, and I will not let her near any of our bunnies for fear of what could happen.  I know that many people have cats and rabbits who are wonderful together, but I'm just not willing to take any chances.  (And I'm really not even the paranoid, overly-cautious type.)

If you *do* decide to introduce them, then you can find good tips here:

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


Hope that helps.  Good luck!

Dana