Bunnies and Kitties

Question
Hi Brenda,
First let me thank you for making yourself available to answer questions about bunnies- I greatly appreciate it.

I got an eight month old Mini lop from a friend of a friend yesterday who was planning to set it loose outdoors to make it on it's own.  This weirdo is moving and didn't care to find a new home for this little cutie, so I inherited it.  I have two cats, one a large neutered male- the other a very young intact male and I'm not sure how to introdue them to the bunny.  So far, we have been letting the bunny hop around our bedroom (with supervision) for about 1.5 hours each day, but have kept the cats out.  What do you reccommend we do to keep the bunny safe from the cats, without always having to keep him shut up in the bedroom or in his cage?  Also, I was told that s/he is still too young to tell what gender it is, and I certainly couldn't tell- when will I be able to tell?


Thanks again for your time,

L'Rae (on behalf of Puck and Ringo, the resident kitties)

Answer
If the cats are in the least "interested" in the bunny, I would not let them be around it without supervision.  Perhaps when the bunny is full grown (should reach about 7 or so pounds if it is a true mini lop - Holland Lops are smaller than minis - go figure).  He/she should be able to defend itself, but not agaist both cats.  Being in the bedroom is better than being attacked.

As for gender, I can tell as early as 3 weeks old what gender a bunny is and anyone with any experience at all should be able to tell for sure at 3 months and up.  It is very difficult to explain in writing, try typing "rabbit gender" or "rabbit gendering" into a yahoo! search engine - there are a couple of websites with directions and pictures.  Mature males will have visible testicles - you may or may not be able to see them on your bunny.

Hope this helps,  Brenda