My cat's reaction to bunny

[dan h.]

Our 11 month old Mimi is very timid around strangers and strange environments, but very affectionate at home with us.

About a week ago we brought her to visit our neighbor's bunny in the early evening. The bunny is bigger than Mimi. This was about the third time Mimi has visited the bunny, but this time they got closer to each other than before, sniffing each other in an apparently friendly way.

Later that night, Mimi started to cry repeatedly, loudly, for about an hour and a half. This was the first time she's exhibited this kind of behavior. I was worried that she might have been in heat, even though she was spayed about four months ago, i.e. I thought her spay operation must have not been "complete".

But then the next day, she was back to normal, no crying. So I guess it wasn't heat after all.

Perhaps her behavior that night had something to do with the bunny? Any thoughts?

 

[meowsersmom]

Maybe she's lonely and looking for her new playmate. If one of my cats isn't in the apartment, the other looks all over the place, meowing and searching for him.

 

[goldenkitty45]

I have no idea, but it reminds me of when we had a rabbit and rex cats together.

The rabbit was about 3/4 months old or so - a "rex" type. Son had her in a cage in his room. So we figured to introduce the cats one at a time - taking the most friendly first.

Well the rabbit was about as big as the cat and we let them sniff each other....all was fine....then we let the rabbit out of the cage. She charged the cat! The cat ran downstairs to the cattery and would NOT return upstairs. And even when all the cats were allowed free run they would not go near the rabbit in the room.

I think Spooky told the rest of them how "dangerous" the rabbit was and none of them wanted anything to do with the rabbit.

Before we moved, we gave the rabbit to one of his friends who had a few other rabbits.

 

[ryn]

Rabbits are really aggressive. My brother's friend's cat was killed by a hare (OK, a lot bigger than a rabbit). Rabbits and hares can do a lot of damage to a cat, think of Watership Down. If the rabbit is hostile, I'd keep them separated.

 

[ravyn]

My rabbit turned very hostile when he hit puberty...late as it turned out. As soon as he was neutered he went right back to being a sweetie-pie. Rabbits tend to only be really aggressive and territorial if they are intact. Speutered rabbits don't have that drive to defend their space or to breed all the time (unlike dogs and cats, rabbits don't go into a 'heat'. They can breed at any time).

Most of my cats ignore my rabbits and vice versa, but my little foster Izzy constantly runs into the rabbit room whenever the door is open, to go and greet his friends. They sniff noses and lick each other through the bars of the bunny pen and Izzy just purrs and purrs.

Unless the cat is very mean, predatory, and determined, most cats will leave bunnies alone.