I've had my rabbit, Coezy, since he was a baby. He is a 4 year old Netherland dwarf (3 pounds), neutered, and free-roams my room as well as the living room.
Recently, a stray cat has been living under our shed and after she was vetted (She is a spayed cat, around 4/5 years old, 9 pounds)
I'm wondering if there's any chances of them coexisting? I don't expect/intend them to be friends, but I am wondering if there's any way I can make sure the cat won't eat my rabbit if a pet-gate wasn't around lol.
Shes been living indoors for about 2 weeks, and they've exchanged scents, and they've sniffed each other (through pet gates) but I still do not trust her being around him since she tends to fixate a bit too much on him when he's around.
I'm trying to make it work, but I understand the limitations of my efforts since prey-drive in cats is out of my control. I already talked to my friends and they're able to adopt her if things fall through.
Until then, are there any tips/tricks/ideas to make coexistence achievable?
I have an idea about harness training the cat, then allowing her into the room with a harness (with the pet gate around Cozy) just to have peace of mind and not worry about her sticking her paws and whatnot through the fence and potentially scratching Coezy. Let me know if I should go for a different approach!
Thank you!
Update: The cat had to be rehomed for unrelated reasons (long story) but Coezy is perfectly okay, sine they never got past the ‘fenced sniff session’ phase. Thanks for all the suggestions even if it didn’t end up being a thing!
by Frizii-catt