Before Alaina brought Rosie home last February, she had been asking for a pet bunny for years. My answer was always the same: we have a cat (and are only allowed one pet).
Everyone knows that cats are predators; bunnies are prey. Growing up, I saw our pet cats chase, catch and even kill wild bunnies. I didn't think it would be safe to have a pet bunny with a cat in the house.
However, when we visited pet stores and even the bunny cafe, people told us that cats and bunnies could get along, depending on their dispositions. But by then we had Pumpkin--a young cat who loved to hunt anything that moved (although unsuccessfully). She constantly harassed Alaina's hamsters through the cage--so much that Alaina covered the cage with a blanket every night.
Despite all of these obstacles, Alaina was sure she could make it work. Eventually, we got our landlord's approval; Alaina gathered all the supplies and chose her bunny. Janae sewed an extra layer of mesh around the cage to be sure Pumpkin couldn't reach her long paws inside, no matter where the bunny was hiding.
I worried that the poor little bunny wouldn't last the night, whether dying from fear because of Pumpkin or actually being caught by Pumpkin somehow. But then a strange thing happened: when Pumpkin approached the cage, Rosie stomped her foot ... and continued stomping for a full hour--we can only assume to establish her dominance.
Since then, Pumpkin and Rosie have co-existed in our house--most of the time together in Janae and Alaina's room.
Pumpkin mostly ignores Rosie, but Rosie is really interested in Pumpkin.
They have been spending more and more time together, since Pumpkin usually sleeps on Janae's bed and Rosie likes to zoom back and forth between Alaina's bed and Janae's. Rosie will go right up to Pumpkin without any fear, and Pumpkin pretty much leaves her alone.
Rosie has jumped on Pumpkin's head (Pumpkin just put her ears back), and Pumpkin has put her teeth on Rosie (Rosie just kept moving), but that's about it.
I don't know that we can actually say they are friends, but I no longer live in fear that Pumpkin is going to attack Rosie.
Then, a few nights ago, everyone was out--and when Alaina and I got home, we realized Alaina hadn't put Rosie back in her cage. It was also raining, so Pumpkin was inside when she normally would have been out. AND ... nothing happened.
(Don't worry--we won't press our luck by trying it again. I know Pumpkin is still a cat.)
Since then, we have celebrated Rosie's first birthday,
and now she and Pumpkin even have matching Halloween costumes (courtesy of Alaina).
Yes, as I predicted, they both hate them :)
But when it comes to having a cat and a bunny together as pets, I can't believe how wrong I was.
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