My boyfriend and I are contemplating adopting a rabbit once we move into a new place. I am doing some research before making a final decision. I have no experience whatsoever with rabbits but I have had cats all of my life(literally since the day I was born Ihave always had at least one cat around). So I know about cats but am clueless about rabbits.
We have a very well mannered dog and an antisocial cat. The cat only loves me and my daughter he hates everyone else. I had a kitten once last year and when she tried to play with him he would hiss and run away. He never swiped at her unless she attacked him(she was really aggressive). And then he'd try to eat her face enough to make her back off. My cat is okay with my boyfriend's dog because he doesn't mess with my cat. This dog is one of the most well mannered, polite, fun dogs I have ever had the pleasure to know. He lets babies pull on him and crawl all over and doesn't mess with other animals. He IS protective and has gotten aggressive if someone threatens my boyfriend. He got aggressive once when an older child wouldn't leave him alone, when she hurt him he growled in warning and when she wouldn't stop he clamped down on her hard enough to make her realize her stupidness. He did not break skin.
So I am obviously concerned about having a rabbit roaming the house as well. I am not worried so much about the dog as my cat. The dog would probably sniff at and try to lay on it if we introduced a rabbit. My cat? I am not sure. I don't think he'd intentionally try to murder it, he'd most likely run and hide in a corner and hiss or growl then run and hide again if the rabbit came snuffling around.
My daughter is four and turning five in January. She loves animals and does not try to harm them in anyway, even out of curiosity. I am very proud of her. I am worried she might hug the rabbit to death. lol
So. I would like to glean some tips and advice from cat/dog/rabbit owners. How did you introduce your lovelies to each other? Does anyone have a cat like mine? What did you do? I just bought House Rabbit Handbook of Amazon.com and I'm reading websites right now. But there is nothing like first hand experience, in my opinion!