Kittens and Rabbits
The Cats
Amber brought two cats into the relationship: a female names Hallie, short for Halloween and a male named Lapis Lazuli, who goes by Lapis for short. Hallie runs the show in the feline part of our family. She likes to hang out by the bathroom and meow at the door when anyone is on the shower. We think she may like the steam and we call her the “Bathroom Queen.” Lapis is the more submissive cat and has talents common to his breed (Russian Blue) that he displays often. He plays fetch with objects, his favorite being tiny furry mouse toys that rattles. He loves it when we take baths and has been caught batting and eating bubbles when no one is watching.
The Bunnies
Rachel’s two rabbits hopped into the relationship without hesitation. The lead, male rabbit, Ross, was rescued from two different shelters where he was scheduled to be euthanized. Diana was dropped off at a rabbit rescue in a chicken coop that barely fit around her body. Diana had never hopped in her life because there was not enough room to move in the coop. They soon found their forever home with Rachel. Upon being introduced to Diana (a large white Himalayan rabbit three times his size), Ross fell in love instantly and marked her with his chin showing ownership. Conversely, Diana attempted to bite Ross’ head off. She soon grew to love him as he does her. Although Ross and Diana love carrots, their very favorite snack is a banana slice. They enjoy snack time and when food it tossed into their room, they circle each other to compete for the best position for dining. Sometimes, it appears the main goal in mealtime is to keep the other bunny away from the food. In Christmas of 2010, Amber gave Rachel a very thoughtful gift, a “rabbit” monitor. (It is really a baby video monitor.) Rachel now can observe all the activity in the bunny room from her office, via a video feed. When the buns think they are alone and not being watched, they participate in snuggling and cleaning each others’ faces.
Introduction
Amber and Rachel were certainly a little concerned when introducing the cats and rabbits. The rabbits have their own room with a large pen. When first introducing them, they allowed the cats to enter at their own risk in our presence. Crouched down, the cats took turns stealthily approaching the bunny room. When Hallie entered, Ross quickly rushed over to see who was getting near Diana. Hallie and Ross had a stand off; then Ross darted quickly towards her. Hallie retreated as fast as she could. The same scene occurred with Lapis. Now, we leave the door open. Ross and Diana have no fear of the cats and Hallie and Lapis like to sit and watch their bunny friends’ strange antics.
Amber and Rachel look forward to the day that they come home to all four of our fur-babies snuggled together for a family nap.