Neighbor has a new cat - implications on our rabbits?

Question

Our neighbor has recently gotten a new cat - it's still quite young. It's recently been going into our garden and sitting in the rabbit run and actively staring at them. At the moment at least, our rabbits don't seem at all concerned about the cat even when it's less than a foot away from them. This may be because they're both bigger than the cat or they're just extremely lazy.

Should I be worried about this behavior? Should anything be done about this or is it considered normal social interaction?

Answer 1

Assuming that your run is secure, and your rabbits have a safe hiding place where they can get away from being stared at by the cat if it does bother them, I wouldn't worry about it.

It's a rare and large cat that will tackle an adult domestic rabbit (they are too big, and they don't behave or smell like normal prey), and your rabbits, from their behaviour, sound like they are coping fine.

When I last kept rabbits, our neighbour's cat used to come and visit them as well. They became quite good friends and it was never a problem. Rabbits are social beings, as I'm sure you know, and cats often enjoy social interaction with other species too, so it may be that your neighbour's cat is not so much hungry as lonely.