And Now for Something Completely Different: Cat and Rabbit Meet

Over the weekend, #1 daughter told me about her rabbit's visit with a neighbor's cat, and I thought you might enjoy it, too. Here's the account, in her words.

Giol and Tom

It was last Thursday (January 29, 2009) when I took my rabbit, Giol to my neighbor's for a visit. My neighbor has an old tomcat. And, no, I wasn't planning on feeding her cat.

I was, however, curious to see how they'd get along. I wasn't terribly worried. I'll explain why later.

My neighbor was rather surprised at how fearless Giol was. Fearless nothing, he completely ignored the cat most of the time. The cat (named Tom, how appropriate), on the other hand, was more than a little freaked at this strange creature. He spent most of his time following Giol around at a safe distance and starting every time Giol moved.

Then Giol decided that he really should introduce himself. He hopped right up to Tom, lifted his face up to Tom's level, and sniffed. Tom backed up. Giol hopped forward. Tom nearly backed up over his back feet. Finally, Tom had enough and batted Giol over the head. It was the one time Giol actually ran from the cat.

He may have had his revenge by playing with Tom's food. Or he was frustrated that the kitty chow looked like food but didn't smell right. He had a similar quandry with a fake plant by the window. "It's green and leafy, but it doesn't smell like food!"

Tom finally managed to relax. He laid down with his tail flipping occasionally. Giol noticed the tail and thought it an interesting thing to sniff. The moment Giol's nose touched Tom's tail Tom was up and turned around with his back arched. Giol just sat there as if saying, "Where'd it go?"

Giol didn't spend all his time inadvertently tormenting Tom. He also knocked over baskets and begged for treats. And discovered a Y-intersection piece of collapsible tunnel.

Emphasis on 'collapsible.' Giol thought he'd jump on top of the tunnel. The tunnel collapsed under him and he slid to the ground as the tunnel sprung back up. I so wish I had my camera along to get the expression on his face. A sort of "What the heck just happened?!"

He also tried to sniff Tom again. An attempt at polite rabbit behavior that was once again met with a bop on the head. Though Giol didn't run off this time.

Poor Tom. He's maybe twice Giol's size and used to other animals running away from him. A curious little rabbit had him completely frazzled.