With Rabbit AND Cat Agility Competitions becoming more and more popular, people often ask me about the training of each species training and how Rabbits and Cats compare when training each species.

I am often asked by cat or rabbit people: "Is it like training a Rabbit (or Cat)?" My answer is ~ "Yes" and "No". Mostly my answer, "yes.", is if you have the ability and patients to train one of these two species, you will do well training the other species.

Rabbits and Cats have much in common, and yet are very different animals. Many of the same Medical Products are used on both. But their food needs are very different. Same/Different.

Neither (average) rabbits or (average) cats are trained the same way as a dog, nor or either normally trained as easily as the average dog. There is a reason for that. Rabbits and Cats are far more independent, more closely related to their wild cousins, and both are less likely to want to 'please' their owners/trainers. What Rabbits and Cats also have in common is that with a bond for their owner, they will be more likely to respond to training....that is, if, the trainer is willing to put in the time and patients it takes to train either. I say this NOT to discourage Trainers, but to ENCOURAGE EACH OF THEM!

It might please you to know that most Rabbit Agility Equipment is the right size for a cat to use on a Cat Agility Course. I have DIY for Rabbit and Cat Agility, some sewing, some wood or PVC building, and or crafting, to make your own Agility Equipment on this site as well as our Cat Agility Site at www.marnasmenagerie.com.

Another similarity in agility training rabbits and cats would be that a person would also start both the Rabbit and the Cat at the same low, wide, close, safety spaces when setting up the Agility Equipment.

Rabbits and or Cats will/might/have while running on a course, and gotten 'away' from their owners. So the same safety margins should be set on our Agility Corses for both the Rabbit and the Cat.... As well as stability crafted into or sewn into the pieces of the equipment used.

A group meeting, in a park, or at someone's home, for an Agility Training Session Event could certainly offer the course for both Rabbits and Cats. I would run one species first than the other, placing each animal present in crates as they train. This could expand your group, encourage others to train both species per trainer, and you might even find new friends as you meet new people by expanding your agility group and or club.

4H kids can learn to train both the Rabbits and Cats within a short period of time, giving them not only more experience with animals, but also getting a family cat, perhaps a fat one, off the couch. Some kids may not be able to own a Rabbit, but have a Cat already in their homes and lives.

I encourage the species training at the same events so that each sport broadens, more people become interested, and more pets are trained. Not just trained for the sport of Agility, but so that the bond between human and animal is thickened.

You might even 'mix in' Trick Training at your practice events so that people can teach their animals a little bit more.

Many people think that both Rabbits and Cats are 'ornamental pets', when indeed they could have a much more fun relationship, and with one another, if the humans just knew that they are able to, and how to train them.

Please note: that I have set up a page for Cat Agility and Trick Training, with lots of photos, as well as Build Your Own Agility Equipment and Courses and more at www.MarnasMenagerie.com

The contents of this page for Rabbit vs Cat Agility is still under construction. Please check back as we add more information.

-- The Rabbit Agility Team
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 11:38:14 -0400