Yes, a Rex rabbit can live happily in a home with other pets, provided happiness is measured by safety and calm rather than by cuddling across species. A Rex is still a prey animal beneath that famously velvety coat, so a household that respects distance, barriers, and retreat routes can work well, while a household expecting the rabbit to mingle freely on the floor usually creates chronic stress.
Why a Rex Reads Other Pets as a Threat First
A Rex rabbit reads movement from above and sudden rushing as danger, because that is how predators approach in the wild. A friendly dog who bounds over to say hello, a cat who stalks a flicking ear as a game, or a ferret weaving toward the pen can all register as an attack to the rabbit even when no harm is meant. Rex rabbits also thump, freeze, or bolt when startled, and a bolt across a hard floor can injure a spine or leg. Watching for flattened ears, wide eyes, refusal to eat hay, and hiding long after the other pet has left tells you the arrangement is costing the rabbit more than it shows at first glance.
Setting Up Separate Territory for the Rex
Separate territory is what makes a mixed home work for a Rex rabbit, not gradual forced friendship. Give the rabbit a pen or rabbit-proofed room that dogs and cats cannot enter, with a hide house, hay rack, litter tray, and water that no other animal can reach or contaminate. Feed the Rex only inside that territory so meals never become a contest, and keep chew sticks and toys there too so a dog never guards something the rabbit needs. If free-roam time happens outside the pen, shut other pets out of that room completely for the whole session rather than relying on holding a lead or watching closely.
How Supervised Sight-and-Scent Meetings Should Look
Supervised meetings for a Rex rabbit should stay behind a barrier for weeks, not minutes. Let the dog lie settled on the far side of the pen while the rabbit chooses whether to approach, eat hay, or retreat into the hide, and end the session while the rabbit is still relaxed rather than after it shows stress. Swap a cloth rubbed gently on each animal and placed near, not inside, the other's resting area so scent becomes familiar without contact. A cat in the home should never be left alone in the rabbit's room even if it seems uninterested, because feline curiosity can switch to a paw through bars in seconds.
Signs This Rex Needs the Plan Changed
This Rex rabbit needs the plan changed if appetite drops, droppings shrink, or the rabbit stops exploring its own pen when the other pet is nearby. Repeated lunging at bars by a dog, fixated staring that you cannot interrupt, or a cat sitting on top of the enclosure are not teething problems to wait out; they mean that species pairing needs permanent separation in this home. A rabbit who grooms, flops onto its side, and eats steadily while the household moves around normally is giving you the clearest evidence the setup suits it. If the rabbit stops eating altogether or breathes with an open mouth, contact a veterinarian promptly rather than adjusting introductions first.
Keeping those barrier rules, feeding boundaries, and warning signs written down where every family member and sitter can find them prevents one well-meaning person from undoing weeks of careful separation, and KinsLe Family Sharing keeps that Rex rabbit's shared profile current so the whole household works from identical details.