MARIE-SOPHIE GERMAIN

By Marie-Sophie Germain

Formerly seen as “starter pets,” rabbits are hopping into a new role—one much closer to that of a cat or small dog. Once confined to hutches and marketed for kids, they’re now adored by adult pet parents, featured on TikTok, and driving demand for premium, wellness-focused products. In other words: rabbits are no longer a niche. They are family.

📈 A Global Surge in Rabbit Ownership

The numbers are beginning to reflect what pet stores and brands already feel on the ground:

• United States: Over 2.2 million rabbits are kept as pets across approximately 1.5 million households, making them the third most popular mammalian pet after dogs and cats (AVMA, 2024).
• United Kingdom: An estimated 1.1 million rabbits are kept as pets, according to the PDSA’s Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report 2023.
• Germany: 2023 figures from IVH/ZZF estimate 1.8 million rabbits as pets—outnumbering guinea pigs and rivaling indoor cats in some urban regions.
• France: Rabbit ownership has steadily grown in cities like Paris and Lyon, where apartment-friendly pets are in high demand. While dogs are still more numerous overall, rabbits now appear in over 800,000 households, according to FACCO/Kantar 2022.
• Japan: The Ministry of Environment reported in 2023 that rabbit adoption has increased by 28% since 2020, largely due to lifestyle shifts among urban Millennials and Gen Z.

Compare that with slowing cat and dog growth rates in many Western countries, and the rise of the rabbit becomes even clearer. In dense urban areas, where cats and dogs may not be permitted or practical, rabbits have filled the gap.

🧠 Emotional Companionship, Just Like Cats

Why rabbits? The answer lies in their hybrid nature: part feline, part canine, all charm.

• They’re independent, like cats—but social when they trust you.
• They’re quiet, ideal for apartments.
• They’re clean and litter-trainable.
• They form deep bonds, respond to names, and recognize routines.

For urban Millennials who want affection without the lifestyle compromises of dog ownership, the rabbit is perfect. In fact, surveys show that 77% of rabbit owners in Europe say their rabbit “feels like a member of the family” (Euromonitor, 2023)—a sentiment nearly identical to cat owners.

🏠 Redefining the “Rabbitat”

Modern rabbit parents want more than wire cages. They want wellness-focused environments that promote mental stimulation, movement, and comfort. Lagomorphs can’t spend their whole life in a small cage. There are many bunny welfare organizations trying to raise awareness about rabbits biological and physiological needs. This little mammal can’t live in a confined habitat because of its specific morphology and muscles tailored to run and jump. It is better left roaming freely in the house or the apartment, with a safe place to sleep and a litter box, and that’s where the cage becomes handy. Luckily, some brands understands rabbits need of space and designed large cages, like for instance the Plaza 160 from Ferplast, with a length of 160 cm.

Playpens are better, though, and here as well there are some specially designed bunny palaces, like the spacious wooden enclosures from the brands Trixie or Lifland. This type of “rabbitat” is more and more popular for urban indoor rabbits, and offer them a perfect place to rest safely and have enough space to run, jump or stretch while their “parents” aren’t home. More and more pet stores are actually displaying their rabbits for sale in such enclosures. The fact the bunnies can move as they want and therefore look happy and healthy makes them much more desirable for the customers than animals overcrowded in a small terrarium, suffering of stress. Plus this type of large enclosure gives a lot of space to display other products for sale. A customer is more likely to purchase when they see how the animal interacts with the product than if it just sits on the shelf.

• The Ferplast Plaza 160 (160 cm long) is still one of the largest commercially available indoor cages and remains a best-seller on Amazon and Zooplus in 2025.
• Trixie, Lifland, and Kerbl offer designer rabbit enclosures and indoor playpens that blend seamlessly with modern decor.
• Pet retailers increasingly use open, enriched displays for rabbits, not just for welfare but because active, hopping rabbits are more engaging to customers than caged, immobile ones.

🌿 Evolved Diets for Evolved Consumers

Another reason of the rabbit’s popularity is that it’s often considered easy to keep. Beginners or young children think they’ll just have to give water and throw a carrot once a while. Actually, keeping a rabbit is much trickier than that. And that’s because it’s an herbivorous. It means it has to eat hay constantly in order to have his digestive tract functioning and also to grind its teeth. As as a strict herbivorous, it shouldn’t be fed muesli or pellets full of grains. Only herbs, grasses, leaves, vegetables and a little bit of fruits. Luckily, brands offer now a wide variety of grain-free feed for rabbit. With rising awareness of rabbit biology, rabbit food has undergone a revolution:

• Oxbow, JR Farm, and Supreme Selective Naturals continue to dominate the grain-free, timothy-based diet segment.
• Fresh hay remains a top-selling consumable; demand for organically sourced, scented, or herbal-infused hay (like Oxbow’s Botanical Hay) has risen sharply.
• Natural treats like Simple Rewards, Grainless Herbs, or Hamiform Friandises Gourmandes have replaced the sugary, grain-packed pellets of the past.

The category has matured into a mirror of high-end cat food—nutritionally nuanced, natural, and marketed with emotional appeal.

🎯 Behavioral Enrichment & Training

Rabbits make excellent companions. You can play with them, educate them, and train them to do various tricks. You can even train your rabbit to do agility, like dogs. This bunny sport is called kaninhop and comes from Sweden. It is a competition that involves bunnies bouncing their way around courses that consists of several small jumps of different heights. The first championship was held in Stockholm in 1987. The qualities needed to become the champion are of course agility, but also courage and determination. Pet parents – or more exactly bunny coaches – can train their rabbits by walking them on a harness and encourage them by talking to them and rewarding them with treats. For the training purpose, the brand Kerbl launched a line of agility obstacles specially designed for active bunnies : Agility Rocked, Agility Upright Jump and Agility Combo Jump. The jumps are made of two wooden stands and plastic bars, all adjustable in length and height. There are also now a lots of toys specially designed for rabbits, making them even more “interactive”, even if they are not meant to be agility champions, even if they are kept by children.

Even non-competitive bunnies benefit from:

• Hay rollers
• Snuffle mats
• Hanging chew toys
• Climbing ramps

These products are increasingly found in the enrichment aisles once reserved for cats and dogs—another sign that rabbits have earned their place as interactive household pets.

🕒 Longevity = Lifetime Loyalty

Rabbits live between 8 and 12 years, significantly longer than most small mammals. This makes rabbit owners:

• High-frequency customers
• Highly invested emotionally
• Motivated to buy premium health and wellness products

Brands and retailers have a fantastic opportunity to capitalize on these cottontails cuteness and long lifespan. It’s a market ripe for recurring sales, seasonal promotions, loyalty programs, and education-based marketing.

💡 The Industry Opportunity

If you still think of rabbits as “low-margin,” it’s time to update that mindset.

• They are the only small pet with the longevity, emotional engagement, and product diversity to mirror the cat economy.
• Their owners seek content, community, and lifestyle integration—the same trends that drove the rise of dog and cat parenting.
• Brands that position themselves as experts in rabbit wellness will gain the trust of a rapidly growing, digitally savvy audience.

🐾 Final Word: Rabbits Are the New Cats

In temperament, behavior, lifestyle fit, and even product demand, rabbits now occupy a space once reserved for felines. They are indoor pets. Family members. Emotional anchors. And for the pet industry, they represent a unique blend of heart and habit: adorable, long-lived, and full of potential.