LittleRibbie
Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone...I've enjoyed meeting all of your feline friends...will try to get photos of our new mouser soon
Barn Cats
- Thread starter LittleRibbie
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vickie gee
Well-Known Member
We've gone from two females and two males to only the two females recently. We miss the males but honestly we did not ask for them and certainly did not need them. Stretch showed up when a neighbor brought him home. It was her boyfriend's cat and he was moving. Why she thought an unfixed male cat would stay at her place with just her and the dogs I don't know. Stretch showed up here and never went home. We grew to love him but he got sickly after a year or so. Maybe he was old. We figure he went off and died or got so weak coyotes got him. I know he was visiting my neighbor's cat colony a lot and those cats are not at all healthy. Mose was one of our females' babies. He was wild but kept us entertained. He obviously met his demise while out tomcatting recently because he is missing. Our two females were fixed a few years ago and we try to keep them healthy. They are good mousers, ratters, snakers, and lizarders. Having a couple of barn cats that are not multiplying and are tame enough to go to the vet is really all I want.
Shes My Style
Well-Known Member
I love barn cats, but unfortunately one year a coyote or fox cleaned us out of several of our best mousers. All of my barn cats have been friendly and live outside 100% of the time.
We feed them, but don't leave food out overnight or you attract other critters like opposums - which you really do not want hanging around since they can carry the protosoa that causes EPM.
This year we were down to 2 barn cats. A younger black female (about 4) and an older neutered male (about 12-14 years). Unfortuantely I discovered my female dead behind the barn last week. I really suspect she got trampled by the horses as she was always under foot around them. I never saw a cat that wanted to be with horses so much. You would have thought she would have learned after she got stepped on and we had to deal with a broken back leg. But no - as soon as she was healed she was back out among them. And now my older boy is dropping weight pretty badly. I had him to the vet's on Saturday and he has a general antibiotic and a few other things he is on, but if this doesn't work we will have to do more extensive testing done. But personally I think a teenage barncat is doing good. We love our old boy and he will follow you around like a dog while you are out mending fences and such. In fact - he listens better than the dog. I'll try to post pics later.
However, since we are down on barncats, our rabbit population has skyrocketed a long with more signs of mice in the barn. Yes, its sad to think of the cats getting baby rabbits, but they really do reproduce at a high rate and something does need to control their numbers and many times other natural predetors like coyote and fox won't come up that close to the houses so they have a sanctuary area to multiply like crazy. We have always had a decent rabbit population but right now I will see +30 rabbits in my 4 acre pasture at one time. I feel like more of my grass is going to feed rabbits than horses.
We feed them, but don't leave food out overnight or you attract other critters like opposums - which you really do not want hanging around since they can carry the protosoa that causes EPM.
This year we were down to 2 barn cats. A younger black female (about 4) and an older neutered male (about 12-14 years). Unfortuantely I discovered my female dead behind the barn last week. I really suspect she got trampled by the horses as she was always under foot around them. I never saw a cat that wanted to be with horses so much. You would have thought she would have learned after she got stepped on and we had to deal with a broken back leg. But no - as soon as she was healed she was back out among them. And now my older boy is dropping weight pretty badly. I had him to the vet's on Saturday and he has a general antibiotic and a few other things he is on, but if this doesn't work we will have to do more extensive testing done. But personally I think a teenage barncat is doing good. We love our old boy and he will follow you around like a dog while you are out mending fences and such. In fact - he listens better than the dog. I'll try to post pics later.
However, since we are down on barncats, our rabbit population has skyrocketed a long with more signs of mice in the barn. Yes, its sad to think of the cats getting baby rabbits, but they really do reproduce at a high rate and something does need to control their numbers and many times other natural predetors like coyote and fox won't come up that close to the houses so they have a sanctuary area to multiply like crazy. We have always had a decent rabbit population but right now I will see +30 rabbits in my 4 acre pasture at one time. I feel like more of my grass is going to feed rabbits than horses.
Shari
Well-Known Member
In Oregon, Nari was allowed to roam during the day. Place was pretty much fenced... but because of the high and very active predator base... she had a super giant kennel, with a little box, scratch tower, food and water... which was inside a shed. She stayed there during the night.
Here,,, because she is not used to this heat. She stays in the other side of the house at night.
If we get more barn cats, we would set it up, so they could go into the garage, at night.
Have no wild cats here, I put money into them, care for them, so I will protect them the best I can.
Here,,, because she is not used to this heat. She stays in the other side of the house at night.
If we get more barn cats, we would set it up, so they could go into the garage, at night.
Have no wild cats here, I put money into them, care for them, so I will protect them the best I can.
