Farm Cats
| With each house about one mile apart out here, there'slots of room for
farm animals. The most common animals are dogs and cats, but there are
a lot of folks with chickens, turkeys, peacocks, horses, mules, goats,
alpacas - well, you name it, someone probably has it. I'll get to them
all at some point, but today my topic is cats, mostly because I have
plenty of them willing to have their picture taken! I would guess that most rural homes have 2-5 farm cats. Cats are nice to have around because they like to catch those pesky mice. If you're really lucky you might have a very skilled hunter cat who can also kill rabbits and snakes. The down side is that the cats will never understand that they're not supposed to be hunting the birds and ground squirrels no matter how many times you tell them! Everyone's different in how they take care of their farm cats. Some people just throw food out for any cats that come around. Most cats you attract this way are toms because they tend to roam the countryside more than the females. Sometimes you'll get lucky though and attract a pregnant female who will make your place a home. The easiest way is to adopt kittens from someone else's litter and set them up in an out building, like a barn, with some food and water. We have seven cats. One is actually an indoor/outdoor cat that has traveled with me from CA to SD to here. Of the outdoor cats, we have four that we've had since kittens and two toms that just showed up for the food. We provide them all with food, water, shelter, and trips to the vet as needed. My farm cats are rare because I also spay and neuter all of them, except for the passing cats that might belong to a neighbor. They are all free to roam as they please, and some do disappear for a day or two, but for the most part they all show up in the mornings when I feed them. You would think that being a farm cat is pretty dangerous. Well, compared to being a purely indoor cat it is. But I think about the difference in a cat's life in a town versus the country and I think I prefer the country dangers. My cats run the risk of being hit by a car or being killed by another wild animal. When I lived in town, I not only worried whether my cats had been hit by a car or killed by another animal, but also if they were tortured by some mean kid, trapped in some building, poisoned or shot by a neighbor. Yes, I sound a little paranoid, but all of those have been known to happen. This is just another way that life is nicer when your neighbors are at a distance! Next time I talk about animals, it'll probably be about the fowl that Roy wants to get - oh joy! |    |
Good for you on spaying and neutering your cats. Too many people don't do this and end up with huge issues. I am so glad I found you on facebook and your blog!
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Thanks Christine! I fix my cats for my own ethical beliefs that stem from the culture I grew up in. Being in a city, stray, unwanted cats are sad creatures and fixing is the easiest prevention. I also fix them because I can't stand cats mating (its a very violent situation in my opinion). But there is a different overall mindset in most people who live here that I respect too. Its a belief that you should let things happen naturally. Out in the rural countryside there are no "stray" cats. There might be some feral cats or tomcats that wander from farm to farm, but there will never be an overpopulation of unwanted cats (probably because they are part of the food chain). In fact, most people out here want more cats on their place than they can find. No animal shelter will let you adopt cats to live outdoors on a farm. So your choices are to beg a few kittens off a friend or let your cats mate and breed. The big downside to letting your cats do things naturally is inbreeding, which will bring out deformities and susceptibility to diseases with each generation. I've heard that complaint from the few people who are successful with keeping cats around.
Anyhow, back to my own personal choice of fixing farm cats. I've found a few upsides:
- No scary mating rituals
- Less fighting
- Cats don't stray as much (it also helps to feed them regularly)
- No pregnant females to disappear for a week and you wonder what awful place they decided to have their kittens
- No delicate kittens to worry about running over or being eaten by tomcats (no joke) and other animals
Really, I feel that I paid the cost of fixing them so I would worry less. And I do worry less. On the other hand, where am I going to get more cats in the future? I'll just have to depend on those people who take the natural approach to supply me - how ironic!Reply to this
When you want some more cats, contact me. I know a lot of crazy cat people, unfortunately for me, who would happily supply the cats if you supply the drive to Colorado
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