Barn cats/kittens

[horsejody]

Quote:
The pound here won't let you adopt cats as barn cats. You have to promise to keep them as house cats. However, there is a rescue that does spay and release for feral cats that will sometimes have cats that they will adopt out as barn cats.

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

I prefer toms. My current outdoor mouser is one of two strays. For some reason this one just got to me, and I couldn't make myself "get rid" of him. I trap 'em, take 'em to the vet to get their rabies shot and feline lukemia shot, then they are on their own (except for food). Then, if they come down with an infected wound or something later on down the line, I get pills from the vet and medicate at home. Once they wander off or dissappear, it's time to replace them.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

What we did was adopt 2 older cats from the humane society that were deemed "unplaceable" basically because they were feral. Both my boys were de-manned and vaccinated by the humane society. When they got here, the humane society officer said to leave them in their crates in the barn for 2 hours, then let them out in the barn and keep them in the barn for 2-3 days with food and water. We did so, and they've stuck around since (this was over a year ago). Spots and Smokey now live in the garage in the goat hay pile, and their kitty kibble is on the front porch. They're still fairly afraid of us, but we've been getting closer and closer to them. They're terrified of my chickens too LOL.

Soft food is a way to any cats heart, and I can pet their cheeks when I have a can of soft cat food in hand. I'll be trapping them this year with the havahart and getting their shots done again.

We also ended up with 2 other cats, 1 i call mr. black and white mancat who is a tom cat that comes around and eats with the boys, I can't catch him but I have got him in the trap by accident a couple times so I might trap him and fix him in the summer. We also ended up with a super friendly girl cat I call fluffy girly cat, she was a rack of bones when she showed up on our driveway, probably 7 months old, and is now got a nice layer of fat... and may be pregnant... as soon as I can catch her I'm going to get her fixed and have her shots done.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

PS, Smokey and Spots didn't come from our local humane society because we don't have one, they actually came from the Toronto Humane Society... so they're ex-inner city cats. We think they're brothers because they just LOVE each other. They sleep together, they hunt together, and they'll even catch something and share with each other. Very cute. They also like to wrestle and play lol.

 

[kimthom66]

The pound here won't let you adopt cats as barn cats. You have to promise to keep them as house cats. However, there is a rescue that does spay and release for feral cats that will sometimes have cats that they will adopt out as barn cats.

I recently tried to adopt a barn cat and ran into the same problem, most rescues wont adopt as barn cats. However I did find one small animal shelter that had a few cats that they considered rescued feral's and they were adopting them as barn cats, but there are issues with those as well! I adopted one (suggested adoption fee was $100) brought her home and placed her in a large cage in my barn and fed her and spent time daily trying to pet her and bond with her. After the 14 days of confinement (recommended time) I let her out in the barn and secured the barn the best I could, but she got out that night and I haven't seen her since. In my opinion, you can not truly bond with a rescue/feral cat. Some say I didn't confine her long enough, other articles say you keep them caged too long and the will flee as soon as they can. My best advice (which is what I am doing now) get kittens! I found 2 sister kittens that I hope to raise as barn cats and have already started to form the bond and I'm not out the $100! I will get them spayed by a local organization that does it inexpensively!

 

[Goldy Show Hens]

I have 2 boys that are 4 now. The first summer they were in my room, now they are in the barn and love it.