Cats for mice

[Rob Sivulka]

These may be dumb questions. I've never had a cat before and I never thought I'd say I want one, but I've killed a lot of mice the past couple weeks, and I'm thinking an *outdoor* cat would save me a lot of time. Will just any ol' cat do and will the cat try eating my chickens that are in a fenced area that it could probably climb over?

 

[HEChicken]

Most cats will not bother an adult chicken but might be a threat to any chicks to which it has access, especially if it is a cat that you have specifically because you want a predatory cat.

Not all cats will go after mice, despite the cliches. However an outdoor cat that is not overfed most likely will. I would look on Craigslist in the Farm and Garden section for cats/kittens that are barn cats. My only plea to you would be, please get it neutered/spayed - way too many barn cats are turned loose to chase mice, only to end up breeding indiscriminately and before you know it, there are hoards of cats around, all semi-feral because they aren't used to a lot of handling.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I agree, Ive never had a cat bother my adult chickens. I have several outdoor cats, one is an amazing mouse/rat/gopher killing machine. The other three... not! So you just never know if you'll get a good mouser or not. And the males will spray, even if neutered. That's probably my biggest gripe with cats. And despite all these cats I still have to use other methods to control mice.

 

[HEChicken]

And the males will spray, even if neutered. That's probably my biggest gripe with cats.

Typically only males who started spraying prior to being neutered will continue to do it after being neutered. As long as you neuter around six months old, before they have started the behavior, most of them will never start doing it in the first place.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Typically only males who started spraying prior to being neutered will continue to do it after being neutered. As long as you neuter around six months old, before they have started the behavior, most of them will never start doing it in the first place.

Well apparently cats around here didn't get that memo. I get mine neutered early, long before 6 months usually closer to 4 months, and every single one has sprayed, especially if a strange tom cat comes around and sprays.