New farm cats

[jamieg]

I picked up a few female cats today to add to our place. One is a pregnant female and the other two are female kittens. We already have one male outdoor cat. Hoping to increase our cat population to keep rodents down. Any advice on making them stay? I am planning on keeping them in a large dog crate for a day or two before letting them loose. Any ideas would be helpful.

 

[savingdogs]

You are going to have a huge cat population in a year if you don't get them spayed and neutered when they are old enough.

You want to keep cats that are going to live outdoors like that cooped up inside some place like a barn for awhile, like a month. Bring them food (dry kibble is fine) and water of course but encourage them to hunt. After a month is up you can let them outside but keep putting the kibble out there. It keeps them coming home and helps steady their diet. Make sure they have places to escape to that are set up for them and too small for a predator to enter such as a cat door.

You will want to vaccinate them, treat them for worms and put flea prevention on them as well, so you have taken on a lot of pets. Try to find a low-cost spay-neuter clinic and you can get a lot of these services at a discount. Good luck! My cats are great mousers, they just can't get the big things like racoons, skunks, possums, etc.

 

[Rin]

How BIG is your property exactly? One or two are fine for a surprisingly large area.

 

[jamieg]

We've got 4 acres but there is a large Amish farm across the road that also needs cats. For some reason, all we have in the area is tom cats?

 

[Rin]

Quote:
Probably the same reason here - everyones afraid of it going out of control so they get boys. As for four acres - jeebus, 2 is enough - 3 is more than enough just for 4 acres

 

[jamieg]

Thanks, just found the momma cat nursing the two kittens. Didn't know she was their mother. The people we got them from didn
t know either. My daughter and her friend are enjoying them.

 

[bock]

You should really get them fixed. Do you realize how overpopulated this planet is with cats? Their babies would be feral, and eventually your area will be overrun with feral cats.

Then animal control comes and starts taking them to the pound where they are put down because they aren't tame.

You can prevent all of this if you get all of the cats you have now and fixed and the cat's kittens to. Congrats on the new cats, but please BE RESPONSIBLE!

 

[Akane]

I'm on 80acres with multiple out buildings and my 1 hunter can keep it cleared of mice. We still have rat problems but very few cats will hunt rats. For my entire life we always kept our cat numbers at 2-3. I don't know exactly why 3 was chosen but it has proven to work. Get more than that and you'll have illnesses you can't afford to treat and more cats than you can afford to neuter which leads to even more cats that you can't afford. Within a year the situation can get so out of hand that if you don't do something to reduce the population quick there will soon be no choice but to call someone out to kill them. I knew someone who's job was just to go out darting feral and farm cats to put them to sleep when someone let the situation go too long. I've seen some horrible farms with kittens sitting around crying because their eyes are too gunked shut to see. Cats covered in lice. Cats suffering from severe parasite loads. Respiratory infections leaving dozens dead across the farm. It's a complete nightmare to walk in to that situation and all it takes is 2 or 3 unaltered females for someone to get there. There are dozens if not hundreds of kittens in need of homes from spring to fall in pretty much every farming community. If you need more cats just grab a bunch of those and take them to a low cost neuter clinic. You'll have all the cats you could possibly want just by taking in a small fraction of what everyone else is letting their cats produce. It'll actually save you money because it costs less to neuter than to feed the never ending offspring. They'll strip your farm of anything edible within months and then starve to death if you don't keep feeding them all.

 

[bock]

Akane, that sounds horrible. I hate to think of all the neglected and abused animals suffering every day.

I know it's happening all around me, but the best thing I can do is spay and neuter my pets and give them lots of love.

 

[magistradomina]

Quote:
Good way to put it! We have feral cats all over the place! They can be cute, but a nuisance as well. Get your cats fixed or you'll regret it.
My aunt and uncle had a male and female cat and then they had kittens. They couldn't keep them all so they gave some away and thier children were really angry with them for a long time. So,... good luck with your cats!!