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New Member
 
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| We have four cats. We had three that we moved with us when we moved to this farm. Then came Honey. She showed up one day, and I noticed she had been fixed and seems to think she belongs in the house. Odiously a former pet of someone else. Now we have four fixed cats. They are fun to watch and really take care of the mice, and provide us with love. Now I have noticed that our cats are multiplying. I am seeing cats every where. Too many. We can't feed them all. Funny, because our four cats were fixed. Recently, I heard there was a woman who has been dropping off her unwanted cats just beyond our farm. My husband, who also loves cats, but has too admit we are being over run. He told me we did not move to a farm so we can herd cats. These new batches of cats are not fixed. Now I am wondering how many people are dropping their cats off here. Is it some kind of initiation for being the new farmers on the block? We do want to get along with people here and were at a lost about what to do. We just can't go around telling off the supposedly mystery cat givers. My son had an idea about posting a sign saying "No cat dumping, we are running out of mice". Lets see if it works.
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 11/7/2009 1:57:51 PM
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It sounds like you have the same problem my grandparents do. Cats tend to just show up out of nowhere to their house, usually pregnant. They feed them all, and get them fixed when they can catch them. I think cats know which houses have the softies who will feed them 
"Agriculture... is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness." --Thomas Jefferson
Wonderland
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Senior Member
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Last Login: 9/21/2009 3:50:17 PM
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| Good luck. That happened to us in Minnesota with dogs. We ended up running a rescue of sorts--taking them in until we could find them good homes. Seven years after leaving Minnesota we still have three of those dogs. If the sign works, let us know! :o) Sue
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Average Member
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Last Login: 6/14/2009 6:27:31 PM
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I'm thankful for cats.. and better than rats.
We feed the kitties here. they come over. However so many farms here "share" cats. Some folks have moved in and let the land just GO WILD around the buildings ect. Then in talking to them, they wonder why they have some many mice in the house and rabbits eating all the trees they planted.
Well, if you get rid of all the cats, and don't keep things clean, you'll make a great home for mice. Also, if you keep a lazy cat around, you may as well not have one.
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Junior Member
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| We have four indoor/outdoor cats, all neutered and spayed, as well. The two most recent additions to the house showed up all on their own as approximately 8 week old kittens. They look suspiciously similar to cats on my neighbor's farm - she had cats show up at her place at about the same time. As to whether someone is dropping them off, we aren't certain. She doesn't fix her cats and has observed that her momma cat takes her batch of kittens down the road and leaves them behind. So maybe it is the cat mom who is the culprit.
Karen
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 5/10/2009 5:45:42 PM
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We started out with just my moms indoor cat Amber, then a pretty little Tortouse shell patterned cat shows up and lathers us with love. That was all fine til she had kittens one night, which was wonderful for me and my brother! We hauled them all to the vet and had them spayed/nuetered. We gave the two boys away and kept the two girls. One went in the house due to an injury when she was a kitten. The mom and daughter are still running around outside the barnyard, catching mice and lizards and such.
Then about a month and a half ago, an adorable black and white 4 month old kitten shows up on our porch. She was freezing and half starved. So we fed her and let her stay. Our other cats don't like her though.
ariel
I agree about cats knowing which houses hold suckers that will take care of them.
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New Member
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| Here in Middle Tennessee we have a great local organization that spays and neuters "barn cats" at a low cost - they will even help you trap them if needs be. If you have a barn and no cats to help keep down the vermin, they "adopt" out spayed/neutered feral cats that have been rescued too...I forget the name of the organization (typically!) but they advertise regularly on Craigslist.
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Average Member
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| We don't realy have a problem with them here. They are just here. And the more wild some people let the land get, the fewer and fewer cats and small dogs will be found. Most people don't understand it, but fox kill cats. So they are just part of the cycle of life. I'd welcome 30 barn cats that kill mice around here. But I've never had a fox come in the milk house and kill mice.
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Starting Member
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| Every small farm I have ever been to has had a decent amount of barn cats. I have noticed that the amount of cats is proportional to the amount of food avaliable. If you have 4 cats that are "yours" then only feed them. Take them inside or shut them in a room to feed them. If you do that then you are pretty much assured that either: 1. the other cats will leave to find food OR 2. Your farm has enough food sources (aka every living thing smaller than a cat) to sustain the population. atleast my 2cents. Me
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New Member
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| Good advice, Alabamabackyarder. I will feed our four cats in the inclosed out building only. The other strays can eat the mice.
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