Barn Cat WWYD

QueenBella

QueenBella

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I have been toying with the idea of a barn cat as my stables get mice (thankfully I've never seen rat droppings but they're around). We have lots of birds of prey around the stables so I don't want to use poison. I cant take any more rugs being destroyed 😰

I have heard of over 10 cats that will be put down this evening if no one adopts them as their owner passed away. They aren't pets, more than likely feral.

Thing is I've never warmed to cats (slightly scared of them after an incident when I was younger), I'll pet them but the claws freak me out. I hate the thought of so many helpless cats being put down. Shed is a 30x47ft american type barn with 4 stables, hay loft, feed area and insulated tack room.

WWYD?
 
QueenBella said:
I have been toying with the idea of a barn cat as my stables get mice (thankfully I've never seen rat droppings but they're around). We have lots of birds of prey around the stables so I don't want to use poison. I cant take any more rugs being destroyed 😰

I have heard of over 10 cats that will be put down this evening if no one adopts them as their owner passed away. They aren't pets, more than likely feral.

Thing is I've never warmed to cats (slightly scared of them after an incident when I was younger), I'll pet them but the claws freak me out. I hate the thought of so many helpless cats being put down. Shed is a 30x47ft american type barn with 4 stables, hay loft, feed area and insulated tack room.

WWYD?
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I'd take two of them x

You don't have to like them, just look after them x
 
Feral cats don’t need looking after as such - they just need feeding and somewhere to live … you can tame them if you want but I never really bother - they are just free agents that get fed — if I can get near them I use a spot on wormer occasionally but other than that they are just part of the furniture
 
We have eight cats here; a combination of ferals we adopted from a farm, plus two old gals, as well as several Toms who pop in when it suits them.

We haven't seen any vermin for a long time now.

If you are in doubt, give your local Cats Protection a ring and have a chat; they will be able to assist with things like neutering vouchers & general management of ferals. Ours haven't ever been inside the house (well, actually I tell a lie, as one or two pop their heads in occasionally) but they haven't ever wandered off; there's always biscuits down for them here so they stay, they bed down on vile stormy nights in the hayshed and they're quite happy.

Good luck!
 
You need a secure place to keep them for about a month (tack room is good but will be inconvenient as you need to come and go - a spare stable is ideal if it can be made secure - they can jump so bars at 4ft won't be secure). A couple of litter trays (put different litter in each in case they have a preference). Regular meals, fresh water, and places to hide (boxes bedded with straw, cardboard boxes, something up higher will also be appreciated.) When you first let them out do it before a regular mealtime so they don't go far. While they're settling in sort out a place in the barn that they can use for sleeping undisturbed and a fixed place for meals, ideally. Keep feeding once they're out.
 
Burnttoast said:
You need a secure place to keep them for about a month (tack room is good but will be inconvenient as you need to come and go - a spare stable is ideal if it can be made secure - they can jump so bars at 4ft won't be secure). A couple of litter trays (put different litter in each in case they have a preference). Regular meals, fresh water, and places to hide (boxes bedded with straw, cardboard boxes, something up higher will also be appreciated.) When you first let them out do it before a regular mealtime so they don't go far. While they're settling in sort out a place in the barn that they can use for sleeping undisturbed and a fixed place for meals, ideally. Keep feeding once they're out.
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Yes finding somewhere to properly enclose them for a few weeks is going to be the sticking point, especially at short notice.

If you can't enclose them until the point where they won't bolt, usually a few weeks, I dont think you should get involved. Sad as it is for any animal not to have a home, it would maybe be kinder for them to be PTS quietly than to be taken somewhere strange and then to get loose and lost. And kinder for you as well, don't set yourself up for failure!
 
We have cats that just turned up, some obviously genuine ferals some more likely strays. They have their own territory around the farm.

Most important thing is to make sure they're spayed, then provide a little dry food to complement the diet of mice and catch them if you think there's anything wrong.

Depending on the size of your place I'd take up to 4. You can guarantee some are terrible mousers. They may not get on so might need to be confined separately which might be logistically challenging.
 
Burnttoast said:
You need a secure place to keep them for about a month (tack room is good but will be inconvenient as you need to come and go - a spare stable is ideal if it can be made secure - they can jump so bars at 4ft won't be secure). A couple of litter trays (put different litter in each in case they have a preference). Regular meals, fresh water, and places to hide (boxes bedded with straw, cardboard boxes, something up higher will also be appreciated.) When you first let them out do it before a regular mealtime so they don't go far. While they're settling in sort out a place in the barn that they can use for sleeping undisturbed and a fixed place for meals, ideally. Keep feeding once they're out.
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I have one back spare stable that I think has 7/8ft block walls so I was thinking of putting them there.

Thank you everyone for the advice, unfortunately our stables aren't near our home so they can never become pets. I have to convince the OH
 
smolmaus said:
Yes finding somewhere to properly enclose them for a few weeks is going to be the sticking point, especially at short notice.

If you can't enclose them until the point where they won't bolt, usually a few weeks, I dont think you should get involved. Sad as it is for any animal not to have a home, it would maybe be kinder for them to be PTS quietly than to be taken somewhere strange and then to get loose and lost. And kinder for you as well, don't set yourself up for failure!
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This is what I'm thinking too. I'm not a cat lover and is it just because I want to try "save" them but I could potentially be bringing them somewhere they hate. Unfortunately there is another batch from the same home being brought in tomorrow to be PTS.
 
I’m not a cat person and used to be a bit scared too 🙄
Then I met our first resident feral and the challenge was on!
We became best friends and I was devastated when she died.
All I did for the first year was put food down in the same place every night before I went in and make sure there was a bowl of fresh water. She slept in the hay shed once she knew food would arrive and did a great job.
 
poiuytrewq said:
I’m not a cat person and used to be a bit scared too 🙄
Then I met our first resident feral and the challenge was on!
We became best friends and I was devastated when she died.
All I did for the first year was put food down in the same place every night before I went in and make sure there was a bowl of fresh water. She slept in the hay shed once she knew food would arrive and did a great job.
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Aw that sounds so lovely, lucky cat 🥰 So I'm assuming barn cats just need a feed once a day? Stables are right beside my workplace so I can feed them more than once that's no problem
 
Feed at least twice a day when confined. In nature their meals would be up to 30g (large mouse), bigger would be fairly uncommon (although our monster has eaten a whole squirrel in one sitting 🤢), so small frequent meals is best. Dry food can be left down, but wet food is generally better for them physiologically.
 
rara007 said:
I’m not sure a 8 foot wall would contain a healthy feral? There’s also quite a difference between a nervous stray and true ferals. Not a problem but something to be aware of!
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Definitely won’t contain, they will just claw their way up it very quickly.

You need somewhere completely enclosed with no little gaps!
 
We had 4 ferals from a rescue , we used a stable to hold them for a few weeks , we put chicken wire over the window space so they had fresh air, and the same over the stable door as we didn’t have a top door. We went in via the lower door to feed them twice a day obviously they had water. We gave dry kibble in the morning and wet food at night. We had rats and the cats kept them under control so as far as I was concerned they were well worth what it cost to feed them.. we lost one on the road but the others lived to between 13 and 16 . We could stroke 2 of them but they were still skittish and we couldn’t pick them up. Luckily none of them were ever ill … it’s an old wives tale that they need to be hungry to hunt so please feed them and provide somewhere sheltered for them to sleep .. I recommend cats as a deterrent to rats and mice rather than poison
 
Ferals are really easy to look after once they’ve decided they’re on to a good thing - which will be very soon if you feed them. I don’t ‘do’ cats but acquired 3 in lock down, well they were born in next door’s barn but decided my hay bales were better than straw. Two sisters have stayed and l think the third moved further down the road. You’ll need a crate and they’ll need a vet trip asap 😆 just make sure they have dissolving stitches cos you might not trap them easily for a few weeks afterwards. I don’t handle mine although cat loving visitors do and l’m sure they’d love it if l did. They are now VERY demanding, and come running if they hear me or the car. They’ve been in the lorry and would be in the house given half a chance. They look fat and healthy and exist on a diet of Tescos dried cat food, the occasional tin of tuna and whatever they manage to catch. This seems to be mice, pigeons and baby bunnies. Other than worming form time to time they don’t require much attention. They seem to live mainly on the hay bales in the barn. You probably need at least two. Oops two cats and at least two round bales although you’ll probably have more!
 
QueenBella said:
Aw that sounds so lovely, lucky cat 🥰 So I'm assuming barn cats just need a feed once a day? Stables are right beside my workplace so I can feed them more than once that's no problem
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Oops mine are fed twice a day at the moment, it’s cold and maybe they’ve become a bit lazy! They appear from no where to demand food. They are looking rather well and have thick coats.
 
Can you pop a post on Facebook or something and see if the ones who are being pts tomorrow can find homes somewhere? Yard cats are great at keeping rodents down!
 
ihatework said:
Definitely won’t contain, they will just claw their way up it very quickly.

You need somewhere completely enclosed with no little gaps!
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This is a 8ft wall enclosed in a 30x47ft barn that is completely enclosed but I don't want them to escape as were very close to a busy road and don't want anything to happen to them.

We have been posting the cats everywhere we are trying our best to get them homed, I think a few have potential homes lined up 🤞

I have been speaking with my OH and we're not sure if we have the right set up for them, he was mentioning something about cats weeing in hay how that can be bad for horses? If anyone knows if this is wrong please let me know so I can challenge him on it 😅

Thankfully they haven't been PTS yet and I think the vets are holding them for longer hoping to get them homes.
 
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