Barn Cats, Community Cats, Ferals and Other Grumpy Friends – Part 1: Barn Cats
If you build it, they will come. Whether or not this actually works with corn fields and dead baseball players (this is a Field of Dreams reference, 1989 for all you young-uns out there) it is certainly true of barns and cats. Once you have a big warm box, it will invariably be filled by at least one cat. And much like potato chips, you never have just one!
So, most farmers very soon find themselves with a barn full of cats and no idea where they came from. Still, they make visits to the barn more fun, they help control the mouse population, and they bring you really disgusting presents! Sooner or later, they usually become part of the family. So how do you take care of your new furry family members? (keep scrolling!)
Graceful, Majestic, and Hungry
Nutrition – Unless you have a pretty impressive infestation of extremely slow mice, your barn cats are going to need something more regular to supplement their diet. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they don’t get anything from grains or vegetables; they need meat, protein and fat to stay healthy. Most cat foods contain at least 32% protein so it’s probably worth stocking up on some. On average cats should get around 1/4 cup of food twice per day (this amount can vary depending on the food, please check the recommendations on the packaging). Plus, feeding time is a great time to work on socializing them and making friends. If they associate you with food they’re far more likely to come out and say hi when they see you.
Shelter – Cats are creative little creatures; assuming your farm actually has a barn they can usually find a warm spot to curl up in most normal weather. During extreme cold snaps (or if there isn’t actually a barn available to them) they may need a little help. A good warm shelter can range from a bale of hay in a sheltered space to a full blown cat condo depending on how much effort or budget you’re interested in investing into the project. Instructions for shelters, feeding stations and more can be found here.
This 1-bedroom cape boasts plenty of southern exposure as well as a 3-season veranda.
Healthcare – Taking care of a strong independent feline can be a bit tricky. They have their own busy lives, appointments to keep, mice to chase, bushes to hide in and really just no time for routine vet visits and healthcare regimens. We understand, and in some ways, it’s not worth the stress for you or the cat to be constantly chasing them down and forcing them into a carrier. Animals are pretty resilient on their own in a lot of ways, but there are still a couple of things they really ought to see a doctor for:
- Core Vaccines: Everybody should get a rabies vaccine and FVRCP every 3-years. These protect against most of the nasty life-ending bugs they could catch and can be gotten pretty cheaply (we offer these for $10/ea).
- Seasonal Deworming: Realistically, an outdoor cat is going to get into things. Rodents, fleas, and most delicious dead things all have parasites. Any good hunter will pick up some unwanted friends living in their belly in the course of daily life. The trick is keeping them under control. This is best accomplished by having your vet send some dewormer home for them a couple times a year.
Spay or neuter your barn cats! – Yes, as a spay/neuter clinic we have a vested interest in this, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea! First off, this is how you avoid going from a few barn cats to a few dozen (or more). A few cats are manageable, a few dozen start getting expensive very quickly. Secondly, spaying or neutering your barn cats reduces their tendency to wander, get in fights, or pick up diseases to share with the family. Basically it helps keep them happy, healthy, and around the barn, doing their job.
The barn cats take a family vacation to the vet to get fixed!
I Need Help! – Keeping anything more complicated than a philodendron (impossibly resilient houseplant, so long as you don’t nuke it, it’ll probably take over your house eventually) alive can get expensive very quickly. Barn cats especially so, since most of the time they aren’t something you plan on, they multiply on their own, and an unfortunate number of people see barns as an excellent place to dump their unwanted cats. We talk to a lot of barn cat owners at Precision Veterinary and the story is always pretty similar: they just started showing up, so we tried to feed them and do right by them, and now we have 20 or more. Sooner or later, most farmers seem to wind up with more cats than they can handle. Fortunately, there are a lot of resources out there intended to help good Samaritans like you out. Check out our Financial Aid section for spay/neuter assistance programs, pet food pantries and other resources to help make taking care of your fuzzy neighbors a little easier, and check out our Adopt page for some organizations that can provide experienced advice, assistance, and occasionally help with rehoming, and check out the resource list below for links to other useful pages. If you don’t see an answer to your question, feel free to give us a call or email us and maybe we can point you in the right direction.
Resources – There are tons of resources out there for making life more pleasant for outdoor cats, but most of it boils down to making sure they have somewhere warm to sleep, regular access to food and water, spaying or neutering them, and keeping them protected from infectious diseases. Below are a few good suggestions from proud barn cat parents.
WI Cat Info – a helpful repository of resources and tips for all kinds of outdoor cats
Feel like we missed something? email us at: [email protected] and let us know what it is!