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| One black kitty, two black kitties. THREE black kitties??? |
I guess it shouldn't come as that big of a surprise as I've been covertly feeding the little bugger. It's been about two weeks since s/he has been hanging around the homestead, but mainly by the barn. I saw it eating leftover chicken scratch out of the chicken bowl one evening as I was putting the chickens in for the night. What cat eats chicken scratch?? Well, a starving one I figure. So every night I've been putting some kitty kibble out there for it, hoping to eventually lure it into the chicken / goat barn so I can have a bonafide Barn Cat.
There was another tabby that was hanging out around the barn last year, but when we got Harley, BK (short for Barn Kitty) decided it was safer to live somewhere else and moved on. Which is all well and good as he wasn't a very friendly cat anyhow.
The black cat is nowhere as skittish as BK, and will even come around when I call it (meow-meow-meow) around dinner time. I haven't been closer to it than this afternoon, although it was through a glass door. I'm hoping to eventually get it friendly enough that I can trap it and take it to the vet for shots and fixing. I am concerned about Evil Kitty and Susan though, as they are indoor / outdoor cats and I don't want any cat fights happening, so I've been keeping them inside as much as possible.
I would be thrilled to have a real barn cat. The mice in the barn drive me frekking insane. And Paul DID say that I could have another cat as long as it stayed outside. Now I just have to convince the new feline that the barn is a wonderful place to hang out, eat and sleep.
And what is it with black cats and me? Susan was a stray that we brought with us from Illinois and Evil Kitty was found here by one of our dogs. Now this black cat. Would it be that much to ask for a Calico? Or even one of those "boring" orange cats?
Paul's Take
Would it be that much to ask for all the cats to stay outside? I don't like cats. They're fility creatures; they piss & crap in the house, and not always in the stinky litter box. She can have all the barn cats she wants as long as they STAY outside. Susan and Evil Kitty started as outdoor cats. Then they somehow managed to make their way into the house. I will divorce her if another stinking cat comes in this house.
PS - If you want a "You'll piss yourself it's so funny" cat story, hop on over to Prairie Cat's Tale of the Vent Kitty.
Uhhhh, I'm with Paul here! No indoor cats....or dogs.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who now has maybe 15 barn cats.....she will share if you can come catch them.
Mine are so wild I gave up trying to take them to the vet....not a good thing. I now see three kittens running here and there.
The good thing is, we haven't seen a mouse inside or out in a few years.
I hope you can manage to keep your new barn cat outside of the house (unlike me)!
ReplyDeleteI had always wanted a gray or black cat, so of course, all of the cats that we have ever called our own were orange/cream/white. The hair shows up on everything!
Kitties! I love barn cats... Congrats on your new one, and don't let it into the house. I am in the same boat with the "I will divorce you if you bring another cat into this house" comment... Oy vay... Why can't those men understand that these things just find us???
ReplyDeleteMy new barn cat... I told my FIL about it, he goes, for 25 years I have been going down there and NEVER has a cat showed up. Never! So I had to then explain... Well, for the past 25 years I wasn't going down there, but now that I am, animals (namely cats) will surely follow. I can't help it!
I loved my indoor only cats (no barn here)- quiet, really clean (never an accident) and great for snuggling at night. We'll be getting a new kitty soon! I'm excited!!! Bless you for feeding the poor thing too! I can't stand to see an animal starving and neglected...
ReplyDeleteWell, I am incapable of watching a cat go hungry, which is why I have so many of them. Alas, I'm also incapable of letting them be cold, or worrying about them getting eaten by foxes or coyotes or hit by cars... which is why all of my cats are indoor creatures (and they don't smell one bit thank you very much!)
ReplyDeleteTrapping a hungry cat is generally pretty easy, as long as the cat isn't too trap wary - you can get live traps that you just bait with a bit of canned cat food and viola! We have an organization that lends the traps for free, and most veterinarians will know where to get your hands on one. It's MUCH easier than trying to lure them into a carrying case of something like that, especially if it's a feral cat that isn't used to human contact. I highly recommend getting the cat fixed and tested for FIV/FELV before letting it interact with your other fe-lions, since both FIV and FELV are fatal and spread by bites and scratches.
After watching my black cat, Carlos, get carried off by the coyotes, I will only have indoor kitties!! That being said, when these two are gone, no more animals in the house! As much as I love them, I'm tired of cat hair all over the furniture all the time. (sigh)
ReplyDeleteI hope your new barn kitty sticks around and does his/her job! :)
Love the Vent Kitty story, thanks for the link!
ReplyDeleteI would like to have a barn cat but I don't know if I could trust it around the little chicks - how do you plan on letting it know that chickens are not food?
One of our all time favorite cats was a black cat we named Rascal. My husband hadn't cared for cats, but knew we needed one as long as it was male and had personality. Well, Rascal had personality for 6 cats! I hope you get your barn cat. They are so necessary.
ReplyDeletegld, I wish we could get a few good barn cats, but I guess our barn just isn't "fancy" enough for them.
ReplyDeletePrairie Cat, I'm obviously a black-cat-magnet! There was actually another stray black cat here before DH moved here (I was here first), but I found a home for it.
Tiny Gardener, or shall I call you "She who summons the kitties"?
Nancy, when I saw the cat eating chicken scratch I almost cried! Can't wait to see you're new kitty, you'll let us know when you get him/her, right?
EcoCatLady, I don't think I'll have a problem trapping this one, although I wanted to get it a bit more friendly before taking it to the vet. I hate seeing a cat outdoors, but I know I can't keep them all inside and honestly, some of them just like to be outdoor cats....even if they have a soft fluffy pillow inside.
Candy, I'm so sorry to hear about Carlos. The predator thing is the main reason I get anxious about having outdoor cats. My two black cats that are indoor / outdoor have to be inside before dark, and I don't like them out there too long during the daytime either. But they are pretty good at coming inside when I call them.
Chai Chai, I haven't really figured out how I'm going to "train" the barn cat to the new chicks, although the smaller birds are penned up good so they wouldn't be in contact with the cat (or any other chick-eating animal), and honestly, once the chickens get older I don't think a sane feline would take any of them on...they can be mean buggers!
Leigh, Glad you found a cat with personality. That's a "good" kind of personality, not an insane stalking crazed wacko kind of personality, right??
LOL....your Paul and my Rick would get along fantastically I think! :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm with Paul too, but I'm also allergic to them so it makes it easy for me! I don't think a farm is complete without outdoor cats, however :)
ReplyDelete