Cat question

[Javamama]

OK, I have gone off the deep end, but I'm getting 2 kittens today for the outbuildings. We are starting to have a mouse problem. I do not love cats. I will tolerate them if they do their job. I hope they do their job once they are beyond the cute stage.
I am thinking to get 2 males, simply because they are cheaper to neuter. DH wants to know if a neutered cat will still spray? I don't think so, but I really have no idea.
Tell me what you know...

 

[mrscoyote]

Hi, male cats spray to mark their territory, so if you neuter early you should not have an issue with this.
Good luck.
Nancy

 

[Shiloh Acres]

If you have them neutered while young they are not likely to spray later, but it's possible.

Female cats are often reported to be much better mousers than males. Supposedly because they have (potentially) kittens to feed and teach to hunt. Kittens are not necessary for this to kick in though. And I've heard of a few outstanding mousers who were male.

You are best off getting a kitten who is already started in this way. If his mother catches prey and brings it to the nest, he'll have an idea already. Some cats never experience any of that and never learn to be effective.

Don't cut back on food thinking it will make them more desperate and better hunters. The best mousers I have known were fed cats. They might not stick around if you don't feed them, too.

Good luck with them!

 

[lorihadams]

yep, they will still spray. I had a female cat that was spayed as a kitten and she sprayed EVERYTHING that would stand still as soon as she became an outside cat when i got preggers.

My other cat did not do this. Sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I feed my outside cats a little in the morning and evening and they do just fine, bring me "presents" all the time....mice, rabbits, birds....you name it.

 

[ducks4you]

OK, I have gone off the deep end, but I'm getting 2 kittens today for the outbuildings. We are starting to have a mouse problem.

Make a cat-friendly place in one or more of your outbuildings. If you can, cut them a cat door, so that they can get away from bigger predators. WHATEVER you do, PLEASE PLEASE feed them!!! The farmer where I kept my horses for the first 14 years wouldn't feed any of his cats. They were skinny and sickly. My barn/inside cats are sleak and healthy. Even though we're down to two cats, both pushing 9 years old, we never see a mouse in our house, despite the farm fields behind us.

I do not love cats. I will tolerate them if they do their job. I hope they do their job once they are beyond the cute stage...

I understand. I grew up with dogs, and wasn't sure that I'd like cats. I hate feral cats and feral dogs because they are dangerous. I think you'll adjust you opinion of them after keeping them in a situation where they have a job to do, that is, to mouse.

I am thinking to get 2 males, simply because they are cheaper to neuter.

Sure are cheaper to neuter. Also, you won't have an accidental litter to deal with. I agree with this.

DH wants to know if a neutered cat will still spray? I don't think so, but I really have no idea.
Tell me what you know

Absolutely ANY male cat, neutered or not WILL spray!! I cannot tell you how many times my DD's have screamed and cried because the cats marked territory on their clothes. They will also fight with other male cats--the females fight a lot less.

Please handle your kittens, so they don't get wild. With 2 or more the kittens will learn that their claws are sharp. Even though our kitties sometimes forget, they are affectionate and never bite us or deliberately scratch us.

Also, once in awhile you can get a weird cat that never makes friends with you, but usually it's an older cat who resents the change in residence. When we moved out to the country in November, 1999, we had no cats. A garter snake was living under the steps and catching mice. By the next spring, I picked up 3 male littermates, 5 months old. I put them in the barn, and they disappeared in the loft. I thought that they were dead, but two weeks later they appeared. It took them a little time to not be afraid of us. We lost the last one earlier this year. He was a Havana Brown Tabby, nine years old, and we called him "Artemus." He was the only cat I've owned that would eat, and then come to you to say, "thank you." We turned him out, and he disappeared. I guess he was wandering, and a coyote got him.

 

[MorelCabin]

I think a couple of outdoor cats is a great idea, but I would prefer female, and spay them. Males will spray, spayed or not. The will also need to be fed. If you make them a cozy place in a shed/barn/garage somewhere and feed them at the back door of your home every morning/evening, they will stay friendly and not go wild on you. You can call them to the door and they'll come running to eat

 

[ksalvagno]

I have both male and female cats. I have never had a problem with males spraying but mine were all neutered at 6 months. I have found that both the males and females are great mousers. If you aren't too far from Lorain County, there is LifeSavers Spay & Neuter. You drop your cats off at the drop off point in the am and then pick them back up at the same spot in pm. Males are $40 and females are $50. Includes a rabies shot and a worming. That is where I take my cats for spay and neuter.

I do keep food in the barn for them and I do make sure they are friendly because I give them their vaccinations. You want to keep them locked up for a couple of weeks so they don't run away too. I was told to keep a cat locked up for 3 weeks so they understand where their food and home is but I'm not sure if you really need to go the full 3 weeks.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

LOL I reread this thread and was thinking about it. My best hunter was a male -- not that I've had many hunting/mousing cats. We found him abandoned when he wasn't much bigger than a mouse himself, raised him on milk. He apparently taught himself. He didn't try to kill our pet gerbil, even when it escaped from the cage. And I taught him to respect the chickens so he never went after poultry.

But he would catch (and bring home) mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, birds, snakes. NOTHING was safe around him (except my animals). He was a great cat. I didn't always enjoy the "presents" and it took him a while to learn not to play rough with us, but he was my little buddy. I miss him.

 

[Wildsky]

I was just chatting to the neighbor lady about this very subject, her father has a cat in his barn that just had a bunch of kittens, I'm trying to talk hubby into allowing 2 to live in our 4 car garage, to help keep the mouse population down.
I feel so guilty about leaving a cat outdoors, because of our very cold winters, but so many people do. I know they'd be spoiled here alot more than anywhere else.

I'm just concerned about being unemployed and having to pay for the kittens to be fixed, I refuse to have un-fixed cats running around.

 

[Javamama]

Well then after the info you all gave, I guess it doesn't matter which sex I get I'll tell DH to pick whatever he likes the best.
FYI, I am going to feed them. I am going to spay and/or neuter. They will be handled and loved and have their own space. I'm sure the kids won't leave them alone. No need to worry about their care. I am taking in strays that showed up on a woman's porch, but they will be pets. Just not inside pets since I have allergies. I have been around cats before and I can say with certainty that I will not ever love them.