Cats on the Homestead

[Beekissed]

Thought I better give equal service to my other homestead work partners, the wonderful predator and all around great mouser, the homestead or barn cat. Post about your cats here!

For some years we didn't have a cat, as cats disappear out here in the country....while they are hunting, some things are hunting THEM. My last one was Spike, a true character and a cat that wrote a great story while he was here...but he disappeared as country cats can do. We had him for 6 yrs, though, and they were great years! We've always had cats down through the years and most have had quirky personalities that made them memorable.

My current cats just may save our apple crop this year and for the first time in over 20 yrs we may get to actually taste a ripened apple on our trees. All those years the squirrels have been stripping what fruit we had before it even ripened. The deer helped with that too.

I left these cats un-fixed so that I could breed replacement cats for the homestead if these should fall prey to the local wildlife while out hunting. You have no idea how very hard it is to obtain free kittens nowadays, with the Humane Society dominating the pet industry! I barely got these two and they weren't even weaned yet, so I had to be the mama to get them fed and make them poop.

Anyhoo, we now have a healthy litter of 4 under the cabin and one already claimed by my youngest son. I like these two cats...they are smaller than cats I've had in the past but they are still very effective hunters. No more rabbits or squirrels in the yard, getting in the garden or fruit trees.

The cats also provide companionship for the dogs, grandchildren and each other....and me!

Flash~

And Miss Molly....gettin' her lovin' any way she can!

Tell us about your homestead cats...stories, pics, how you raise them, why you have them, etc. ​

 

[samssimonsays]

I love this!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I don't do cats. But, our humane society here finally smartened up. They now rescue barn cats, and actually give them away as barn cats. They don't try to make them house pets, and they don't charge for them. Smart! If we ever have a real barn, we might get a barn cat or two. I just really don't want a house cat.

 

[samssimonsays]

Our "homestead/barn cat" is Dixie the Calico kitty. She came to us in a panic from a friend who found out not even 12 hours before her and her husband embarked on the Air force life that she could not go with even though they had told them she could prior. It was a 3 month, temporary deal until we found her a loving home. Well, first couple days with us she killed mice we didn't even know we had in the house. 7 of them and she drug out a nest of the pink littles as well. She gained brownie points with both my husband and I who are not per say "cat people" She was indoor outdoor with her old family so naturally once she was done killing things in the house she drove us up the wall to be let outside. Then and only then was she truly happy. Happy to have the taste of blood reach her taste buds, happy to be stalking and killing ruthlessly every creature smaller than her that dared to encroach on her domain.

She is not happy unless she is killing, seriously though. She still comes in at night as that is a stipulation with us and she comes a running when called. She has only gotten stranded in one tree that I nearly killed myself saving her from (ladder in the bed of a truck to reach her kitty touche) and three times on the house roof as she can get off the garage and barn roofs although, we aren't sure how she gets herself in these predicaments, she kills the menacing red squirrels and chipmunks, any birds that dare fly too low, bats outside, mice, moles, vols, shrews, frogs, snakes and more. She always lays them ever so gently on the front walkway for us to show us she cares

 

[tortoise]

DH doesn't like housecats, so I was shocked when he got a cat! She was found stray and wounded by his associate's fiancé' coworkers. DH's associate vet doctored her up and she lived in the basement before going to a local rescue and living pretty much in a closet. They were keeping her out of the animal shelter because she had URI and would be euthanized there.

So DH brought her home. She has one eye and a big scar on her shoulders. She has turned out to be the sweetest most wonderful angelic cat.

She mostly lives in the barn, but she comes to the patio door in the morning and I let her in. She is exceptionally patient with DS2. He calls her "my cat".

She's not a fabulous mouser, as far as we know. We seen an occassional mouse shrew and one time a rat. We don't feed her much to encourage her to mouse. She does protect bags of feed. We've never had a rodent chew a hole in the feed bags. Good kitty!

 

[NH Homesteader]

sorry... Gotta say it... @samssimonsays why are YOU rescuing cats out of trees? don't you have a firefighter husband to do that for you?

 

[samssimonsays]

Then, we have Dugan. Tossed from a car window as they drove through town at 4 weeks old. Took 2 weeks to catch him. He was scared, shy and little.

shortly after bringing him home he was attacked by my parents mini dachshund and his leg fractured. He continued to be afraid of most people and dogs after that. Then, when I went off to college he had no choice but to come out of the bedroom for human interaction. The first 6 months I was away he nearly died as he wouldn't come out from under the bed to eat unless I was home and thankfully I was able to come home all but 1 weekend in that time frame. Once he started to come out he was beaten within an inch of his life by the dogs paws. rushed to the vet and was recovering under the bed when he got locked out of the bedroom on accident and they got him. Skinning his leg like pulling down a sock.

The poor guy didn't catch his first mouse until he was 9 years old But now, every so often, he will leave one on my husbands side of the bed to show he is not "worthless" He is our pretty boy living out his life in luxury and is 12 now. His hobbies include indulging in ice cream cones with me, laying on my lap, soaking up rays of sunlight, snuggling on heated blankets and under blankets as well as laying on me no matter what position in bed at night. Nickname is Mr. Fingers due to how long they are and how he uses them to grab things and eat with them. He may be a "house cat" but he deserves the life after all he's been through.

 

[samssimonsays]

sorry... Gotta say it... @samssimonsays why are YOU rescuing cats out of trees? don't you have a firefighter husband to do that for you?

He wasn't home! It was 2 am and an owl was in the tree next to her. It was also end of October and very chilly. Even though I am not a cat person I could not just leave her silly butt up there She has since repayed me ten fold with all the snakes and squirrels she has killed lol.

 

[samssimonsays]

So DH brought her home. She has one eye and a big scar on her shoulders. She has turned out to be the sweetest most wonderful angelic cat.

She mostly lives in the barn, but she comes to the patio door in the morning and I let her in. She is exceptionally patient with DS2. He calls her "my cat".

She's not a fabulous mouser, as far as we know. We seen an occassional mouse shrew and one time a rat. We don't feed her much to encourage her to mouse. She does protect bags of feed. We've never had a rodent chew a hole in the feed bags. Good kitty!

I love stories like this!

 

[Beekissed]

Our "homestead/barn cat" is Dixie the Calico kitty. She came to us in a panic from a friend who found out not even 12 hours before her and her husband embarked on the Air force life that she could not go with even though they had told them she could prior. It was a 3 month, temporary deal until we found her a loving home. Well, first couple days with us she killed mice we didn't even know we had in the house. 7 of them and she drug out a nest of the pink littles as well. She gained brownie points with both my husband and I who are not per say "cat people" She was indoor outdoor with her old family so naturally once she was done killing things in the house she drove us up the wall to be let outside. Then and only then was she truly happy. Happy to have the taste of blood reach her taste buds, happy to be stalking and killing ruthlessly every creature smaller than her that dared to encroach on her domain.

She is not happy unless she is killing, seriously though. She still comes in at night as that is a stipulation with us and she comes a running when called. She has only gotten stranded in one tree that I nearly killed myself saving her from (ladder in the bed of a truck to reach her kitty touche) and three times on the house roof as she can get off the garage and barn roofs although, we aren't sure how she gets herself in these predicaments, she kills the menacing red squirrels and chipmunks, any birds that dare fly too low, bats outside, mice, moles, vols, shrews, frogs, snakes and more. She always lays them ever so gently on the front walkway for us to show us she cares

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DH doesn't like housecats, so I was shocked when he got a cat! She was found stray and wounded by his associate's fiancé' coworkers. DH's associate vet doctored her up and she lived in the basement before going to a local rescue and living pretty much in a closet. They were keeping her out of the animal shelter because she had URI and would be euthanized there.

So DH brought her home. She has one eye and a big scar on her shoulders. She has turned out to be the sweetest most wonderful angelic cat.

She mostly lives in the barn, but she comes to the patio door in the morning and I let her in. She is exceptionally patient with DS2. He calls her "my cat".

She's not a fabulous mouser, as far as we know. We seen an occassional mouse shrew and one time a rat. We don't feed her much to encourage her to mouse. She does protect bags of feed. We've never had a rodent chew a hole in the feed bags. Good kitty!

Then, we have Dugan. Tossed from a car window as they drove through town at 4 weeks old. Took 2 weeks to catch him. He was scared, shy and little.

shortly after bringing him home he was attacked by my parents mini dachshund and his leg fractured. He continued to be afraid of most people and dogs after that. Then, when I went off to college he had no choice but to come out of the bedroom for human interaction. The first 6 months I was away he nearly died as he wouldn't come out from under the bed to eat unless I was home and thankfully I was able to come home all but 1 weekend in that time frame. Once he started to come out he was beaten within an inch of his life by the dogs paws. rushed to the vet and was recovering under the bed when he got locked out of the bedroom on accident and they got him. Skinning his leg like pulling down a sock.

The poor guy didn't catch his first mouse until he was 9 years old But now, every so often, he will leave one on my husbands side of the bed to show he is not "worthless" He is our pretty boy living out his life in luxury and is 12 now. His hobbies include indulging in ice cream cones with me, laying on my lap, soaking up rays of sunlight, snuggling on heated blankets and under blankets as well as laying on me no matter what position in bed at night. Nickname is Mr. Fingers due to how long they are and how he uses them to grab things and eat with them. He may be a "house cat" but he deserves the life after all he's been through.
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I LOVE these stories and would love to own these amazing cats myself! SSS, your photographs are amazing and your animals most beautiful....a good cat is worth his weight in gold, IMO.