On Feb 11, 2007, at 10:50 AM, Thomas Olenio wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Every farm with a barn has a couple of barn cats. They are necessary.
> Losses are expected. You do not get attached to them, they are simply
> farmer's tools. Allow them to be feral friends.
>
> Later,
> Tom
A lot of people around here do treat their barn cats more as "wild
beneficials" than as domestic animals. I find I can't do it like that.
My indoor/outdoor cats do a great deal of hunting during the day and
sleep in the house at night (there are coyotes); and yes I am attached
to them.
If you have pet cats who don't go outside at all, and you live in an
area similar to mine, you will soon also have barn cats; the excess
population coming from other people's barns will move into any
available spot. If you let your indoor cats go out the space is more
likely to register to other felines as "taken", though you may get
occasional wanderers anyway.
There are some disadvantages to the feral or semiferal barn cat method:
rabies is potentially one of them. The population is likely to zoom and
then crash due to other diseases, also.
There are of course intermediary techniques: some people get their barn
cats tame enough to immunize and spay them. Getting them this tame,
however, is likely to result in your also getting attached to them; and
of course, there's the expense; though in some areas you can get
discounts.
--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly
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