Introducing the kitties!

[Merlyn]

I've found wonderful homes for 5 abandoned cats so far, but that covers many years !!! The average is about 1 cat every 5 years ! The last 3 were at my location now and were just recently abandoned young cats that would come right up and let you pet them while you fed them, easy to catch and adopt out !!! At that time I already had 2 cats. People who abandon animals are very shallow and have no heart and a twisted soul !

[camille1585]

I have a feeling that the guy WILL take his cats with him. He does like his cats (and got momma spayed), but just thinks that they ought to be self sufficient. His plan is to buy a farm and raise livestock and be self sufficent (think little house on the prairie!), and he seriously thinks that farm life is easy. The cats fit in to that idealistic picture as mousers.

It's quite funny the days my mother arrives back from work at the same time as him. Both cats go streaking down the driveway to wait on OUR doorstep! My mother says that very often they are waiting for her on the parking lot in the evening. And if she goes for a short walk up to the village or down to the mill, they are following following....
Even when doing work outside around the house, Mounette follows everywhere, keeping an eye on the yardwork!

[The Mutant]

I would say that it doesn't matter what the humans in question say; the cats are your mother's - or rather - she's their human! It seems they've adopted her.

I hope he won't take them with him when he leaves because that will probably be the death of them...

[Leafmite]

In my town, when a dog escapes/is missing, people look high and low for the dog, knocking on doors, putting up posters, notifying the local vets. When a cat goes missing, no search, on to the next cat. I can't have a cat because I am allergic but I have always wanted one and I will never understand how people can put so little value on such an intelligent, beautiful creature. A couple of years ago, I saw a gorgeous white cat in a neighbor's lawn, across the street and I thought it was just teasing the dogs. When I discovered it was still there many hours later, I was concerned and checked on it. Unfortunately, it was paralyzed. One of our wonderful police officers took it to the vet for me. I still feel very sad for the kitty.

[RosieC]

They look so happy, it's great of your mum to take them in. Cats raised as house cats just can't be expected to look after themselves and even cats raised as farm cats need some attention.

The key is that, as Beverly said, farm cats are raised that way by their mother, they are taught to hunt and know what to do with the kill once they have it. You can't buy house cats and expect them to be self sufficient. Even a cat capable of leaving a dead mouse on your doormat probably is not self sufficient as shown by the fact they leave the mouse rather than eat it.

There ARE self-sufficient cats, my Dad's cat's were mostly self-sufficient. They never left mice on the doorstep because they would eat them instead. I once saw one of them carrying a whole baby rabbit it had caught and then ripping it apart on our front lawn, there was almost nothing left at the end. They still knew what time dad put food out though. Not all of them would come for it every day but those that were hungry would come and be waiting for him.

As for living outdoors... they still need somewhere warm to sleep and I don't think a farm with a few chickens and a vegetable garden can provide that. My dad's cats would sleep in the various barns with the cattle. Cattle generate a lot of heat and there was also always fresh straw for them to snuggle down and make a bed for themselves in.

And they got plenty of attention and fuss. In fact my dad's neighbour inherited a cat when his daughter moved and while he fed it and there was rarely anyone around as he had given up farming and was out all day. The cat, having been a house cat and used to people, decided she preferred the fuss she got visiting dad working around the farm (or whoever else was working around the farm). Dad was happy to let her feed with the others and she soon adopted my parents

[greenbean]

Farm life, easy?......right. Sounds like some yuppie who has no idea what actually goes into running a farm.

My family had a cat years ago that was mostly an outdoor cat, but slept inside with my brother and was very affectionate. She was a stray that adopted us. She caught most of her food and was a very good hunter. Rabbits were frequently on the menu, and she even tried chasing deer, until they chased her back. But she still ate what we gave her, particularly if it was bits of salmon, or egg left over from making French toast.

Our current feline is strictly a house cat and the difference could not be more stark. She used to hunt spiders, but now she hardly even does that. She'll bat at them a couple times and then get bored. She's had a mouse cornered twice, but the second time I had to trap it and kill it because all she did was stare at it. Silly beasty.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by greenbean

Farm life, easy?......right. Sounds like some yuppie who has no idea what actually goes into running a farm.

Exactly! His vegetable garden is a near complete failure every year because he knows nothing about growing anything, and his chickens are underfed, but then he complains that he doesn't get many eggs. His chickens get snapped up by foxes and such and he wonders why. Well no duh, the fence line looks like swiss cheese!

And when I called my mother last night I found out that the neighbor is looking for land to lease, so that he can raise goats to make cheese, and also wants to keep bees too. The dude probably has NO CLUE how much work each of those involves! He expects to be able to take care of all of that while working a full time job! Unbelievably ignorant and unrealistic guy...

I know several farmers around our village, and they all work unbelievable hours for not much money. One farmer is single, and tends his 40 dairy cows, 400 chickens, various other animals and all his land all on his own. He makes cheese and butter, and sells his produce on the market several days a week. He's up at 4am, and goes to bed at midnight. It's a rough, rough life.

Sorry for my ranting, the guy just really gets to me...

[RosieC]

Really does sound like a yuppie with no clue.

When my dad was farming he was up and working at 4am and was out all day except for coming home for meals. He was lucky he could afford to employee someone to cover a couple of milkings a week and do other odd jobs, although he had several years where there was no-one but him (and Grandad had become too old to help). But the farm needed someone for long hours 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and most of that time was Dad, generally even his 'days off' would involve a couple of hours work.

He's retired now and leases the land to someone else but he still has to be out there a couple of days a week just to maintain fences and buildings and equipment.

[greenbean]

No worries, Camille, I could easily get into a rant of my own. These kinds of people cause me to alternate between fits of laughter and groans of aggravation.