[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi There,

   a young cat and her 4 kittens appeared in my garden earlier this week. They were all thin and timid as you might expect. I have spent the week feeding them up and winning them over and now all but one teeny tiny kitten will come when I call them for food. The teeny one takes a bit of persuading and no direct eye contact, no imposing body language etc but its getting there. The mum must have been someones pet as she is clearly an affectionate and friendly cat, weaving round my legs, purring and arching to meet my stroking hand.

I think she may have been a farm cat as she is complety unphased by the chickens and gives them space and respect. I have contacted cats protection who cant come for them for over a week so I am getting them as well fed and used to people as I can before they come to trap them. The mum has a little cough so I have a fear that she is ill and I'm not sure if the kittens will be sick too.

I am alergic to cats so I cant have them as pets but they sleep in my feed store on bails of straw or sit in the greenhouse when it rains so they seem ok. I am tempted to keep a couple as farm cats but Im not sure how that works really and my OH says he cant see the point in looking after something that isnt a pet.

Any thoughts?

Buffy

[robert waddell]

aw cute big mittens          somebody has dumped them 

[HappyHippy]

I think if you've livestock and feed stores then feeding a couple of farm cats is a good way of keeping on top of vermin - I''m sure they'll be cheaper than rentokill  
Our kittens are sort of pet farm cats in the sense that they sleep in the house and are tame, but spend all day out hunting and parading around the place.
Our outdoor farm cats sleep and get fed in the shed - none of them are tame and you can't get anywhere near them. They're all getting fairly old though, which is why we decided to get a couple of kittens and keep them tamer.
HTH
Karen

[goosepimple]

Hi Buffy, OH's always say things like that.  Keep the pussies.  Cats are fab, totally DIY unlike dogs (love our dog but I keep telling her I'm a cat person and to stop being cute).  Bet they won't be any trouble.  Now, what about names .... (oh, watch that boy/girl thing or you may have a recurring problem)

[shearling]

totally agree 

[Dougal]

I'm probably going upset the apple cart here, I can't stand cats! Not bad to have around the place to keep the vermin at bay though, unless you have sheep.
Cats are a necessary stage in the life cycle of toxoplasmosis. The most common way for sheep to contract Toxo is from their feed (feed and hay attracts mice/rats which then attracts the cats). This wouldn't be a worry but the only time you really feed sheep is during late preganacy. Toxo during pregnacy will cause abortions and unviable lambs through damage to the placenta.
To be fair this will only affect the ewes once in their life time due to immune build up after the first infection. If the sheep are exposed to toxo when they are not in lamb then they will become immune with no ill effects on the lambing percentage.

[goosepimple]

Hi Buffy, OH's always say things like that.  Keep the pussies. 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Dougal's right on the toxo risk ....but rather that risk than the rats. To date we have managed to have feral rescued farm cats and sheep with no problems, partly because I believe the risk is highest with ....um.....kittens and ours came at 12 months. So if you have sheep you might want to rehome the babies once weaned and keep Mum, but if no sheep then hurrah!

The only thing is, if you do keep them, please do neuter/spay them, otherwise the numbers will get out of hand very quickly! Cats Protection may be able to help with cheap neutering.   

[MelRice]

My two are very friendly but totally outdoor cats (3 months of REAL winter too) They get fed in an unheated out building on dry food, plenty of water and as much live food as they can catch. They snuggle down into the hay store when its in minus figs. I totally agree with the nutering thing...their mum was a "teenager" when she got caught with them, we had wrongly thought she was still too young to do at only 7/8 months!!!

Mum has now decided to move home we see her now and again when she comes to visit the kids but havent found exactly where she went...must be better than here though...

They do say that you do not own a cat, they own you!!

[SallyintNorth]

They do say that you do not own a cat, they own you!!

And that dogs have owners, cats have staff.   

lachlanandmarcus, my vet told me that too - don't bring kittens on where there are sheep, as all kittens excrete toxo but adult cats will excrete less (except pregnant females, I guess.)  And of course, keep all cats (and dogs) wormed.

[goosepimple]

[And that dogs have owners, cats have staff.   /quote]

  bit like my kids too...

[waterhouse]

After our resident owl got killed by a truck we developed a big rat problem.  We acquired a pair of feral cats from the cats protection league (but the RSPCA also had a shed full of them) and haven't looked back.  Mikey the terrier helps too.

The cats have access to a stable for shelter and we put out dry cat food.  Jeeves wasn't seen for some weeks over the summer but has come in twice this week so field food must be thinning out.  Chardonnay (twines around your legs but can rarely be caught) stays close to the yard.  Haven't seen a rat for a couple of years.

I think the animal charities have a steady supply from bonkers old ladies found with 30 cats and a hygiene problem. They don't rehome conventionally - ours were advertised as feral..

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi Everyone,

   thanks for all the advice. I dont have sheep so thats one less thing to worry about. I have contacted Cats protection to collect them for neutering etc. They are coming to trap them in a week or so. I was just toying with offering to take a couple back from them to help with the burden of rehoming.

I think their role as vermin control would be really useful. If I do decide to take a couple on should I keep boys or girls?


Buffy

[SallyintNorth]

I think their role as vermin control would be really useful. If I do decide to take a couple on should I keep boys or girls?

Assuming that whatever you keep will be neutered, I think girls are more likely to stick around at home - but can also be more prone to giving her human 'presents' of dead (or sometimes, worse, not dead) small furry things.  I don't know if girls are less likely to be avid hunters than boys - all my boys have hunted, some of them widely, but the girl I had also hunted although less than the boys - and brought a lot of it in the house, often not dead. 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

  Thanks for the advice. I have found a home for one of them with our postman. And if I keep mum and one other then I only need to home 2. How old will they be if they are still suckling mum? They are also eating whatever I feed mum so they must be of weaning age. How old should they be when I find them homes?

Does anyone know how much nutering costs and what age it can be done?


Buffy