[nicandem]

If you live in the sticks and are thinking of getting a feral/farm/working/mouser cat, then think of using Battersea Dog and Cat home....

I contacted them as I am only 90 mins (Gloucestershire) from their nearest place near Windsor and found out that they re home almost to anywhere especially for these types of cats. 

This is due to them often not being found homes and end up being put to sleep.  The driver was in the Brecons last week!

Battersea could not have been more helpful. 

They DELIVER! 

They gave me food, bedding, cat bed, waterproof cat house, 2 bowls for food, one for water, litter tray and litter plus 4 weeks insurance for each cat.

As to cost... £40 per cat!   


if you can get farm cats locally for free then good for you, but none about near me, hence visiting the rescue places.

Compares very well to a local place that wanted double and a cotswold wide charity that wanted 150 quid each cat... (but they would give me a 25 quid voucher to spend in their shop!)

When they ask me to pay, I will be giving them a bit more than the £80 for the two cats that I now have. 

Let's hope that they do as good a job as my last cat, that unfortunately took on a car after 6 years here and lost.

[landroverroy]

How do you get the cat to stay? I rehoused one from the Cats Protection League some years ago. Kept it in for about 2 weeks, then let it out and never saw it again for ages. I thought our buildings would be ideal. Food and shelter and plenty of straw to hide in and sleep on. However, it turned up some weeks later, miles away and thin and looking neglected. I was contacted because it was chipped and I was made to feel like I had neglected the animal or even thrown it out - which I most definitely had not.
The first farm cat I got had been abandoned at  friend's place in the middle of nowhere. I took her to my buildings and fed her and gave her a bed; didn't even shut her in, and she stayed for years. 


So where did I go wrong with the second one?

[Anke]

How do you get the cat to stay? I rehoused one from the Cats Protection League some years ago. Kept it in for about 2 weeks, then let it out and never saw it again for ages. I thought our buildings would be ideal. Food and shelter and plenty of straw to hide in and sleep on. However, it turned up some weeks later, miles away and thin and looking neglected. I was contacted because it was chipped and I was made to feel like I had neglected the animal or even thrown it out - which I most definitely had not.
The first farm cat I got had been abandoned at  friend's place in the middle of nowhere. I took her to my buildings and fed her and gave her a bed; didn't even shut her in, and she stayed for years. 


So where did I go wrong with the second one?

I think rehomong truly feral adult cats is difficult, especially if it is only one. Better to do a couple or so. Also if not spayed/castrated they will wander much more in search of sex....


I have recently turned down a single adult truly feral cat, which is living in a closed in space (and has for a while) and they still can't even catch her...


Our last (and first) smallholding cat was a rehomed stray, rather than feral, and he stayed put nicely in the goatshed for 6 years. I think you can also rehome a house cat as long as you provide a warm place for him/her in a shed, rather than a feral one - quality of life probably the same (or better) than staying indoors. But the rehoming charities are reluctant to rehome indoor cats to live in stables/sheds etc... which is a shame.

[sabrina]

I have rehomed feral cats for the CP with no problem. I have an old rabbit run which is in the hay barn. When the cat comes it goes into the run for 2 wks. So far they seem to stay. I put out food 3 times a day. Meat morning and evening with cat biscuits at lunch time. They get to know when I will be out and are waiting for me. We have 3 at the moment.