New Kitties: Are They Invisible?
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
Canada
February 15, 2016 1:10am CST
Once when complaining to a friend who lives on a farm about my current mouse problem, she offered to bring me a couple of their excess barn kittens to keep. We set up a place in an outbuilding where the cats could be kept safe from predators and where we could feed and water them. (I'm unable to keep cats in the house because I'm allergic to them, even though I have a soft spot for cats.)
Well, they arrived about a week ago, and to be honest, I've yet to see them. The day she brought them we had some other guests as well and I was distracted when my husband and friend settled the kittens in their new home. They aren't very young kittens -- maybe four months old or so -- and so they had settled into a rather wild barn life in their old home. They are not used to being handled by humans. As a result they have no intention of being coddled now. I know they exist because I feed and water them a couple of times a day and their dish is always empty. As well they leave their little offerings in the kitty litter, so I know it's them that are eating the food, not some random wild animals. I wonder when I will catch them at their food dish. I hope I see them soon. I'd like to tame them a bit, but it's going to be a challenge!
26 people like this
26 responses
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
Once they're settled in, that's the plan, though we will feed them some food. Kittens need to be healthy.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (220245)
• Walnut Creek, California
15 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 Force 'em into service, I say!
3 people like this
@AliCanary (3249)
•
15 Feb 16
@TheHorse - you may be kidding (I hope you are), but @Sheilamarie78 is right--kittens need to eat frequently so they will grow strong. They're just babies, still!
3 people like this
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
15 Feb 16
Many times cats will not hunt if well fed. Also, they would be full of worms and diseases from possible eating those mice. I know many who gets cats from barns who are very much inbred, and have many many health conditions because of it.
3 people like this
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
16 Feb 16
@paigea Yes, many don't and then they inbreed repeatedly. I see it in several local farms here. They have many health problems, and deformations. It is rather sad not mentioning the neglect they get.
2 people like this
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
16 Feb 16
@ricki_911 I suppose that is why our neighbour had them neutered when she got them from someone else who's barn cat had kittens. She wouldn't want to perpetuate the problem
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
15 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 Except for meal times of course. In fact, if you feed them at regular times then they will probably know exactly when to make their selves scarce.
2 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
@Asylum Then I should just surprise them randomly with food?
2 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
I know. So the situation is . . . I am probably seen as an annoyance.
2 people like this
@cacay1 (83577)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
17 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 hehehehe, Thanks.
2 people like this
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
17 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 That may work. I was suggesting treats such as cookies made for cats
2 people like this
@paigea (36315)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
Our cat escaped from his barn next door and lived for a few months in our bushes. My husband couldn't get near him and I never really saw him. One day he came towards me meowing and I meowed back. He hasn't left us alone since! The neighbour said we could keep him. He lived outside all summer in a little house my husband made him. In the fall he had no problem learning to use the cat door into the garage. He comes in the house and curls up beside us but he pretty much is still an outside cat. Though we feed him we still see him with a mouse now and then.
Anyway, the cats may get tamed yet. He was about 8 months old when he started hanging around here.
3 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
That's practically a teenager cat. There's hope, then.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104628)
• United States
15 Feb 16
I hope you'll be able to catch a picture of them as well. good luck on softening them up.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61101)
• United States
15 Feb 16
I guess you have work cats not house cats so they are doing their job and taming them will indeed be a challenge.
2 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
That would be good. I broke down and got a few new mouse traps today. My old ones weren't doing the job anymore and the cats haven't kicked in yet.
2 people like this
@simone10 (54187)
• Louisville, Kentucky
23 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 Maybe they will as time goes on and they realize that you are not a threat to them.
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
22 Feb 16
I've started seeing them occasionally. They still won't come close though.
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
15 Feb 16
Thats so nice of your friend
Maybe you should set a camera once you place food
2 people like this
@AliCanary (3249)
•
15 Feb 16
I think they would require a lot of human contact to be tamed--it sounds like they are semi-feral, now.
2 people like this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
The best cats we've had were born into a family with kids who adored them. Not so these.
1 person likes this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
That's why we got them, besides the fact that I like them.
1 person likes this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
That's a good way to look at it -- they admire their privacy. We all have those days when we wish everyone would just leave us in peace.
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
16 Feb 16
My mom grew up on a farm, I always wanted to play with the barn cats but only got to touch them when my grandfather (dairy farmer) fed them bowls of milk. Then they disappeared and hid from me.
1 person likes this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
17 Feb 16
Maybe I need to get a cow. Actually, they came from a dairy farm.
1 person likes this
@Sheilamarie78 (2586)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
I am less allergic to cats than I used to be and that's good. One, I'm told, is black and white while the other is striped.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (342112)
• Rockingham, Australia
16 Feb 16
@Sheilamarie78 At least you know what to look for now. :)
2 people like this
