Cats

Patches. My quiet companion this morning at 5:30 am.

We’ve had her since birth. She is Alesia’s cat, Alesia was there with Patches’ mother when Patches was born almost 15 years ago. Alesia was just 7 at the time, & now Alesia is almost 22. Patches has been on a raw food diet for a good part of her life and has never had a need to visit a vet for any ailments.

She became an indoor only cat when she was 9 or 10 because she would occasionally get lost. The last time it happened she was gone for weeks and came home weighing 5.5 pounds. She’s normally 10-12!

I like Patches, but I’m not a real cat person. I’m much more a dog lover.

There are barn cats on the property here, but they are completely feral, and that bothers me. I want to be able to catch them and see what their health is like. I caught one on camera once, and it looks healthy but I’d still like to be sure.

Barn Kitty

So pretty with those bright orange eyes. They say calico’s are always girls, that’s what I’ve heard. So I expect this would be a girl. I’m really surprised we’ve found no kittens! Shaylah has been trying to catch the barn cats, with no luck so far. Not even with tempting food!

I would have preferred to bring in at least one barn cat ourselves that’s friendly, but now I’m not sure it’d be a good idea if we can’t catch the others to check their health first! I wouldn’t want to spread anything from current cats, to new cats.

On the prairie, barn cats are a definite must with any feed around! Mice are abundant, and I’ve heard rats can be too. Right now our barn is still in clean up mode as we prepare for sheep arriving this week but once they are here, we’ll need to stay on top of any unwanted visitors (rodents)!