Friendly tomcat (and a bunch of his friends) could use a barn home... (Baltimore)

[Erin]

"Domino" is a big black-and-white former tomcat, who I trapped this weekend as part of a TNR project. He's not feral -- was probably dumped as a young cat -- but isn't a lap cat either. (He's happy to be petted, but just not super-affectionate.) He mostly just seems to want OUT of the crate I have him in. ;)

The street he came from is not very safe, and I don't really want to put him back there. Does anyone have room for one more barn cat? He is FIV/feluk negative, has his rabies and distemper shots, and seems to be in pretty good health, other than having a chunk missing from one ear where someone bit him. :p

If anyone has room for one more, I'm sure he would greatly appreciate a roof over his head when he wants it, a reliable source of food, and some friendly humans to dispense ear scritches! :)

I'll try to post a picture later...

[Erin]

Here's a picture of Mr. Domino! Not a great picture, because he's in a crate in my garage, but gives you an idea...

(As you can see, he's not amused at being "in jail"... he tries to dart out whenever I open the crate door!)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3200/2904904524_a74b2ba285.jpg

He's very talkative and seems like quite a character. He could potentially be a nice housecat too, I just don't know because I haven't been able to let him out of the crate yet. (Although I may be able to move him into the basement and try in a couple days.) Because he's a little beaten up and VERY tomcat-looking with his big old head and neck, I'm not sure if he's the kind of guy most people are looking for as a housecat, so I figured I'd try a barn home first.

Sigh... this is why I hate doing TNR in my neighborhood. The cats are always friendly and I can never bear to put them back!

Anyone have a spot for Domino? :)

[LarissaL]

Ah! He looks like a black and white Bing Bong! I think he's terribly handsome.

I'll see if they are looking for more kitties at the barn. They got three indoor/outdoor cats and tried to turn them into barn cats.. two of them are pure white longhairs and are not so sure they agree with that idea!

[Erin]

He is actually very Bing-Bong-like... and Bing Bong wasn't terribly affectionate when I first met him either! ;)

MDE, if your barn is in need of cats, there are two others I trapped along with Domino that I *think* might be friendly, but I just haven't managed to break the ice with them yet. (Can't blame them for being a bit suspicious of me, since I've got them trapped in cages in a garage. :p ) And there are always, always, ALWAYS cats around here who aren't terribly adoptable and could use a barn home.

[Erin]

Giving Domino another bump!

I've got him in a crate in the basement now. He is totally friendly -- you can pick him up and carry him around and everything. He's not a snugglebug, though. He seems to just want to kind of hang out and do his own thing. :)

I'll try to get some better pictures later, but he's just a big old lug of a cat who needs a new place to call home!

[Erin]

Aw, who could resist this big ol' squishy tomcat face? :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/2925202871_bf4f71bfc5.jpg

[Delighted]

Well, we all know I can't - especially if that big, squishy tomcat head involves partial ears...

I can totally vouch for Erin's mighty collection of partially-eared cats - I have two of them. They're both fantastic - Grumbly is, quite possibly, the greatest cat of all time. He was another "might be a better barn cat" listing, but really, he just needed a chance to settle in - since then, he's been a friendly, snuggly kind of guy. I drag him around by the armpits on a regular basis - if I'm home, his feet usually don't touch the ground.

(Charlie on the other hand... we're still working on Charlie. He's older, and still has his dignity. We've come to an agreement that brings him out of his office when he will, for a few minutes at a time, sit next to me. No touching. Just sitting).

[redpony]

We lost our barn cat of 18 years last fall and I miss seeing him every day. He had the best of care including plastic surgery for an ingrown eyelash and was on meds every day for the last four years of his life for a failing kidney. He was such a love (for a barn cat), he would run to the car to meet me every day when I came home from work. I'm sure you'll find a home for him closer than me, but if you can't, please keep me in mind.

[Jleegriffith]

Erin, I have decided I could use two more. One of my grey cats disappeared over the weekend but I am not giving up hope. She was so people friendly and had been her four days happy as ever so I am not sure what happened.

[okggo]

Erin,
We may be willing to take one (I say we may, b/c I'd need to consult with hubby first). I don't want a house cat (admit that I am a dog person), but could use a good barn cat :)

We are in Frederick, would kitty deliver himself here? ;) PM me if you want to chat more.

[Erin]

Ooh, yay, lots of possibilities! And believe me, there are enough cats around here who need barn homes that I can probably find some for everybody. :D

(And yes, I will deliver to Frederick... and even Connecticut. ;) )

I have a couple other kitty candidates... just need to get photos of them, so I'll post more later. I literally just walked in the door after spending the whole afternoon parked in a Walgreens parking lot trying to trap the last feral kitten from a litter of 4, so I've got some catching up to do!

BTW, you guys rock. :) Other cat rescue people are always asking me where I find all these fantastic barn homes... it's so great that so many people here are willing to consider some of the less-cute/less-adoptable street kitties and give them good homes.

[jazzrider]

Hooray that this guy may have found a home! I was getting very tempted -- but I'm not sure how Fred and Wilma (our barn cats, courtesy of Erin!) would respond to a new interloper. You guys are awesome!

[Erin]

Here are some of Domino's cohorts from his alley. (I still have to get pics, tho.)

Hektor -- he's a very cute black/white tuxedo with half a little white mustache. He is friendly and likes to be petted, but very very skittish. (This is a common refrain for cats I've picked up from this alley... I think they all have PTSD or something. If you could see the neighborhood they're in, you'd know why. :( ) I think he just needs some time to settle and get trusting. Unfortunately he managed to escape out of the crate I had him in in my basement and is now hiding in a little crawlspace, where I can't snatch him, so I have to coax him out somehow. :rolleyes:

Callie -- a really pretty calico. She is the mom of the kittens Rosie (also posted on Giveaways) and Ollie (already rehomed). I *think* she is a dumped pet, but she is seriously ticked about being in a crate and hisses and swats at me if I try to touch her. ;) But she's very talkative and doesn't *act* feral. I picked up another momcat from this area who acted the same way, and after a few weeks became a total lovebug, so I thought I'd take a chance on Callie.

Carmen -- kind of unique colored, sort of a ticked brown tabby? I trapped her and her kitten from this same alley way back at the beginning of the summer. Carmen was scared, but pet-able, so I got my friend with a rescue to take her. Unfortunately Carmen is really hissy and skittish, even though she LOVES to be petted, which makes her kind of impossible to adopt as a housecat. :sigh: I'm feeling majorly guilty that my friend with the rescue has been stuck with her so long. She could be fine as a housecat with someone who could coax her out of her shell... or, as a barncat, where hopefully she'd come around in time. Here's her info, complete with a video (where you can see her "love me!"/"no, go away!" routine in action ;) ): http://www.thecatrescue.org/carmen.htm

There are two other friendly toms in the same alley I haven't trapped yet. I'll probably be posting them here next week. :rolleyes:

Now, Carmen was FIV/feluk tested and is negative. I did not have Hektor or Callie tested when they were fixed because the caretaker didn't give me enough money for it :p and I didn't think they were friendly. (I really should know by now that ALL the cats in this alley are dumped friendlies and should test them regardless.) Callie's two kittens are feluk negative, so I'm pretty sure that means she has to be negative. Hektor, I have no idea about. I'm hoping he will be friendly enough with a little work that I can take him to the vet for the test. If someone wanted to take them and wanted them tested, I would figure out a way to get it done... even if it meant the poor kids had to be knocked unconscious again. ;)

[Erin]

Here's a picture of Hektor (who is still hiding in my crawlspace, but will let me reach in there and pet him, and rolls around purring like a fool ;) )...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2931341897_02d417e57f.jpg

And here's Callie:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2931340067_f09b0f6278.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/2931343443_18882e7947.jpg

[linquest]

Callie has such an awesome coat! It's like tortoise paint thrown on a tabby-striped cat. And her face has a ying yang look to it :cool: I love reading your posts...it's too bad I can't get a cat now :(

[Erin]

Callie is really a cutie. I'm convinced that there's a friendly cat in there, but I haven't managed to break through yet. :(

So I was trapping again in the same area this weekend, and got four more tame cats. :rolleyes: Two are big toms who would be good for barns.

The first one is a gray tabby, FIV/feluk negative, now fixed and has all his shots. He's very friendly!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3271/2958908091_ef3422a044.jpg

The second one is a buff tabby with some white. He is VERY loving and affectionate... rolls around and purrs like crazy when you pet him. :) He is feluk negative, but FIV positive. FIV is not a big deal and is not contagious to other cats as long as they don't fight (it's transmitted by deep bite wounds), and I can tell you more about it by PM. I've adopted out several FIV+ cats as housecats -- including to MDEventer and Delighted! -- but it takes a long time to find them homes, and I just don't have the space to keep this guy that long. :(

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/2959747726_b43feb4a5c.jpg

[Erin]

Still looking for barn homes for these guys! Domino has become quite the loveable guy and would probably be fine as a housecat, also. The other two toms (the gray and buff tabbies) are super friendly, but not crazy about being picked up, so maybe better barn material.

I'd like to get them moved somewhere soon, before it gets too cold, so they don't have to go from living indoors to living outdoors when it's bitterly cold out!

[Erin]

A bump for the barn kitties!

The gray and buff tabbies have homes lined up, but Domino still needs one.

Callie is not really warming up to me that much (I still don't think she's feral -- she's not skittish like a feral is, so most likely she just doesn't trust people. Gee, I wonder why? :rolleyes: ) and would probably be better suited for a barn home. She may come around in time.

Hektor is very very timid, but friendly. He would be a good "project" barn kitty. :)

[Bailarina]

If you ever get a rescue who you think would be okay with a small penned rabbit in the house and is okay as an inside cat, please let me know. If the timing is right, I'd love to meet him or her :)

[Erin]

Well, I have no rabbits, so I can't say if any of my guys are rabbit-safe. :D But I've got a couple older kittens who are very happy inside kitties. I'll send you a PM. :)

[Delighted]

Well, I have no rabbits, so I can't say if any of my guys are rabbit-safe. :D But I've got a couple older kittens who are very happy inside kitties. I'll send you a PM. :)

Grumbly of the killer instinct had no issue with rabbit - actually, neither of my two Erin cats cared about the bunneh (none of the other cats did, either - streetcat or no). Grumbly actually played with Tarragon - Charlie would have no such nonsense.

[Erin]

A bump for the barn kitties!

They gray tomcat went to his new home with okggo yesterday, and the buff tom is happily hanging out with his new feline friends at jleegriffith's. :)

I still have Domino, who would probably be happy as a housecat OR a barn cat. Callie, the pretty little calico, does not seem to want to be a housekitty (she is still quite firmly opposed to being petted) and is going to need a barn home. I still think there's a friendly cat in there somewhere, but if so, she needs to be able to approach people on her terms, rather than feeling cornered in a crate.

Any more barns out there in need of mouse patrol? :D

[Jleegriffith]

I have not yet come up with a name for my buff tomcat but he is the so friendly. They are now living in a stall and when I come in to sit and play with him he just goes crazy. He has the loudest meow/screech I have ever heard:lol: I am slowly introducing them to the barn and other cats. We also got Pearl who is super cute. She is still scared of people but hopefully young enough that she will come to realize people are a good thing.

I love the look of Dominio but no more cats for me right now. I am over my quota:yes:

[pmchristenson@hotmail.com]

Tell me more about Domino. Do you still have him and is he old dog friendly?
The dog is 12 and cat friendly--was raised by them. I'm in Baltimore also.

Pat

[gotrocks]

My long time barn kitty just passed away and I would be happy to take one or two. I do have barn dogs as well, but the kitties would have FULL roam of the huge barn loft and my dogs are cat friendly if they decide to venture down while we're there. I would like to be able to pet them, but it is not necessary...I just need them to be Feline Leukemia negative and spayed or neutered. They would have a great forever home in a quiet barn (no boarders just me).

The barn is in the Plains, VA.

Thanks!
Katie

[okggo]

I have not yet come up with a name for my buff tomcat but he is the so friendly. They are now living in a stall and when I come in to sit and play with him he just goes crazy. He has the loudest meow/screech I have ever heard:lol: I am slowly introducing them to the barn and other cats. We also got Pearl who is super cute. She is still scared of people but hopefully young enough that she will come to realize people are a good thing.

I love the look of Dominio but no more cats for me right now. I am over my quota:yes:

For what it is worth, we named the grey cat Grey. Real inventive, I know, lol. Ours is also incredibly friendly. If you sit anywhere near him he climbs in your lap, curls in a ball, and will not leave until physically removed. The dog/cat relationship is certainly not a happy one, but he has allowed my lab to sniff his butt, so I call that progress, lol. It doesn't help that the cat has claimed the dogs kennel and bed as his, either. Nothing like watching the 90# lab and 110# Mastiff puppy laying in the yard b/c the cat is curled up sleeping on their XXXL bed.

[Erin]

Hi Gotrocks! Sorry for the slow reply... I had some houseguests here for an extended weekend, so haven't really been on the computer much for the last couple days.

I have a new rescue kitty who is, like Domino, a big tom (now neutered). He is brown tabby and white, and I'm calling him Buddy. He was supposedly kind of aggressive toward the other cats in his colony, so I'd like to find him a home as an only barn cat. He is friendly, but kind of shy and timid. (He was so scared the first day I had him that he peed himself every time I reached in his crate, poor fella. :( ) But you can pet him, pick him up, etc., and he purrs and enjoys being petted. He has not been around dogs at all, as far as I know -- and being a street kitty, probably the only reason he made it as long as he did was by having a healthy fear of them! -- but usually if you introduce them slowly and carefully, they learn to live together just fine.

Also, I know jlee has been having some issues with the buff tomcat being aggressive toward her other cats (although oddly he's fine with the other little kitty who I gave to jlee along with him, even though they'd never met before). He is FIV positive, and while usually that's not much of a concern, it is transmitted by deep bite wounds so if it doesn't seem that he's going to settle down and get along with jlee's other cats, he might need to find a barn home by himself (or maybe with another young female like his new friend Pearl). He is totally friendly and not shy at all!

I'll send you a PM and hopefully we can find someone for you!

Here's a pic of Buddy... and pchristenson, I just replied to your email. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/3023197992_5261c77aea.jpg

[gotrocks]

Buddy and/or Hector are adorable...they would both be perfect so whatever you would like to do.

Thanks Erin!

[okggo]

Hey guys, I just wanted to chime in for the dog folks who think -no way- would one of these cats be suitable since they are older and had lived a tough life.

We have had Grey 2 weeks now. He was in a cage in the dogs kennel for the first week. At first he kind of hid in the back of the cage and attacked at the dogs any time they tried to sniff him. Our young Mastiff didn't help b/c she barked at him non-stop. After about a week they seemed completely indifferent to one another so I started letting him out for little bits at a time and eventually to all night (when the dogs are in the house with us). It has been 2 weeks (only) and the cat now officially owns the dogs, lol.

First (and this is a random diversion) he is really dang smart. It took my lab a couple tries to figure out the dog door and it took my Mastiff 2 weeks of being terrified of it before she would even go near it! The cat, very first time out of the cage, on his own, walks right over and through the dog door. No hesitation at all. I was very humbled, being a "dog person" that this cat just accomplished in zero seconds what was quite an ordeal to get the dogs to do.

Anyway, I kind of figured after that, the cat woulud likely be able to outsmart the dogs, and I was quite right. When I come outside in the morning he is sitting by the door waiting, and of course when I open the door the two pooches go blasting past him. He doesn't react. If they get too much in his space he has no problem swatting at them and chasing them across the yard. It is pretty funny to watch a small cat chase a 110 pound Mastiff puppy across the yard. On occassion he will allow the dogs to sniff him, and I hope in due time he may grow to like them (although I have my doubts) but they are co-existing quite nicely. :)

[Erin]

okggo, welcome to the world of cat ownership! :lol: Your comments about the dog door totally made me laugh!

I'm glad to hear your gang has everything sorted out. I never quite know what to tell people when they ask about introducing cats to dogs, but I think in the vast majority of cases (unless the dog is a confirmed cat chaser), if introductions are done right, everything works out great. So I'm glad to hear that was the case in your situation!

[Erin]

So, just about everybody I posted on this thread has found a home. :) Domino went to pmchristenson, and I delivered Buddy to gotrocks today (along with a friend). jleegriffith reports that the buff tom is no longer trying to eat her other kitties, and the gray tom is keeping okggo's dogs in line. :D And Callie and Carmen found non-COTH homes in PA.

The only one I have left is Hektor. He is very sweet, and LOVES to be petted, but is very shy and skittish and panics if I make a sudden move or try to pick him up. He would love to be a housecat, I'm sure, but would need a really patient person who would be interested in working with a cat with "issues," and wouldn't be bothered by the fact that he might hide under the bed for the first month. ;) He could also be a nice barn kitty who might slowly get braver and less skittish with time.

The one sticking point with Hektor is that I didn't get him tested for FIV/feline leukemia because I didn't realize he was tame. I haven't found a leukemia-positive cat in his alley yet, so the chances of him having it are remote, but I wouldn't want to send him to a home with other cats without testing him first. So, preferably, it would be nice to find him a home (indoor or outdoor) as an only cat... at least until he's gotten comfortable enough with people to go to the vet and get blood drawn for a test.

I *could* probably get him tested somewhere if someone wanted it done, but it would be kind of tricky. :p

And yes, he is still in my crawlspace. It's like his own little studio apartment in there. ;)

[Erin]

I *finally* got Hektor out of the crawlspace! :D He's so funny, he squirms like mad if you try to pick him up and is pretty much impossible to get a grip on, but I kept trying... he would jump out of my arms and then immediately come running back for more petting. I finally managed to just squish him into a carrier without actually picking him up.

I think he'd be perfectly content to be a housecat, but his person would need to work with him a bit. He was probably a pet at some point, but obviously had some not-so-great experiences with people while out on the street. But I'd be happy to send him to a barn home, too. (I'm guessing no one's going to be busting down my door dying to have him as a house kitty, so a barn is probably a more likely option for him!)

And now that he's out of the crawlspace, I can finally get a good picture. :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3061720757_42afbf0bc2.jpg

[fxhillfarm]

we are having a horrible time with mice this year, we would be glad to take 1 or 2 cats off your hands!! we would just need them to be ok with 2 "barn" dogs (JRTs) and 2 fat house cats that wander outside sometimes!

PM me please... we are in northern baltimore

Thanks!

[Erin]

Hi fxhillfarm!

Are the JRTs cat-friendly? I'm not sure how Hektor would be with dogs... he's so timid, I'm afraid he'd bolt (and of course any dog will chase a cat who runs). I do know of a couple of other cats who might be good barn kitties though. I'll PM you!