Barn cat mortality

[TheHeimer]

I am in the process of moving from a suburban home to a farm. We have three cats: two are definitely indoor cats and one would be much happier as a barn cat. He is often very aggressive toward the others.

I've spent the last week preparing myself to transition a pet to a barn cat. Planning on letting him out slowly at first, preparing myself for the reality that barn cats often have truncated lives. This is a cat that I bottle raised and love very dearly, so it's a process for me to let go, in the words of the sage: "whatever will be will be." I know he'll be infinitely happier spending his days on the farm.

Here's the catch.

I'll move my mare from a boarding place to the new farm tomorrow. I was packing my tack this morning and talking to the barn manager about our favorite barn kitty at her place, and I pointed at her cat and said, "That kitty doesn't have much common sense, and she's made it as a barn cat. That makes me feel that mine will be fine." Literally seconds after I said that, a horse kicked the cat in the head. In the few horrifying moments it took the barn manager and me to run toward it, it had died.

Watching it was horrible. And having it happen immediately after I'd just made her my example of a barn cat that survives is something I'll need to explore with my higher power.

So I come seeking advice in two avenues:

1) What are some tips for helping barn cats stay safe? I plan on letting mine out gradually, feeding him well, keeping him vaccinated, and not putting a collar on him.

2) My absolute worst fear is that something will happen like what happened today, but the poor cat won't be killed instantly. If the animal isn't dead and the injuries are too traumatic to wait for a vet, what is my best option? I was so afraid we were going to have to do something while I watched the poor kitty convulse today, and was so grateful it was over within seconds. I'm not especially comfortable around guns, but after what I saw today I'd be much happier wielding a gun than a shovel in that situation.

Any advice is appreciated.

[OkLurchers]

We've had barn cats for the >30yrs. we've had horses. 2 Current barn cats have been here for 12 & 10 years. We have had only 1 cat injured by a horse (was in 1976!). Bigger problem is cars...So, if you can keep your cats off the road/driveway, you may be surprised at how well they do. I always keep mine in tackroom at night, but they're out all day. Fresh water, food & Frontline as well as pats are all they need.

[Sakura]

We lock ours up in the feed room at night, keep them UTD on vaccinations and hope for the best. I heard that the average barn cat lives 4-6 years... We've had a few make it to 12... a barn where I worked had litter mates that were 17 years old... it all depends I guess... Accidents happen around horses, if your cat is savvy he will quickly realize his best bet is to stay away from the business ends of the horse... teeth and feet.

[Equine Adhesive]

My barn cats were 18 (died at 18) and the current one will be 20 this year and is going strong (she made the transition to house cat last year after going deaf). I brought 1 of our other kitties to the vet for an abscess she received from her brother biting her, and was admonished by the vet tech for letting her "go outside" (despite the fact that her brother could have bitten her while indoors). I chuckled, as my 2 barn cats were "off the chart" on their age chart (it went to 17).

We are surrounded by a residential street(s) one one side, and a highway on the other (with a small strip of woods before highway). We have 4 cats and they rarely go off property.

Edited to add: We have had coyotes, weasel-family mammals, skunks, feral dogs & cats, foxes, etc. all come through here regularly. The now 20-yr old cat was once attacked by a feral dog and came out ok (feral dog was captured and sent to pound, cat had cut on side). There was a group of coyotes through here a couple of years ago that were hunted down by some other people in the neighborhood after attacking their fowl. One thing we do have is lots of cover, trees, but we've definitely seen it all as far as potential predators go.

Tips:

Feed them in the same spot daily, so you can take a headcount. Don't just leave the feed out, as it will attract strays and other critters. Feed them at a particular time so they KNOW to come back and establish a routine.
Provide a comfy place to sleep so they don't go looking for one. We let 2 in during the night, 2 of them prefer to be out.
Spay & Neuter.
Let them in the house or in the barn lounge to mingle and be social. They should feel like they belong and are loved.
Don't put out rat or ant poison, etc.
Females tend to stay closer, males, even neutered, tend to roam.
Don't have 20 barn cats. Keep 2-4 to keep it family-like for them and also so they don't fight.

[JoZ]

Surrounded as we are by open fields and areas of underbrush, in a very rural area, our barn cats have had to contend with coyotes, owls, eagles, possums, things in the weasel family, and probably some things I wouldn't even want to know about! We have lost many many cats -- my heart has been broken over and over again. Yet I keep falling in love with the next cat and setting myself up for the heartbreak all over again.

I would be lying if I said we had conquered the problem, not to mention jinxing myself and the kitties. But we have learned a lot, and it's having a good effect. Most have been said already but I'll reiterate:

- Spay and neuter. We were caught in a vicious cycle, didn't want to spay and neuter because we need cats for vermin control and so many went missing. Finally did break the cycle.

- Lock kitties somewhere at night. We don't have a tackroom that would keep kitties in, so they go into crates. Right now only 4 (of 10) go into the crates but that seems to "ground" the rest of them. They LOVE their beds and go running for them at feeding time. I would eventually love to have a wall of built in kitty kennels so they call could go in, or a big kitty play room. But this is working well for the time being.

- Feed them and socialize them. Sounds like your kitty is already there.

- Provide soft comfy things in a safe area so they learn to sleep there.

We are far from the road, though when our barn cat population grew to 10 (thanks to a litter that was quasi-dumped on us), one of the kitties did move to the front of the farm and I've seen him across the road. That scares me.

Good luck!

[lesson junkie]

I have 4 barn kitties right now-one is 15 years old. They are spayed/neutered, fed in the same place at the same time every day, vaxed and vetted as needed, and provided with a safe place to spend the night. We've stayed lucky so far...I also have 6 dogs-keeps the coons, coyotes, and the like honest.

"Something" can happen to any of us-that's no reason to deprive a lucky kitty of a barn to manage. My little barn would not be nearly as fun without my kitties stomping all around! I'd try to confine the cat in his new barn for at least 2 weeks, so he know that's his new home.

Make sure he can get somewhere up off the ground-I think that's the main tip for barn cat safety. I also handle mine every day. That way I can keep track of weight, and feel for any ouchies.

Good luck-he's gonna love it-and think about getting a dog, if you don't already have one.

[Nes]

You can certainly keep a collar on your cat, just make sure it's a break-away (you can get them from the dollar store). I'd suggest one with a reflective strip, it will make them easy to see if they get out on the road.

There is a difference still between a barn cat and a farm cat, and I think you're focusing too much on the farm cat. If he's tamed and been indoors he's probably just going to adopt the barn as his new home, you may even find you need to provide a litter box.

[avezan]

I'll be honest, I have had bad luck moving barn cats. I lived in my first farm for 8 years. I had 4 cats that were roughly 8 years old. I tried moving them with me to TX. One did not show up on moving day. One disappeared within a few days. Third was miserable and disappeared after a few months. The last, my favorite, hung around for a year, then went missing. :( There were definitely different things to cope with in TX vs VA where they lived most of their lives. It took a while, but I finally was able to get some barn cats in TX that would stick around and not get eaten. I moved 5 back to VA with me. Didn't go well. I have 1 left, who is now 5 years old. I have other kitties now who are in the 3-5 year old range. I just don't think they move well and adapt well. So, my advice is to keep the cat in at night and try to confine him as much as possible for as long as possible. And don't get your hopes up too much. :( So sorry to hear about the other barn cat. What irony.

[AnotherRound]

I think if you fear he would have a hard time adapting, start out keeping him in the house, then letting him out more and more. If you want him to adapt to a barn, I would feed them away from horses and make sure he has a safe away from it all viewing perch, like the rafters or loft, and lock them up at night to keep them safe from coyotes. He's either going to adapt or not, you might be surprise. If he has been an indoor cat until now, he might not have the alert-skills to stay away from large animals' feet and such. Most can do it just fine. Good luck.

[goodhors]

Neutered helps keep them more around the place. I am presuming your cat is already neutered. Regular worming, just keeps their insides cleaned from varmints they may catch and eat. Varmints, mice, rabbits, carry worms too. Rabies shot is really needed for outside cat, in case he should bite you sometime. If he gets bit, he could easily get Rabies.

I would lock cat in the cage a few days, inside the barn, when you move him. Work on a call he can learn means FOOD! Get a feeding and petting routine with reliable timing down. Then let him out of cage, with all barn doors locked up for a a week or two. Keep up with the calling, feeding and petting routine timing. He knows when to expect you for company and food reward. Then you can start leaving the door open if you plan to let him out.

Something we do with cats is hiss at them when we don't want them around. Like one cat to another they don't want coming closer. Little hiss, makes cat stop and consider. More hiss, louder, longer, USUALLY makes them back up, JUST what you want of them.

Another thing is a bottle sprayer with water set on stream. If cat ignores the hiss of warning, you can reach the sprayer and nail him with water. THAT will make him run away from a bad situation. We had the dumb kittens who kept running over when you are cleaning hooves in the aisle, hiss did not help. So we took turns spraying them from under the horse. They seemed to pick up that horse in aisle was not a good time for petting. We had one kitten lost under a horse stomping flies in the aisle. Changed our ways, so no more kittens have been lost. There is a dog crate we lock them into if we will be driving trucks thru the barn for hay unloading or other unusual activities for a period of time.

So train your cat to respond correctly by backing away if you hiss at him, NOT approach you then. Just like having them come when called, practice gets it right.

The cats here run in and out of stalls, check for mice or bugs to eat, around the horse legs in the tie stalls. Have not lost any that way. None of the horses are mean to the cats or like to chase them.

Life length varies. One was 12yrs when we took her into the house, a very special cat still with us 2years later. A couple drop off kittens, female stayed, male left about 6 months later. Some cats live long, others just disappear. You worm and vaccinate, neuter if possible for your budget. No promises with barn cats. Even the neutered males wander. I do not collar mine. Too easy to get hung up on things, small cats may not work the breakaway factor. Had a couple get a leg thru, rub huge holes in their armpits before I found the problem. Collars did not come loose.

[Pirateer]

Some barn cats learn self preservation better than others.

My current barn doesn't have any, but the old barn probably still has the guys it had when I started in 1998. That said, I never saw either of them exhibit any kind of stupidity

[equusvilla]

I adopted a Momma kitty (unsure of her age) and her litter of kittens. Had everyone fixed after that. Momma was a barn cat at another barn - so I knew she was a good hunter. One of her kittens just vanished, all the rest are still with us... and it has been 7 years. We DO live near a very busy road where the speed limit is 65MPH and I do not put them up at night.

I think the biggest disadvantage for your cat is that it was raised as an indoor cat. It is hard to say how much 'common sense' he will have in the barn since he was not raised in it....no matter how happy he might be down there. Our cats have no interest in getting near the horses.

[dressagetraks]

I've successfully switched a few from in to out, although I've had many more applicants from outside just show up. Nobody can tell me that cats don't have a Road Guide to Accommodations book or equivalent with star ratings. Mine is apparently quite high, and they advertise to each other. :lol:

Agree with not leaving food out; you'll have every varmint in the county. Feeding at scheduled times and petting and giving them attention usually keeps them around, as well as spay/neuter, of course. He sounds like a good candidate for it. I had one cat transferred from house to barn as a youngster due to his personality who lived well into his teens and just died (peacefully in his sleep) last year. If something happens, I try to tell myself they had a good life with me while it lasted. Much better than a cage at the pound.

As for, um, methods, on the one occasion that became a feline emergency issue for me, I used a large brick. :cry: It worked, but it was hard. Blessedly fast, though. It did indeed end the suffering immediately.

[Guilherme]

A cat that does not respect a horse's space will not survive long. You can say the same for a dog or any other "companion animal."

Barn cats also must deal with dogs, coyotes, eagles, etc.

Barn cats live in a Darwinian world. The smart ones survive quite nicely; the dumb ones don't.

It's unlikely the OP can teach her cats to "get smart." They either are or are not.

Our longest surviving barn cat was 12 when he was killed by a either a dog or coyote. Some kittens don't last a week. Right now we're down to one savvy adult cat and looking for a few more. They get fixed, vaccinated, and a place to sleep. They eat as well as they hunt (although we back that up with the cheapest cat food Walmart sells).

G.

[Trevelyan96]

I have had 5 cats since moving to our 'farm', only 2 of whom were with us before we moved, and they all love the indoor/outdoor lifestyle. The also DO have free run of the house. The 2 that we moved with us both died of old age, one at 17 and one at 16. The 3 I have now are 11, (mother) and 10 (2 of her babies.)

They are all healthy, happy, and in great shape. Only the youngest female has a tendancy to roam, but she usually comes home when the weather gets bad. My rule is they have to be tame and socialized enough for vet appointments, vaccines, and spaying/neutering. They're very comfortable around horses, but keep out of their way. Momma is super barn cat, will sit on the stall wall and watch whil I do cleaning and other chores. She even jumped from the fence into my lap one day while I was on the horse. Baby boy loves to play in the loft, but keeps his distance from them. Rico loves the kittys, LOL, is always putting his nose on the ground to try to make friends.

I don't have a mouse problem, momma cat is fat, fast, and deadly.

I do worry about the roamer, but she's been gone for months before and comes back when she gets cold, hungry, or just wants attention. Not sure why she does it, she's spayed and very affectionate with people, always looks healthy when she comes home, just eats her head off and sleeps for days. A friend says its because she's a calico.

The only issue I have is that none of my cats get along with each other, mostly because the momma cat is a witch and insanely jealous about sharing her 'people'. So its probably best they get to go outdoors and have their own 'space'.

In all the years I've been around barn cats, I don't think I've ever seen one injured by a horse, so I think what the OP witnessed was just a really bizarre accident.

[Go Fish]

I don't have barn kitties anymore. I just couldn't deal with them getting injured, mutilated, killed, eaten, and just plain disappearing. All my cats are indoors now, and ALIVE.

I discovered my barn to be rodent free---those damn Corgis are GOOD mousers and ratters once the cats were gone. Them little buggers don't stand a chance...:lol:

[jherold]

I did the math once and calculated that I had a 75% cat mortality rate within the first year. After that year, the survival odds increased dramatically. My barn is very, very close to a major road and we do have coyotes. I do have one that is 13 this year. But she if very smart and very adicted to the canned food I feed every night!

[SED]

We have had a high mortality/loss rate with barn cats at the barn where I board, but not a single one from the horses. Its the usual -- cars/wander off/mysterious predator. Agree with the saying/neutering helping.

But barns tend to be in rural areas, and rural areas have predators. So mortality will be high. Having said that, cats seem to like to wander off alot too, so I'm not sure all of the missing cats became coyote bait. Sometimes I think they just found a "better deal."

Whether you shut the cat in the tack room at night (helps longevity) depends on whether you want the cat to do the job of keeping vermin away.

Good luck! At least your kitty probably won't wander off since he's part of the family. Since ALOT of barn cats are originally strays, its not surpising that some of them just decide to go on to the next place.

[Janet]

I would make the move first, and wait 6 weeks before letting the cat out. Else he may try to find his way "home". You want him firmly "attached" to the new place before letting him loose.

[Casey09]

I don't have cats anymore, but when I did just about any cat that I tried to put out as a barn cat didn't make it. I know that you didn't ask for this type of advice, but if you are already attached to this cat, and I were you, I wouldn't do it. There are a lot of painful, drawn out ways that they can die, and you feel horrible when you find out that they were probably suffering for hours upon hours until you found them. I had several mishaps that to this day, I tear up thinking about. The best barn cats are the ones that just show up and hang around for awhile.

[2ndyrgal]

have just showed up. Actually, "dropped off" is probably more like it, we have a huge, nice barn, very near the road, I think they just get tossed off. 1st kitty lasted 2 years then fell from the rafters and broke her hip. 2nd cat found wandering on road, had a run in with something, moved into the barn, in the summer, the following spring had 6 kittens, three gray, three black. Homed the gray ones, kept the black ones. Black cat #1, went on a walkabout and never returned. #2 was hit by a car in front of the barn crossing the road. #3 is still with us, but Momma cat disapeared about a month ago, since she never missed a meal and I didn't find her, I presume a coyote got her as she did hunt the back 40. Add to #3 (Ace kitty) is cat #4, whose name is Legs, found staggering up the aisle last summer, pair of big amber eyes and the longest legs (very poor conformation, he toes out all the way around) of any cat I've ever seen. Legs is not terribly coordinated, isn't much of a jumper (sometimes he misses) but is a fierce and fast hunter. He does however, torture his prey to death before eating it, he'll play with a mouse for an hour until it dies of fright or injury, whichever comes first.
A couple of weeks ago, he had a mouse out in the side yard, and had pissed the thing off so badly it was standing up on it's hind legs, BITING at the damn cat! I figure anything that small with that much of a will to live against all odds deserved a little intervention. So I picked Mr. Mouse up and took him to a spot that Legs couldn't get into so he'd have a fighting chance. Both cat and corgi spent the evening staring at the hole.

[TheHeimer]

Thanks so much for the helpful and thoughtful replies! I will keep y'all posted. :yes:

[Carol Ames]

Will your cats follow you to/ from barn? My two came out , via pet door, when they heard my car come home at night; and followed me up to the house where, they spent the night; They had the best of both worlds; ate inside so, no predators after the food; the JRTs learned quickly not to mess wih them; one night one of the puppies ended up on my:eek: bed, much to the disgust of my cats:lol:


get yours into a routine, food is here, sleeping here, and smushing with humans here, also, sleeping :)on the bed, in the house;

[KaraAD]

We have had a number of barn cats over the (20+) years - some were indoor cats turned into barn cats, some where born at the barn and some adopted us. All of them have died from old age (with the exception of one young cat who was run over in the parking lot and one who got cancer when she was only 5). Getting mixed up with the horses was never a problem at all. The cats never really went near the horses or bothered with them.

Of course, our barn is in an area that is basically residential so wild animals (like coyotes) aren't a problem and we don't allow dogs (other than the trainor's dogs and she wouldn't bring them if they chased the cats).
Also, we have a cat door that lets the cats go in and out of the tack room where their water and food is so that probably also gives them a safe place to go that other animals won't go.

[hb]

I had the opposite experience - didn't currently have cats before I moved to my property, got a kitty from a friend who runs an informal cat rescue to be a barn cat. He was described as hating to come in the house, perfect barn cat, better than being a stray.

Then 4 more cats just "showed up". One was declawed so I adopted her out, another, one of my friends took a liking too so he took him home. The other two stayed.

Then in the late summer the first year I lived there I had a coyote that would show up at the barn in the evening. So I started bringing the cats in the house at night, letting them out in the day. Then at least once a month I'd come home and find one of the cats beat up from a dog fight, cat fight whatever. My neighbor seems to be running a feral cat colony and there have been some territory issues with the neighbor cats.

Finally I just made them all indoor cats. They are sleek and happy and seldom complain about being stuck inside, even the original one that supposedly didn't like to be inside. Vet bills are less and I know when I come home they'll be there and not just disappear.

Last fall a kitten showed up so I tried to make it a barn cat. But it tested positive for feline leukemia (sp?) and had to get put down. So I know that virus is in the area, another reason I keep mine inside.

Most people I know with outdoor barn cats loose them to coyotes, the average life span is around 4 years. If they are locked up at night they do live longer.

[Carol Ames]

I love hearing about the care people give their barn kitties:yes: Wherever I've boarded, I ended up eventually "adopting the barn kitties, vaccinating, feeding, etc.I could usually find someone to take over when I left; I did take home a pregnant momma cat who, had a litter in a box in my closet; Having all that kitten energy :winkgrin:in the house was fabulous;:yes: my "older house cats played and jumped around:lol: like the kittens; tall oaks on the breeding forum, has a system set up for socializing barn kitties; I have one from her, my wonderful companion ";)Tuxie"

[katarine]

mine are indoor/outdoor cats.

I'd make sure he was acclimated to your new place really well before just turning him out. If he's an indoor cat...he needs to learn your new, indoor place. Then graduate to letting him out, with the door cracked, so he can come back in if he freaks out.

My wonderful Box cat (nothing here has a normal name) lived a fabulous, full life until a car got him. My current two, Owl and Gravel, are mostly out of doors. We're set back off the road, Box's demise was a freak thing. These two stay close around the house, and definitely learned via sprayer/hiss/tossing a brush at them...get away from the horses.

[Guilherme]

I've just been offered four kittens. We'll likely take them, get them fixed and shot, and give them a chance at life in the barn. The lady who has them is an old "country girl" and understands the risks to barn cats in our valley.

I'm still working on trying to get a couple of semi-feral adults.

As an aside, in the MetroPulse (a free paper in Knox County) it was noted that over the past three years that the Knox Co. Humane Society (who apparently runs the Knox Co. shelter) has put down about 12,500 small animals per year. That august organization will not "adopt out" cats as "barn cats." An attorney I work closely with and who lives in Knox Co. recently got a puppy from them. She likened the experience to tryng to comply with the rules for adopting a child "on steroids" (and she used to do Family Law). The only reason she even completed the process was so that "the bastards (as she called them) won't win." She says she'll never do it again.

I've got no heartburn with taking resonable steps to reduce the risks of placing an animal in an abusive situation. I don't even have objection the concept that it's better to put down animals that can't be placed than to "warehouse" them. But when an organization makes it "too hard" to get a pet (and refuse to even consider a "working environment") then something is wrong. And the "mega death" at the shelter will continue.

G.