Cats Around the Farm

This farm hosts quite a few cats. Their number one purpose is vermin control. In that I can't use poisons or snap traps due to the dogs and livestock, I use an environmentally safe method called "cats". While not actively hunting vermin, they can be found doing all sorts of funny jobs about the place.

Roof patrol....

Property surveillance .....

Lawnmower maintenance....

Sheep herding .....

Donkey whisperer.....

Just plain lazy.....

The cats are indeed an important element of this homestead. You might think they're just lazy bums sponging off the silly humans, but they eliminate a goodly number of rats, thus earning their keep. Without these cats, I'd be losing a whole lot of veggies and livestock feed, not to mention the damage rats do to wiring, roofing, insulation, etc. 

  

New Kittens

Hubby has a kitten fascination. Being that we have plenty of room, he sees nothing wrong with adding kittens to the family. And since we need cats for rodent control, I have little objection considering that most of our current cats are getting elderly. Sooooooo.........we have several new ones. 

(The first 4 are too feral for me to get photos of yet.)

1- Ro-meow : a black male, 6 months old. One of a group of kittens that had to relocated from their birth location. They desperately needed a place to call home. 

2- Chrome : blue cream tortoiseshell female, sister to Ro-Meow. 

3- Shadow : grey male, brother to Ro-Meow and Chrome. 

4- Jewel : black & orange tortoiseshell female perhaps 7-8 months old. Just showed up here one day. 

5- Marco : 10 week old brown tabby & white boy from a litter born in Pahala, I had taken in 3 kittens that needed homes and successfully found one a home before hubby started naming the others. Whoa, red flag!!!! Once something gets a name, it never leaves here. 

Marco

6- Benji : black & white male, Marco's brother. 

Benji and Bosco

7- Bosco : dark Siamese marked male, 6 weeks old. 

8- Pepper : light Siamese marked (mackerel tabby) male, brother to Bosco.

Pepper 

9- Nami : light Siamese marked (marble tabby) male, brother to Bosco. (pronounced nah'-me)

Nami

The Siamese marked kittens are part of a litter born on my farm, from a feral mother cat. (Mother is now spayed and released back to her territory.) I found a home for one of the litter before hubby announced that he wanted to keep the kittens together....that translates into keeping them here. They spend their days playing with Marco and Benji. 

9 kittens!!!!! You talk about a population explosion! But they will all be neutered, thus be the end of their lineage. I'm hoping that some of them will become topnotch ratters. Right now the feral ones are living outdoors right by the house. The tame ones are living inside for now until they get a bit older. Yes, I'm going through a lot of kitty litter, not to mention cat food. 

Are we crazy to take in 9 kittens? Most likely. But with a farm that has a constant rodent problem due to living next to an old macnut farm, these kittens will become valuable assets. I don't use rodent poison on the farm (dead rodents around could poison the endangered Hawaiian hawk plus other innocent creatures), nor snap traps which could injure the dogs, cats, and chickens. The old trashcan full of water trick doesn't seem to fool these rats. So cats are the best option. 

Caught in the Act

Coming down my hillside stairs, I spied a pile of bark chips at the base of one of the ohia poles. 

Hhuummmm. I moved on, heading down to feed the fish in the pond at the base of the stairs. Turning back, guess what I saw........Molly! Caught in the act! 

"Gee Mom, I saw that you forgot to debark the poles. I'll do the job for you. Me & my friend, Spot." .....

LOL.     Looks like the cats approve of the additions. Hubby says that he sees the cats playing on the poles and rails all the time. So besides being functional and pretty, the rails are also making a good feline playground. Hey, that makes them multifunctional! 

Well, debarking isn't such a bad idea. I can live with it. 

Outdoor Cats?

As a result of my post about the cat neutering clinics, I have been prompted by several emails to look at the issue of outdoor cats. I received numerous emails about those cats at the neuter clinics. What happens to them after they are neutered? People seemed horrified that the cats live outdoors. They gave all sorts of dire warnings of the dangers faced by outdoors cats. One person was irate that these cats might kill birds. Another was angry that they were to be returned to the wild, believing that euthanasia was a better option (I don't think the cats would agree). For some reason the anti-outdoor cat crazies read my blog. Just to let you know, I trashed all of your angry emails. I only read the polite ones. Your different viewpoint were interesting to read, though I don't agree with much of it. 

Most farms here have farm cats, the proverbial barn cats though we have no barns. Oh, I know farms that are catless, and guess what, they have mice/rat/bird problems. Farms with cats still have vermin problems but not to such a great extent as non-cat farms. 

I've had people email me, saying that for one reason or another, if I were a good cat owner I would keep my cats indoors. I'm told that they....

...can be hit by cars. I live fairly remote, but yes I agree, they could conceivably get hit. 

...could get poisoned, shot, trapped. My remoteness helps protect them, but yes that could possibly happen. 

... could get into cat fights. Agreed. It happens occasionally. 

... could get killed by other animals. Yup, could happen. 

... kill lots of birds. Mine kill a few birds, but not many. They prefer rodents. Thus far they have only killed Japanese White Eyes, doves, plus the occasional saffron finch, none of which are endemic nor endangered. And even so, it's only two or three birds a month. The Hawaiian hawk that hunts on my land kills at least one bird every day! And that's only what I see. Who knows where it hunts elsewhere.

I've been told that it is neglectful to allow my cats outdoors. That it is even cruel and abusive. Not hardly, in my opinion. By the way, why don't you ask my cats? They can come and go as they please. They don't act like they are neglected or unhappy. 

Yes, my cats can freely come and go. They choose their own lifestyle. They can behave like cats, do "cat things". Some hang in or around the house all the time. Others wander the farm. Yet a few others travel to the neighboring farm. And yes, they take their chances. Life isn't safe. Life doesn't have safety guarantees. 

I have purposely chosen to live someplace where my animals have the opportunity to exercise more freedom in their lives. I have lived places in the past where my cats were 100%  house cats for their own safety because the dangers outside were too great. But on this homestead, they are reasonably safe to live the life of a farm cat. 

Contrary to those emails telling, sometimes demanding, me to keep my cats indoors because otherwise I am a terrible animal owner, I do not see myself as a bad, neglectful, cruel owner. I agree that I cannot keep my cats safe 100% of the time, but hey, life is not safe. Not even for me! Besides, my cats have a job. Rodent killers. Is it cruel to expect them to have a job on this farm? I've been told that it is. Oh come on, lets get real. I have to work for a living, and so do they. I enjoy my job, and so do they. Obviously, these animal rights/animal welfare people believe in a welfare system. Not me!!!

I work hard learning and doing homesteading. I don't appreciate some non-farm-working animal lover telling me how I have to run my life. If you don't like the idea of farm cats, that's your right for your own cats. I won't demand that all house cats be allowed outdoors. I won't demand that your cats live as farm cats. 

I do believe in being a responsible animal owner. So my cats get offered nutritious food and water daily, get treated regularly for parasites, get appropriate medical care, have access to shelter, get attention and affection. All my cats are neutered. 

So what about those feral cats at the neuter clinic? They go back to their territories and are released. It's a life that they know and have been successful with to date. Will they face dangers in life? Surely. Will they kill birds? Most likely some will. Is it abuse to allow them to return to their feral life? I don't believe that the cats see it that way. They want to go back home. I have followed numerous of these cats after they have been released. They fatten up, look healthier, become more stable, and seem more content. Not every cat gets to live a success story. But then, life offers no promises......in the real world that is. Not all the cats survive. Life is tough for wild/feral animals. And face it, there is no place for these cats to go but back to their territories. All of you who wrote indignant emails, are you open to adopt 100-200 of these cats? Can you find friends willing to take that many too? The facts are that there are thousands of these cats, tens of thousands! Offering them a chance at a better life is the best that realistically can be done. 

As I write this post I have Rikki Tikki sitting on my lap, Diggery asleep on hubby's lap. Toi is resting atop the cat tower. Molly is playing with a mouse toy. The rest of the gang is outside doing whatever it is that they do. Perhaps they will come inside when it's bedtime, or perhaps not. The ferals who also live on this farm are all outdoors because of their fear of humans, but they have access to food, water, and shelter. None of this is abusive. None is neglect. Animal-lovers need to understand and accept this. 

Spot

The latest kitten to be added to the farm went off this week to the cat spay/neuter clinic with me. If she's gonna hang around this homestead, she's gotta be spayed. So she joined a group of 110 other cats. 

Below, her she is anesthetized, shaved, prepped, and positioned to be spayed. She's next in line. 10 minutes later it's all over. 

Below, she's home a still zonked. Well not completely, but she needs to sleep off her mighty "drunk". She chose to stretch out on a fuzzy blanket. 

By morning, Spot, was back to normal. Eating, playing. Did I say playing? Geez, she's flying around the house, jumping the other cats, grabbing the dog. Post-op instructions say to keep her quiet. That's a joke! 

The reason I'm posting this info is in hopes that others will think about spaying their animals, or help to support free and low cost spay/neuter clinics. Even though I do my share of animal breeding, I'm a firm believer in neutering most cats & dogs. There is no denying that there is a major surplus of cats and dogs in the world. Surplus animals have shitty lives, if they are allowed to live at all. Why perpetuate the misery? I just don't understand people who are so anti-neutering, especially of feral cats and family pets. 

Update...and New Kitten

The past two weeks have been consumed with routine chores, catching up on overdue tasks, and setting the stage for new projects. Boring stuff not worthy of news updates. And I've been too occupied (and tired out at the end of the day) to put much mental effort into discussing thoughtful topics. Not that I don't have a list to choose from to discuss. Naw....you, my readers, have been sending me plenty of suggestions. I thank you for all of the topic ideas. 

But there has been something new. We did add a new member to the farm....another kitten. As with so many other kittens in the past, we took this one in to save its life, with intentions of finding it a suitable home. But we didn't seem to be the ones in charge of that decision this time around. Three of our adult cats adopted this kitten and decided that it was family. Ha, sometime things just happen that way. The cats made the decision, not us. 

So here's Spot, coal black little girl with a shortened, kinky tail, snuggling up with her foster big sister......

I told you she was coal black. She completely disappears into the fur of Toy. 

Born in a feral litter, taken in at four weeks of age, and mothered by three house cats. Spot now shows zero feral tendencies. In fact she is a little hyperdrive, outgoing streaker that gallops around the house, often crash landing on our laps for a quick purr session, body rub, and five minute nap before bounding off again to bounce off the walls once again. She's also taken to the dog, Crusty, frequently riding his back and attacking his ears. What a character! 

(Pictured above, she is now 9 weeks old.) 

Luckily we have plenty of elbow room here and can easily accommodate another cat. But some day we may have to change the name of the place to "The Cat House". 

Drivel - Kittens Get Neutered

Photo --- Toi sleeping with her head draped over Molly's neck. The white spot on Toi's forehead is her clinic ID number. I just forgot to take it off when we got home. But they were resting so comfortably that I didn't want to disturb them just yet. 

Today our two new kittens were spayed. Both have gained enough weight and appear healthy. So off they went with me to the clinic. They joined 143 other cats. 

Working these clinics makes for a long day, but one that I find rewarding. Getting these cats neutered prevents hundreds of unwanted kittens who would suffer a worse fate than Toi and Molly went through. Toi and Molly survived their ordeal and ended up in a home, but hundreds and hundreds of unwanted kittens die horrible agonizing deaths. Neutering the prospective parents can prevent that cruelty. 

Every clinic sees 100-200 cats. And there's yet more out there that need neutering. Why? Foremost is the unthinking, uncaring, or callous owners who don't neuter their cats and ditch the kittens someplace. Their unfeeling behavior results in a never ending flood of misery. It totally boggles me that people refuse to neuter their cat. You say because it's expensive? Poppycock! Advocats will neuter for free. You say because the owner can't transport the cat? Bull! Someone will come get it for them. You say it's because they don't have a carrier, or can't catch the cat? Gosh dang it! Traps are available to borrow for free. In fact, I personally set out the traps, transport the cats. Sorry....no excuses. It just comes down to some warped sense of living their sex life through their pets....or some outmoded cultural sense of animal wholeness that doesn't take into consideration animal suffering. Geez Loiuse, cut me a break! Ok, ok, I'll stop preaching to the choir. But I'm still pissed off that I drove all the way into town this morning to pick up several cats only to find a husband refusing the let the cats get neutered. Heaven forbid we neuter his precious tomcat or the numerous "girlfriends". All I could keep thinking in my head was...you poor little example of a man, getting off watching your cat mating with another cat. By some mystery all the little kittens that get born disappear. If I catch him killing or ditching those kittens, we are going to need to call the police. It's gonna be a scene. 

Yes, I get hot about men who won't neuter their pets. Women are far more realistic about this. Why are you guys so resistant? It's not like I'm trying to get you neutered yourself, though heaven knows it would be a very good idea in some cases. 

Ok, that's enough. I'll stop for now.....until the next clinic rolls around. Oh did I tell you that the next dog clinic is in one week? Give me 2-3 days and I'll get all ramped up about that one, too. So if your dog isn't neutered yet and you don't have an ironclad excuse, you had better hope you don't see me coming your way. 

New Additions - Kittens

We didn't go looking for kittens, but we happened to stumble upon two skeletal babies in dire need of help. So dire that one was seriously close to death. So what could we do? We didn't need more cats on the homestead. The group that we already have are capable of eliminating most of the rats and mice. But there was no way we could walk away to let them starve to death. Starvation in addition to being lost is a miserable way to die. 

Molly .....

Found in the street down the road from our farm. Frightened, she kept her distance but she would meow back to me as I talked to her. The leftover chicken salad sandwich that I had in the car brought her out of the woods. She dove upon it , not caring that I slowly crept up on her. I was able to snatch her by the back of her neck and get her into the car. Wrapping her in a jacket, she rode the rest of the way home on my lap wrapped up tighter than a burrito. 

After a couple days of unlimited food, Molly started to play and show her personality. It was obvious that this was no feral cat. She was familiar with a house and household goings on. She willingly came to people and loved petting. This kitten had been cruelly dumped on the side of the road with no means of water, food, or shelter. Judging from her condition, she had been without food for 7-10 days. I'd like to take the person who dumped her and drop them atop Mauna Loa with no food, water, or shelter and see how good they are at surviving as they make their way back to civilization. 3 to 4 days walking without food or shelter might make them think differently........naw, they're probably too stupid. 

This is the second kitten, now called Toi. Toi is about 5-6 weeks old. She showed up by our front door, but when we went out she ran away. A feral kitten. We hoped it's mama was nearby. But several days later we found it down by our gate, so weak it was barely able to stand. I was able to just walk over and pick it up. She was somewhat dehydrated but extremely thin and weak. When offered food, it really wanted it but was too weak to eat more than a mouthful at a time. An IV injection of dextrose perked her up enough to get her eating. 

Now that Toi is eating, she is doing fine. She eats anything and everything. We believe that she is from a feral mama since two nights ago a feral female came through the yard calling that kitten calling sound. Plus she looks exactly like Toi....black, short haired, no tail. Mama is real spooky and acts like a typical feral. Toi has a bit of that feralness in her, but our constant petting, holding, and free food has gotten Toi to like people. We assume that Toi got lost while her mama was moving the kittens to a new location. Mama came back looking for her. Sorry Ma, but we aren't giving you your kitten back. Toi will be much better off being a house cat. (The vast majority of feral kittens die.)

So we didn't need two more kittens, but hey, we have plenty of room here. Two more wont make much of a difference. 

Welcome to the family, Molly and Toi. 

Drivel - Cats & Toilet Paper

Mention in a casual conversation that your cat attacked the toilet paper roll, and half the people in the room will instantly tell you to turn the roll around so the the cat can't unroll it. Well that's fine advice for combating feline unrollers, but my two toilet paper warriors are the kill-n-defeather types. 

Most of the time I remember to stash the toilet paper roll on a high shelf next to the toilet. But being a senior citizen, I sometimes forget. And yes, I pay the price. Or should I say, the toilet paper roll pays for my forgetfulness. Either Crookshank or Rikki Tikki will discover that the roll is within reach. Then the fun begins. This last time (photo above) Crookshank was discovered soon after he grabbed the roll. So most of the roll was salvageable. But usually the floor is covered in white fluff from one corner to the other, and whatever still exists on the roll looks like a wad of cotton candy. Zero salvageable. But there's one very, very happy cat! 

The homestead actually benefits from having Crookshank reside here .... he's the number one rat killer. So I'm willing to sacrifice the occasional  roll of tissue as long as Crookshank is willing to extend his paper prowlness to vermin. 

New Kittens !

Well, we did it again. Crazy us added two new kittens to the family. Our older cats have become rather sedentary and stodgy, so it seemed like a good idea to jazz things up. We have plenty of room here on the homestead for more residents, and we can afford to care for them. So why not? These two little guys needed a home. Thus we have welcomed them into the family. 

They're both little boys that we neutered at the local spay/neuter clinic two days ago. The surgery hasn't set them back, but changing homes has unsettled them. But kittens are resilient, so it shouldn't be long before they start exploring and acting like kittens. 

So far the rest of the house menagerie hasn't been too interested in them. Just mildly curious. 

Now...what to name them? 

The Homestead Cats

Crookshank

Poison Ivy

Rikki Tikki and Poison Ivy as kittens

We've always liked and had cats, so coming to terms with having homestead cats wasn't an issue. Here in Hawaii, rats are a constant battle. They are everywhere. Lots of them. They run on your roof, contaminating your catchment water. They get into your buildings and homes. They eat your garden veggies, tree fruits, and nuts. They live in your car engines. They chew your solar system wiring. They are a real problem. 

We opted not to use poison baits. We have working dogs and feared they would get to the poison. And we did not want to contribute to the deaths of the endangered Hawaiian owls and hawks who could very well eat the

poisoned rodents. Snap traps work so-so,
because the rats learn to void them. And again, I didn't want to hurt the dogs. The best traps we've used were the electric shock ones. After a few zaps, the dogs avoid them. And although the cats now control 100% of the rats around the house, we still use the zap traps in the tool sheds and greenhouse. 

When we moved here, we instantly had three cats-- one we brought with us and two half grown kittens we adopted. The adult was a half hearted hunter, and the kittens were too young. So we put traps everywhere and had rats galore. Even as the kittens grew into adulthood, they never became accomplished ratters for years. The rats drove us crazy, and we caught dozens and dozens. Solution? Get more cats. 

We added a new kitten and at first she seemed promising. And though full of interest, she never honed her hunting kills enough to be a ratter. A year later we were cornered into adopting five more kittens from various litters. As they grew up, we finally had a working solution. Alas, no more rat problem! We're now glad that we were forced into adopting those  kittens. 

Rats never make it into the house anymore. Most are intercepted immediately. It is not uncommon to hear the cats running on the roof as they hunt down a new intruder. 

The cats are nice companions, good company. They are easy to maintain. We find that the cost of feeding them worth the value of being rat free. 

Now one could argue that getting a ratter dog would be a good solution. I agree. But  I  think the cats are a far better solution for Hawaii in that the rats here are roof rats. Cats have access to the roof while a dog does not.