Our cats, previous to moving to our farm, were spayed, neutered and declawed. They were indoor only cats, but really wanted to be outdoors. Kleenex lived to be 17 and Booger 18.
After moving to the farm, I adopted a cat from the local shelter. The $10 adoption fee included a free spay. How about that!
At the same time, a stray cat hung around and since we fed him for three weeks and he lived in our garage (daughter made him a bed in a dog crate) he got to go with cat #1 and was neutered and rec’d all his shots.
Then we brought home Mama cat and her three kittens from the horse barn where we board our horses. Mama was spayed for free and three kittens were spayed and neutered at about 10 weeks. Mama went back to the barn but three kittens stayed at our farm.
THEN…..someone dropped off a tiny sickly kitten at the barn-yep, brought Milk home and sent him in to be neutered and utd on shots and rabies.
Then I caught “Bill”……a female cat related to Mama---she had suffered some type of trauma- possibly hbc, not sure. One of her eyes was dead and her tongue hung out but she could still eat and she tried to groom herself but left a lot of slobber behind……….she was looking very rotund. Brought her home on a Friday and the following Monday (Columbus Day) she gave birth to two kittens. Kept all three until weaned and Bill went to my vet for eye removal, spay and utd shots. Kittens, Isabella and Columbus went to the s/N clinic and had their “tutoring”……..all three are still with us.
The last kitten we brought home was Cookie. He was one of four at the horse barn, not sure who mama is but he was entirely too friendly. Was injured while trying to rub up against horse’s leg……….just purring and wanting attention. He was almost killed when he made his way to the middle of the riding arena when he heard the instructor giving lessons……….he thought for sure she was talking to him. Anyway, brought him home last Sept and he is a joy of a cat. LOVES people and follows us everywhere on the farm. Not afraid of anything and has made friends with the Pyrs and the Anatolians. The alpacas have gotten somewhat used to him springing out of their hay bin.
We lost one in Oct 2008………I still think he ended up going home with one of the contractors.
All are outdoor cats. They have beds made of hooded litter boxes with blankets on the deck but most of the time prefer to sleep on the top bale of hay in the barn. They bring mice, voles, rabbits, snakes and leave them at the back door. Every night they get a can of food with hot water on top of their dry food. It is not gourmet, but they think it is, especially in the winter.
There is nothing like seeing nine cats with their tails up and their heads down in a bowl………all at the same time.
I love these cats and keep their shots utd myself……….they have earned the privilege of freedom to be cats………if they roam, it must not be too far because we see them all day long on the farm and they come running when called.
I was turned down by a cat rescue once because I wouldn’t commit to keeping them in the house 24/7--- I realize that in the city or suburbs, that is necessary, but imo, they are happy and healthy being the feline hunters they are, right here on this farm. They don’t have any reason to roam since they are spayed and neutered and no local cats have tried to join this colony because they are not fertile. (that is what a feral cat rescue spokesperson told me)
The absolute most important thing is that an animal be taken care of—whether clawed or declawed, indoors or outdoors………that commitment and responsibility work hand in hand with animal ownership. I have known many people with cats who ruined their furniture and it was either declaw or evict and in those cases, the most logical decision was to declaw and continue caring and loving the animal. If that is the only way one can handle keeping a cat or cats, then I am in favor of it. I truly would rather see the cat lose it’s claws than lose it’s home.
Laura Roberts
R Half Pint Farm
From:
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 8:27 AM
To:
Subject: [CHICKENS-101] Re: Not fair /
Sounds as if we agree in total <VBG>. I'm not against surgery, I'm against mutilation and "convenience" amputation. I lost track of the number of cats/kittens that I've had s/n when we lost the house (and most of the cat records) to hurricanes, but one Vet did almost 300 for me. There were more, I volunteered as a surgical tech for the s/n clinics, and they let me bring my fosters in for minimal charge. Spaying and neutering are beneficial to the animal in many ways, and the earlier (okay, they need to be close to 2 pounds) the better. I also have neighbors who take no responsibilty for their cats (although they "LOVE" them), and now have 9+ "porch kitties" that I'm attempting to get tame enough to get to the Vet for all the needed care. I don't know what will happen after that, one bridge at a time.
None of my cats run free. They're either house cats ( I even have a house feral<G>) or live in the Cat Compound.
Margo
CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com
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