I was born into a family of practical, frugal people. They had cats hanging around, but wouldn’t dream of spending their hard earned money on a bunch of cats. They didn’t even spend much on themselves!
Always one to break the mold, I have been fascinated by animals from a young age. I was immediately labeled as eccentric and frivolous.
all of this has brought us to today. I have a number of pets, including two retired horses. About a year after the retired horses settled on the property, in came the cats. Two ancient cats noted my presence on the property, and immediately abandoned the neighbor and settled in the barn. Both have respiratory issues, but my vet didn’t seem to support euthanizing them when he last saw them as they were eating. One much younger cat deemed me to be a source of food and took up residence, immediately deciding that it would be a suitable place for her two kittens.
Naturally, all of the cats either were or have been altered. I had spoken with a low cost spay and neuter clinic and asked if they would be treated for worms along with surgery and vaccinations. I was told that if I were going to keep them indoors, they would do so, but not otherwise because they would continue to have a worm load and it would be a constant cycle of reinfestation.
This brings us to the present time. A couple of weeks ago, I was shocked by the appearance of one of the ancient cats. She is thin and has tufts of hair falling out. Her tail was in especially bad shape. I do believe that she is very old, and may need to be put to sleep. However, I started by applying Advantage to all of the cats, which I followed up with another de worming product to address GI worms including tapeworms. According to the vet, Advantage does not kill tapeworms because if fleas are prevented, then tapeworms should not be an issue. Of course with these cats being outdoors and hunters, I think that tapeworms will still be an issue for them. I have seen some of the results of the ($$$) product I applied, and that has been very disturbing. In lieu of being financially responsible, I have now purchased an obscene amount of feline Advantage to ensure that fleas do not return. Does anyone apply a tapeworming product at some interval as well?
I usually worm my barn cats once a year if I can get them to eat it in food. My vet provides me with tapeworm meds or general deworming meds as necessary. I wouldn’t do it all at the same time, but maybe space it a couple days. That seems to keep them pretty healthy. I consider them “working cats” not pets. Deworming and minor medical care is part of their salary. I have one very good “employee” who is currently taking advantage of my “Workmen’s Comp” package. She somehow managed to dislocate her knee. My vet, being a good egg, put it back and we have her in cast for a very reasonable fee. He understands that barn cats have a budget that is very different from my pets.
Thank you! I certainly do appreciate them as before the cats I had many more mice sightings. They are very valuable little workers, and I want them to be well cared for. If I had an indoor cat and could control risks better, then it wouldn’t be an issue but as it is, I have several of them and have to try to provide the best care I can while also having a budget. Yearly sounds like a good idea and I don’t feel quite so bad as they did get de wormed last summer as well!
This I neither agree with nor understand…all animals in my care have always received the same level of care.
I use a monthly flea treatment on my cats. I have cats that occasionally have gotten tapeworms anyway. I either use an oral tapeworm medicine or for the two that would shred my hands if I tried oral meds I used Profender. My vet is good about prescribing the Profender. Profender is a topical treatment.
Most barns I have been at the barn cats at least get rabies shots. Many horse vets are willing to give a rabies to the barn cats that can be caught.
All but one of my barn cats are not handlible. They were part of our local shelter’s “barn cat program.” They were not adoptable as pets. They do not want to be pets. I can not control the risks they take in life as I can my pets. I learned long ago not to get attached to my barn cats. They lead a risky life. I am not wealthy, so I can not justify a $2000 surgery on a cat that could go out and get hit by a car or eaten by a coyote the day after they are put back in the barn. They get what medical care they allow. They may lead a short life, but they are much happier in my barn than in a small cage in shelter. I’m fortunate that my shelter agrees.
Casey, the older barn kitty may have hyperthyroidism. Common in older kitties and makes it hard to keep weight on them. Blood work to test for this is pricey but the meds are not. If you can get her to take a pill every day! There are other meds but they cost more. 
I wish there was a flea product that could be put in food. The three feral cats that hang out under my shed look terrible this year. The fleas are bad. I had the yard and shed sprayed by an exterminator, but the cats wander and pick up bugs along the way.
I tried diatrimanceous earth for a couple of months but never saw a difference.
Thank you! I’ll check it out. 
Whoa, bad reviews on that product.
Where I board, the barn cats are tame and the boarders include a bunch of crazy cat ladies who treat them like house cats. They get regular flea treatment and tapeworm treatment as needed because (this is the REAL reason) if they bring (more) fleas into the tack room and they get on us and our stuff, we’ll carry them home to our own pets. We learned that one the hard way and spent months and much $$ getting rid of the fleas at our house, 99% certain to have come from the barn cats. We do use Frontline, which may or may not work as well as it should, but the cats are healthier than they were, coats are nicer, and we haven’t brought any new fleas home.
Re the old barn kitty who doesn’t look good this year. Teeth. You may decide this is beyond your scope of care, but we had a beloved barn kitty who went for a dental when he looked to be on the edge of death (I think they may have brought him in for a last ditch effort before putting him to sleep, don’t quite remember the story). Once his mouth was cared for, teeth gone, infection healed, he lived another five years. We can account for him being at least 19 at the end of his life.
EXACTLY!!
Could not agree more with this.
This is good to know. My leading thought was kidney issues, which I do not think would be workable for an outdoor barn cat. A daily pill might potentially be practical, as she is in the barn basically all of the time. I don’t think she would tolerate “pilling,” but if she would take it in a bit of food that would be ok. I’m going to give it a little bit of time and see if she puts on weight with making sure there are no parasites. Her hair does look better, so I do think fleas played a part in this. Now that she is completely free of parasites, I can observe her a little bit and see how it goes.
My hyperthyroid kitty took a pill in a pill pocket or in a bit of meat or cheese, anything she could smell well enough to accept. Our vet prescribed methimazole and I cut each pill into fourths, so they were tiny and could be tucked into a very small piece of meat or cheese. She took one-fourth of a pill once a day. That way a bottle of 30 pills lasts a llooonnnnggg time!
For her chronic kidney disease she took no meds, just ate a kidney prescription canned food, until she got to where she didn’t like it anymore. There is also a dry kidney food but I had to quit feeding it because it was putting too much weight on my younger kitty. It is lower in protein, higher in fat or calories. If you feed all your barn cats together they might work off the calories. But it’s pricey.
Droncit, available at pet stores like Petsmart, will kill tapeworms. I have always given orally, but if they are hungry enough, you can try giving it in food. There is also an injectable form of praziquantel for the tapes given by vets that you can get should your cat need to go. I recently had one of my ferals treated with it when she had a bad abscess and needed to be sedated for treatment. She was also given a flea preventative.
In my area, Advantage doesn’t work anymore for flea treatment. I have switched to Revolution, which my vet graciously prescribes for me.
How to handle barn cat care: Put cat(s) in carrier, take to vet and have them treated and spayed. Then take them home and keep them in house for 20 years as I’ve done all I’ve collected over the years.
So - WWW - tell us - how many cats do you currently have???
Down to 4 cats now. The 21 yr old died l last week, all adopted, all spayed. After the 23 year old died a year ago, a young cat appeared in the pasture with my horses within days. After 6 weeks I couldn’t stand to worry about him so into the house he came and fit right in with the others. Cats know when there is a vacancy in the bed or on the couch. So be quiet, since the 21 year old died last week, I expect a cat to appear at any time.
I have had “up to” over 20 cats at one time. I try to keep the # under 8 or 10, but with all those thrown out, yikes!
6 dogs usually. I try not to have a pack of them.
I am actually more obsessive about the barn cat because she’s outdoors and exposed to more.
In addition to pills for treating thyroid disease, there’s a topical gel that you rub inside the ear from a pen-type applicator. VERY EASY.
Really? That sounds great!
I’ll bite I currently have 19.
Then a young male showed up a few weeks ago, not neutered (of course). I am not ready to accept that he is #20. At this point, he is a peripheral cat - shows up once then not for a week, then not for three days. I suspect he lives at the Amish farm near by.
I am planning on trapping him and getting him fixed and shots. I used to worry that I was probably fixing other peoples’ cats. But I stopped caring about that years ago. :lol:
