He seemed super tame, didn’t hiss or spit in the cage (according to DH).
I wouldn’t mind a very timid, very nocturnal cat hanging around - this guy isn’t the one.
Maybe it was a she - twas a little thing (and thank God for that re: the dogs getting their asses kicked a month or two ago - a big cat would have landed a vet bill or lost eyes).
If he is not truly feral then maybe he belongs to one of your neighbors.
The polite thing to do is to ask around.
I don’t know what went on with your dogs and the cat, but I have had barn cats and house cats and pet dogs that lived together for my entire life (over 40 years).
Have had feral cats that we adopted and turned into tame barn cats. Some were tough, as were some of our house cats, and pretty effective at maintaining their space, and not backing down to dogs.
But I have never had a dog sustain any serious injury from a cat, such that it required vet attention.
On the other hand… I have had multiple cats killed by dogs. Especially when there are more than one dog involved. They can get quite excited about smaller animals and give chase when hunting instincts kick in. Although I’ve never had a problem with multiple hunting breeds I have owned (spaniels, retrievers and pointers) killing cats. Some love to chase them, but don’t do anything beyond that. It’s an exciting game with those dogs.
The worst cat killers I have ever encountered were a neighbor’s pit mix, and a German Shepherd my family used to have. The shepherd lived peacefully with barn cats for years. Then we got a corgi, who liked to bark and chase cats. The corgi’s behavior excited the shepherd, and some switch flipped in his brain, and he started going after the cats too. And when he caught them, he did kill. It was absolutely awful.
The Bad News is the cat you trapped is unlikely to be a One Of.
I never replaced the barncat I had for 10yrs, mainly because I get passersby & they seem to be keeping the vermin in my barn in check.
Been 9yrs & counting.
I’ve seen at least 3 different cats vamoosing from my barn when I do my 9-10P nightcheck.
That’s not counting the 2 who took up semi-permanent residence while my little barncat was still alive.
One little black intact male I thought was a spayed female because: no spraying, no kittens in the year+ he visited. Tame enough so he let me rescue him when he somehow got stuck on top a stall wall. Sadly lost to a saddle thrombosis (Emergency vet’s DX). That’s when I found out he was a “he”.
Next boarder was a gorgeous Snowshoe Siamese. Also male - evidenced by his Cocoa Puffs 
I was this close to taking him in for a neuter when he disappeared.
Very rarely I’ve found probable cat, raccoon or possum scat on baled hay. I discard the soiled flakes & feed the rest.
No problems with this practice.
I’ve had a skunk family living under the pallets I store hay on inside my barn. Never any stink inside.
Just the occasional whiff well outside, where something may have scared the sprayer.
Horses never got skunked.
Mom & 3 kits moved on in Spring.
Only issue was I added rabies vax for my horses as skunks can be vectors.
1st year vet argued that wasn’t necessary, then next year he showed me an article in AJVM that agreed with me.
Now it seems to be standard in the 5-way vaccine.
The neighbors do not have cats.
The dog was covered in blood, all her own. If a cat claw gets into an eye, there will be a vet visit.
Plus - I do not want our dogs learning a hard mouth or to kill things. They need to delicately handle birds - thats how the cat survived is our dogs dont know to bite down on live things. Id like to keep it that way.
I do not want cats, mine or other people’s, on the property. Period. I don’t know why people with cats think it’s a-ok to let them roam where ever. That would not be ok with any other domesticated animal.
I’m not actively trying to eradicate cats. Ones that become problems or too-tame will be trapped and brought in.
If a feral cat will remain feral (ie, I rarely ever or never see them), then that’s fine.
Understand and respect your feelings regarding a barn cat. They can be a blessing. And don’t have to be a menace to neighbors or dogs or the barn in general. Meet Caspar Meows. Former feral kitten. Locked up at night. For his protection (coyotes owls etc) Great rat killer. Wish we had mice vs RATS the size of Guinea pigs. Rarely leaves the barn itself. Usually just sunbathes in the barnyard.
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Total agreement here!
But it’s swimming upstream re: cats
Being guilty myself with having had a barncat.
Around here roaming dogs are subject to SS&S.
Being bigger targets than cats.
& Perfectly legal if they’re on your property.
Someone had a yellow labX that used to chase my freeranging chickens. Never killed, but caught & badly scared a hen - TG for the retriever-mouth, she survived.
Dog has been MIA for a couple years now & may have become a victim of SS&S.
I understand where you are coming from, especially in terms of wanting to keep your well trained dogs crystal clear on how they handle it when they get ahold of game or smaller animals they are pursuing.
I don’t think you are obligated to allow stray or roaming cats in your barn. It’s a choice. Your barn, your choice, and I can understand your reasons.
I personally love my barn cats, but have occasionally had strays who were a problem as well, and occasionally have had to trap and remove some. Not all cats turn into pleasant and peaceful visitors or citizens.
I’m definitely hyper aware of challenges caused by roaming dogs, and that’s a fixation of my own. Not the issue in your situation though.
Now THAT is a majestic barn cat. Give him some Friskies for me!!
You know I’m a bonafide cat convert but I understand Endlessclimb not wanting an additional mouth to feed and life to account for. The last time I intervened and trapped a feral kitty outside my doorstep, she gave me four kittens immediately. Having 5 cats in an already established 3 cat home was a logistical nightmare. I don’t regret doing it one bit, or finding them homes (kept 2 and one of them is the kitty of a lifetime!), but boy was it overwhelming. Getting five cats spayed and UTD on shots was not a minor expense and the undertaking of getting them set in their forever homes was no small feat. Just thinking about doing that all over again gives me the whelmies, as my young coworker would say.
I hope s/he gets scooped up fast - if s/he is tame and friendly, their odds of adoption are very good.
Since we have so many experienced eyes in this thread I am going to shamelessly hijack. What kind of critter do you guys think this is? It has been visiting my steps nightly according to fresh prints in the snow! Sorry there is nothing to scale, it is a cat sized paw print. Fox? Cat? Something else?
Looks like claws always fully extended, so fox or raccoon is my vote, leaning more towards fox!
Another hijack. Because it’s Yule.
I’m going to second Endless- I think it’s a fox.
They’re very funny creatures. Sneaky and nosy.
I think it’s fox prints. Raccoons have distinctive long, narrow “fingers”.
They do! Little slender murder hands.
More prints from this morning. If it is a fox I feel blessed!! Foxes are special in my family. This fall I saw my first grey fox. They’re gorgeous. Maybe it is the same one?
Merry Christmas everybody!
That’s SUPER cool to see a grey fox in person. I’ve only seen the red ones, which are much more common.
But they are all beautiful little creatures.
I bet it’s the same one. They are quite territorial, and once they have decided that a specific spot is a place they creep around and check out at night, my experience is that they do this regularly. Creatures of habit.
Merry Christmas to you too!
Yessss!!!
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