We have adopted five barncats from a rescue org. They were feral, and couldn’t be turned into friendlies. Lady is bringing large crates, carriers to put them in when i change their litterboxes, litter pans and some other stuff.
My question, and i suppose its better late than never to think about this, but do cats carry Sarcocystis neurona and pass it in their feces? Because barncats/hay…you know.
why didn’t i think of this before now???!?!?!
I inherited three barn kitties and store 2-3 ton of hay in my barn. They haven’t once touched or used my hay in the barn as a bathroom.
They use the sand pile or stalls normally. Now my goats think it’s the best thing ever to climb and jump on.
good to know!
googling online …seems that cats can carry, but (maybe???) it doesn’t pass through their feces. BUT, if they have the parasite, and they die, and a 0possum eats them, then that 0possum will be able to pass through in ITS feces. So complicated …and i am not sure i understand how that works.
I have had barn cats here for 20+ years. I have had no horse illnesses from my cats and they do not poop on my hay. HOWEVER raccoons and possums do poop on my hay from time to time and I keep close watch for them. You have dogs so that may keep the raccoons and possums at bay. I hope so - they are pretty nasty. Cats not so much and they keep the mice under control.
Most of my cats were pets that were dumped here so not very feral. Bubba was pretty feral but he came around fast when he found out he was getting canned food. He was one of the skinniest living animals I had seen but that changed fast after he found the food supply. Getting him fixed helped too.
I don’t know if my cats carried the parasite but they had regular vaccines and worming. And none of them died on their own. The older ones were euth’d at the vet when they were failing due to congestive heart failure, liver failure, etc.
Very kind of you to give them a home!
We’ve always had barn cats, and never had any issues with them peeing/pooping in the hay and passing on anything.
Now, my dog thought nothing of hiking a leg on the hay bales . . .
Please read and read and read about how to safely and compassionately transition them. So many people bring home ferals and after a week open the cage and the terrified cat disappears into the woods to starve or become coyote bait. Cats have no desire to use hay as a litterbox. They will use a flat dirt area or arena because they innately want to cover and hay isn’t conducive to that.
welllll…five cats, five big crates with litter boxes inside, a carrier to snuggle and hide in and wter and food bowls that fit on the crate not the floor. They will stay in their cages for four weeks. i’ll clean their litter boxes daily. They are behind steel panels so horses cannot get to them, chickens already paid a visit though.
Put the discarded scat / litter around the barns / corners outside - this tells other ‘wandering through cats’ that the property belongs to your cats and to stay out. AND reminds your cats of their territory once you release them .
Good Luck ~ you will most likely be able to release them safely before 4 weeks / unless there is a weather disturbance or construction/ farrier/ vet visit which would complicate/ postpone their safe release
good idea about dirty litter. will do that. closest neighbor is a few hundred acres away… not the kind of area where cats go wandering in and out of. I wish! We’ve been hoping one or more would come and move in…
I agreed to keep them in four weeks…a verbal contract. So i will do that.
Damn crazy cat lady had me waiting all. day! She was supposed to be here between 1-2 and didn’t arrive til almost 6pm. Then it took about an hour …perhaps more, to set up the cat digs. My chickens that roost in that barn were wandering around complaining…a couple of them even jumped up on one of the crates (stacked two high) to check out the occupants. Cats were not impressed and stayed in their little carriers. Poor things. The ‘feel’ so scared. There’s a lot going on here, we are rather bustling with animals…mostly horses and poultry right now, but in about a month i’ll be bringing the sheep down for the winter.
We kept our ‘feral’ and ‘deral’ = domesticated ferals, inside the tack rooms and stall barn for one month when we re-located …Once they were turned loose outside … (scat had been placed strategically/ perimeters/ indoor / sheds …) it was a planned event - sunny day and each cat had a person shadowing him/ her - for hours to make sure none of them tried to scent back to the old property.
All went smoothly - only one scare - “Cowboy” made a bee-line out to the run in sheds under fences ~ his person shadow was stressed and running to keep up but, the dear boy was only ‘scenting’ to the feed containers that were from the old property and now in the new run-in-shed … once “Cowboy” found the containers with the old property scent, and said “good morning” to his pony herd - he returned to his new barn for a second breakfast.
It was funny for everyone except his person shadow who had to rolled under fences to keep up .
How are your new cats !
Bless you for giving them their forever home !
They’re eating and drinking and using their litter boxes. Three crates on bottom and two on top. One of the cats (the big black one with the big yellow eyes) lunged at me when i first tried to give her more food yesterday, she was the first one i tried, so i went ahead and fed the other four and came back to her and she was quiet.
I am going to try to get them into their carriers and clean their litter boxes this afternoon. Hopefully i can get most of them done.
Vets just left, had vaccinations and teeth float all the way around today. Coggins on five of them too. The most wild of the mustangs did not get vaccinated. When he gets gentled i’ll have the vet come out again.
Y
You had a full day!
got all five barncats done. Cleaned litter boxes, cleaned up their crate trays with all the littered litter, cleaned and refilled water bowls, cleaned out their food bowls and gave them fresh food.
They all willingly went into their carriers and i closed them up and moved them out so i could get in there and do all the stuff. The two black ones lunged at me when i put my hand there to secure the latches on their carriers. poor babies. The tortie cat has the most gigantic eyeballs!!! The mostly white one, is actually pretty chill. The striped siamese looking one is really really hidey. I’ve never seen him out of his carrier… i know he comes out because he’s eating and using the litter box, so i guess he is just really scared.
Cleaned litterboxes and scrubbed and changed water and gave them all fresh food today. Two of the cats had a smaller crate, a little too small to get him into his carrier. I got a larger crate, a big giant one! and set him up in a new, luxury apartment. I hope he is happier. I still have the tarp over the top and three sides. The back is open, for air and a peek out…just at the barn wall 3ft away, but still. Tomorrow i need to start stacking my alfalfa up in the hay loft. So i’ll be in there with them. Unfortunately the second half of the load will need to be lifted up via tractor, so they’ll have to cringe through about 3 or 4 hrs of giant tractor noise about 5 feet away. But i’m thinking, maybe that’s a good thing… so that when it happens next time and they are free, they know it won’t kill them and hopefully won’t scare them away…?
A radio playing helps and hearing your voice.
They will learn your voice and presence translates to “it’s safe to come out” later when they are released.
I put a bell on my key chain for one group of barn ferals - they knew the bell meant feeding time.
So glad they have a home with you !
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