Yes, get barn cats. Feral cats that don't like you. Additionally, a Jack Russell or Rat Terrier. Ordinarily, if you leave the hood up part way on vehicles, rodents won't find the engine a perfect place to nest.
LOL! You reminded me! A couple of ratter dogs would be great. Watch some videos of ratting dogs sometime. Endless entertainment! And, boy, do those dogs love it!
I agree with this. If you get several kittens and a terrier together and raise them together, they will be friends from the beginning. There is a place in Pennsylvania called The Family Cow that raises and sells organic/grass fed meat products, eggs, milk, etc., and their barn kittens are raw fed. I raw feed the cat colony we care for, and despite the fact that these cats landed at our place in extraordinarily bad health, they are doing as well as possible, and better than one might expect, on their raw diet. I suspect Family Cow might have some healthy kittens to spare. Barn cats tend not to be as healthy as they might be nowadays because they are often fed on the cheapest dry cat food, which is terrible for their health, so it might be important for your return to keeping cats to get kittens that are basically healthy and not already over vaccinated.
We always had cats on the farm. They were not allowed in the house .Mom made a cat house for them for the Winter. We have a garage cat. She knows she is not allowed in the house . She is a great mouser. She brings us presents on the front porch. We have a heat lamp for her in the garage for the Winter which she loves. Find a farmer who has kittens. The momma cat teaches her babies to mouse. Have a special place in the barn where they get fed and a warm place in the Winter to sleep.
Amen. We did that also on the farm I grew up…raised dairy, hogs, chickens, dogs and cats…never had a mouse or rat problem. The animals all had their own living space but not in our house.
We have lived through all you have described with cats. I still love them, and the very best solution to rats/mice in a barn (and in the vehicles parked therein) is a determined barn cat. She will be a female. A female with kits will definitely hunt and teach them how. I've also had luck with big glue traps in barn rooms that are not cat or dog accessible, likewise rat poison I put out for short periods while the dogs and cats are kept away from both the poison and the poisoned dead rats. You have to search for the dead rats (many of which will be in water receptacles since as they begin bleeding internally they are thirsty). Once we had a bad infestation in a barn and after I set out poison I personally picked up 75 dead rats over the next couple of days. I had a dedicated trash can with garbage bag liner to throw them in and haul them away. We currently have 2 dedicated barn cats on duty in different barns and they have the rat situation under control. Good luck with whatever solution you decide on. A cat about to have kittens would stay where you put her and hunt to feed her kits, and then should stay there. Don't welcome them to your house, chase them away and pet them at their barn, and feed them a little. That's what we do. Blessings.
The owner of our local feed store received pallets of feed from one of his suppliers. Unbeknownst to him, some of the pallets had rat nests between the slats of the pallets. Before he knew it, the rats had taken over the yard and moved into the building, making their way to build new nests in hidden areas. Our grandson worked there until he had to tell the owner that he couldn’t handle the smell any more. The owner had to take costly and drastic steps to address the infestation, removing the entire dropped ceiling and all interior wall coverings. Cost him thousands upon thousands.
It has been claimed that environmentally friendly soy-based wiring insulation in modern vehicles attracts rodents, but legal claims have been dismissed by the courts due to a lack of evidence.
I had heard that about mice- they may like “soy-based wiring”, & they destroyed my Mother-in-Law’s car- & was told that by a mechanic who repaired her wiring. Interesting.
While I was reading this, I got the sense of overthinking. I understand that you have a lot of history to pull from, so perhaps allow the "flow" to be the deciding factor. 15 year old cats are not always nasty, just old with arthritis, teeth issues and who knows what else pains them. Pain can be an irritant as you know, same with cats. Extra work, yes, and the joy of my cats supersedes the trouble. Go for it!
Interesting you mention teeth issues for older cats: my Daughter had to rush her cat to the vet a few days ago, as the cat couldn’t close her mouth & was drooling a lot. Turns out she has been losing her teeth, & has an infection in her mouth/teeth. The first vet visit was $300; the next visit to the vet will cost $1,900.00!!! To pull two more teeth & probably more medication! YIKES!
Yup, I just had an 11 year old get his first teeth cleaning. I have had cats all my life and this is a first, he is a Ragdoll and isn't as hardy as his half sister.
Thanks so much for sharing your farm life experience. It is the mirror image of our own. We lived in town, and when our daughter, Zoe, was 7 we fulfilled her dream by getting her a kitten. At my wife's insistence, it was one with pedigree. An $800 descendent of Maine Coon Show cats, because main coon's were known for friendliness. Zoe named this mostly black kitten Licorice. But Licorice wasn't friendly enough. When Zoe's friend, the daughter of Rag Doll Cat breeders, introduced her to the latest litter, Zoe fell in love with the runt - and after another $600 we had a purebred white rag doll named Coconut. This little guy was everything you could possibly want in a cat. He is everyone's favorite. Perhaps it has to do with the biological differences in neutered male and female cats. Regardless, Coconut showed us that it didn't matter how friendly the cats were, Zoe jus wasn't really into cats - only kittens. After a few years, in which Licorice always wanted to escape the house, and we frantically prevented her, we moved to the country, on 7 acres. Enter the mice problem. And Licorices gradual incontinence, or is it simply indifference. She's only 11 now, and for the last couple of years we've been letting her out, mainly to limit the indoor peeing. And we lock her up in the laundry / litter box room at night. But neither she nor Coconut have ever caught a rodent. But the rodents are wreaking havoc with our cars, our two John Deer tractors (Mower and Snowblower) and the large Leaf vacuum. All told it's probably been over $6K by now. So you've inspired us to consider getting those outdoor mousers. Because, even though Zoe is now at College, we love the reminders of her being here, licorice and coconut.
Moth balls are a repellent for the rats/mice and car engine compartments. opening the hood helps also (lets all the heat out of the compartment). Also, poisoning the rodents is a BIG RISK for the food chain. Hawks, eagles, foxes all eat those rodents and will risk being poisoned if they eat your poisoned ones. A pair of neutered, half feral barn cats that don't like you is your best bet. Have a heart trapped cats from a farm friend might be your best bet.
We have been adopted by 2 cats. Had the first 12-14 yrs and grew to love him like a close family member...which he was. Just lost him recently and it really hurt. And now it seems our other cat is also on his way out...suspected liver cancer. And we have drawn very close to him in the 4 yrs we have been blessed with him. Both outstanding examples of catdom and simply do not know how we will adapt to our empty nest when that happens
Before I met my wife, my longest relationship was with a cat. When she died I was devastated. Over my vigorous protests, my wife insisted that we immediately adopt another cat. It turned out she was right. Although no other cat could replace that special relationship, it was very therapeutic to have a new cat in the house.
Before we bought our place I had lived for a while at a friends farm. He put out large buckets like the ones you can get at Harbor Freight. He cut a hole in the middle of the top and put grains and corn in the bottom. He leaned a board from the floor to the bucket top. The mice and rats would go in but could not climb out. every few days he would slide a solid lid onto the top while sliding the one with the hole off. Being a soft hearted guy, he would drive the buckets of rodents far down the road to a wildlife area with no farms or homes around then dump the buckets. I did the same thing when I had our rural place. No pesticides involved.
We had cats all the time we lived there. They also hunted mice and rats )and song birds <grr>). They also liked to bring us live mice as gifts, I suppose as way of thanks for feeding them and letting them live in the house.
We had enclosed a front porch as a 3 season room with a cat door. Topaz our 1st cat who brought gift brought in a live adult Ruffed Grouse and let it loose in the living room. Ever try to catch a grouse? Hilarity ensued. That cat door also let in a racoon who rooted through the plants on the porch and left a mess. At least the patio door was closed for that escapade.
We lived in the country when the kids were growing up and always had cats but they never were allowed in the house. We also had outside dogs. One night there was a ruckus, and one of the dogs had shaken a cat, our best mouser, paralyzing her two back legs. The dog was dispatched, and we nursed Brizzie back to health with only two operational legs and unable to eliminate waste without assistance. My wife put a diaper on her and would have to be her bathroom assistant. She was now an inside cat, but became incredibly mobile and quick, able to escape through the front door to her mouse-hunting haunt by the chicken coop and other outbuildings. Sometimes we didn’t even know she had gotten out until we saw the odd diaper laying on the ground. She lived over two years that way, and we still fondly talk about her grit and determination.
It is the soy-based wiring in cars that cause the destruction despite the automotive lawyers getting the auto companies off the hook. For sitting cars, they are also great places for them to form nests. You have a rat problem so work on all the solutions that make sense.
Our animal shelter usually has barn cats. I imagine they would be thrilled at the buffet you provide. Also, I have had cats all my life (I am in your age group) and only one was ill-tempered. We were kids when we had Pitti-Sing (from the Mikado) and she terrorized us, so we gave her a wide berth. Happily, there were lots of others who could handle us. Females are better mousers, as they have the instinct to feed their young after weaning them. Good luck and get a cat - or two.
Barn cats are a must have especially in a horse barn, which is my experience. In the late 90s I had a large 40 stall barn and decided to board other people’s horses. It was a great experience except for the rodents. We acquired a momma cat and 5 kittens, had the momma spayed and the kittens when they were old enough. The barn had an office and the cats were free to come and go during the day and were put in at night (because we live in Texas and have large populations of coyotes and bobcats.) The arrangement worked well until a barn owl took up residence in our barn. I loved the barn owl and thought he (she?) might help with the rodents. The owl apparently preferred cats. Soon all my cats were missing and the rats and mice came back. I ended up calling a pest control company and sold my dream horse facility. We bought another smaller farm and built an 8 stall barn. Adopted 2 Siamese bonded brothers and a young adult male Manx. We had them all neutered and had the same living arrangement as before with a climate controlled office. Those cats were perfect barn cats, did their jobs with gusto, and never bothered my chickens or peafowl. (The peafowl didn’t work out because they started roosting in the barn.) I had 20 years of living on a farm and loved all the creatures that came and went. I so enjoy reading your farmstead stories. I live in town now in a historical home that we rebuilt (another dream) but your writing inspires me to get back to the farm. I owned and raised gaited horses and would love to have only two for my husband and I.
Can't help with the cat decision, but can comment on the car wiring insulation problem. Certain car manufacturers use wire coating made from rice hulls... need I say more? Different brands of cars and accompanying wiring either create or resolve the problem. Good luck.
Barn cats "aka outdoor cats" are a plus! My grandmother who immigrated through Ellis Island (legally) from Sicily when 15 always had a cat or two at her residence (when I knew her) and she always fed the cat, but the cat remained an outside cat. It was very effective, and while I doubt it was 20 plus years old when it departed, it was never a problem. And she also had a dog. He was a mutt, but a wonderful friend to a young boy (me). His name was "Butcher". So named I imagine, after my grandfather's business...Although my Grandfather had passed before I was thought of! Incidentally, the dog and cat never fought but they were always outside, unless the weather turned bad, then they were allowed in the "service porch"... Good luck with your choices...
Yes, get barn cats. Feral cats that don't like you. Additionally, a Jack Russell or Rat Terrier. Ordinarily, if you leave the hood up part way on vehicles, rodents won't find the engine a perfect place to nest.
LOL! You reminded me! A couple of ratter dogs would be great. Watch some videos of ratting dogs sometime. Endless entertainment! And, boy, do those dogs love it!
I agree with this. If you get several kittens and a terrier together and raise them together, they will be friends from the beginning. There is a place in Pennsylvania called The Family Cow that raises and sells organic/grass fed meat products, eggs, milk, etc., and their barn kittens are raw fed. I raw feed the cat colony we care for, and despite the fact that these cats landed at our place in extraordinarily bad health, they are doing as well as possible, and better than one might expect, on their raw diet. I suspect Family Cow might have some healthy kittens to spare. Barn cats tend not to be as healthy as they might be nowadays because they are often fed on the cheapest dry cat food, which is terrible for their health, so it might be important for your return to keeping cats to get kittens that are basically healthy and not already over vaccinated.
Correct, these cats agree with you....
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jXA4I0b745E
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FK_joij_HlU
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8AQZVN2cVos
We always had cats on the farm. They were not allowed in the house .Mom made a cat house for them for the Winter. We have a garage cat. She knows she is not allowed in the house . She is a great mouser. She brings us presents on the front porch. We have a heat lamp for her in the garage for the Winter which she loves. Find a farmer who has kittens. The momma cat teaches her babies to mouse. Have a special place in the barn where they get fed and a warm place in the Winter to sleep.
Amen. We did that also on the farm I grew up…raised dairy, hogs, chickens, dogs and cats…never had a mouse or rat problem. The animals all had their own living space but not in our house.
We have lived through all you have described with cats. I still love them, and the very best solution to rats/mice in a barn (and in the vehicles parked therein) is a determined barn cat. She will be a female. A female with kits will definitely hunt and teach them how. I've also had luck with big glue traps in barn rooms that are not cat or dog accessible, likewise rat poison I put out for short periods while the dogs and cats are kept away from both the poison and the poisoned dead rats. You have to search for the dead rats (many of which will be in water receptacles since as they begin bleeding internally they are thirsty). Once we had a bad infestation in a barn and after I set out poison I personally picked up 75 dead rats over the next couple of days. I had a dedicated trash can with garbage bag liner to throw them in and haul them away. We currently have 2 dedicated barn cats on duty in different barns and they have the rat situation under control. Good luck with whatever solution you decide on. A cat about to have kittens would stay where you put her and hunt to feed her kits, and then should stay there. Don't welcome them to your house, chase them away and pet them at their barn, and feed them a little. That's what we do. Blessings.
The owner of our local feed store received pallets of feed from one of his suppliers. Unbeknownst to him, some of the pallets had rat nests between the slats of the pallets. Before he knew it, the rats had taken over the yard and moved into the building, making their way to build new nests in hidden areas. Our grandson worked there until he had to tell the owner that he couldn’t handle the smell any more. The owner had to take costly and drastic steps to address the infestation, removing the entire dropped ceiling and all interior wall coverings. Cost him thousands upon thousands.
Amen. Well done.
It has been claimed that environmentally friendly soy-based wiring insulation in modern vehicles attracts rodents, but legal claims have been dismissed by the courts due to a lack of evidence.
Had a squirrel chew thru the wiring harness of our car. Now keep a can of mothballs under the engine.
Had the same thing happen to me on a truck. did the mothball tx too on advice from a neighbor.
Oh, I remember my Mom always used moth balls when I was growing up! That smell is over-whelming- but keeps bugs & critters down.
look at what mothballs are made from
look at what mothballs are made from
I had heard that about mice- they may like “soy-based wiring”, & they destroyed my Mother-in-Law’s car- & was told that by a mechanic who repaired her wiring. Interesting.
This is absolutely true! I posted a few minutes ago about this.
At least one carmaker - Toyota, I think - sells "anti-rodent" wire to perform repairs of rodent-damaged wiring.
While I was reading this, I got the sense of overthinking. I understand that you have a lot of history to pull from, so perhaps allow the "flow" to be the deciding factor. 15 year old cats are not always nasty, just old with arthritis, teeth issues and who knows what else pains them. Pain can be an irritant as you know, same with cats. Extra work, yes, and the joy of my cats supersedes the trouble. Go for it!
Interesting you mention teeth issues for older cats: my Daughter had to rush her cat to the vet a few days ago, as the cat couldn’t close her mouth & was drooling a lot. Turns out she has been losing her teeth, & has an infection in her mouth/teeth. The first vet visit was $300; the next visit to the vet will cost $1,900.00!!! To pull two more teeth & probably more medication! YIKES!
Yup, I just had an 11 year old get his first teeth cleaning. I have had cats all my life and this is a first, he is a Ragdoll and isn't as hardy as his half sister.
I have found that male cats tend to be friendlier and less cranky than female cats, in general.
Thanks so much for sharing your farm life experience. It is the mirror image of our own. We lived in town, and when our daughter, Zoe, was 7 we fulfilled her dream by getting her a kitten. At my wife's insistence, it was one with pedigree. An $800 descendent of Maine Coon Show cats, because main coon's were known for friendliness. Zoe named this mostly black kitten Licorice. But Licorice wasn't friendly enough. When Zoe's friend, the daughter of Rag Doll Cat breeders, introduced her to the latest litter, Zoe fell in love with the runt - and after another $600 we had a purebred white rag doll named Coconut. This little guy was everything you could possibly want in a cat. He is everyone's favorite. Perhaps it has to do with the biological differences in neutered male and female cats. Regardless, Coconut showed us that it didn't matter how friendly the cats were, Zoe jus wasn't really into cats - only kittens. After a few years, in which Licorice always wanted to escape the house, and we frantically prevented her, we moved to the country, on 7 acres. Enter the mice problem. And Licorices gradual incontinence, or is it simply indifference. She's only 11 now, and for the last couple of years we've been letting her out, mainly to limit the indoor peeing. And we lock her up in the laundry / litter box room at night. But neither she nor Coconut have ever caught a rodent. But the rodents are wreaking havoc with our cars, our two John Deer tractors (Mower and Snowblower) and the large Leaf vacuum. All told it's probably been over $6K by now. So you've inspired us to consider getting those outdoor mousers. Because, even though Zoe is now at College, we love the reminders of her being here, licorice and coconut.
Moth balls are a repellent for the rats/mice and car engine compartments. opening the hood helps also (lets all the heat out of the compartment). Also, poisoning the rodents is a BIG RISK for the food chain. Hawks, eagles, foxes all eat those rodents and will risk being poisoned if they eat your poisoned ones. A pair of neutered, half feral barn cats that don't like you is your best bet. Have a heart trapped cats from a farm friend might be your best bet.
We have been adopted by 2 cats. Had the first 12-14 yrs and grew to love him like a close family member...which he was. Just lost him recently and it really hurt. And now it seems our other cat is also on his way out...suspected liver cancer. And we have drawn very close to him in the 4 yrs we have been blessed with him. Both outstanding examples of catdom and simply do not know how we will adapt to our empty nest when that happens
Before I met my wife, my longest relationship was with a cat. When she died I was devastated. Over my vigorous protests, my wife insisted that we immediately adopt another cat. It turned out she was right. Although no other cat could replace that special relationship, it was very therapeutic to have a new cat in the house.
When our age have,to worry about outliving a new cat
Before we bought our place I had lived for a while at a friends farm. He put out large buckets like the ones you can get at Harbor Freight. He cut a hole in the middle of the top and put grains and corn in the bottom. He leaned a board from the floor to the bucket top. The mice and rats would go in but could not climb out. every few days he would slide a solid lid onto the top while sliding the one with the hole off. Being a soft hearted guy, he would drive the buckets of rodents far down the road to a wildlife area with no farms or homes around then dump the buckets. I did the same thing when I had our rural place. No pesticides involved.
We had cats all the time we lived there. They also hunted mice and rats )and song birds <grr>). They also liked to bring us live mice as gifts, I suppose as way of thanks for feeding them and letting them live in the house.
We had enclosed a front porch as a 3 season room with a cat door. Topaz our 1st cat who brought gift brought in a live adult Ruffed Grouse and let it loose in the living room. Ever try to catch a grouse? Hilarity ensued. That cat door also let in a racoon who rooted through the plants on the porch and left a mess. At least the patio door was closed for that escapade.
We lived in the country when the kids were growing up and always had cats but they never were allowed in the house. We also had outside dogs. One night there was a ruckus, and one of the dogs had shaken a cat, our best mouser, paralyzing her two back legs. The dog was dispatched, and we nursed Brizzie back to health with only two operational legs and unable to eliminate waste without assistance. My wife put a diaper on her and would have to be her bathroom assistant. She was now an inside cat, but became incredibly mobile and quick, able to escape through the front door to her mouse-hunting haunt by the chicken coop and other outbuildings. Sometimes we didn’t even know she had gotten out until we saw the odd diaper laying on the ground. She lived over two years that way, and we still fondly talk about her grit and determination.
It is the soy-based wiring in cars that cause the destruction despite the automotive lawyers getting the auto companies off the hook. For sitting cars, they are also great places for them to form nests. You have a rat problem so work on all the solutions that make sense.
Our animal shelter usually has barn cats. I imagine they would be thrilled at the buffet you provide. Also, I have had cats all my life (I am in your age group) and only one was ill-tempered. We were kids when we had Pitti-Sing (from the Mikado) and she terrorized us, so we gave her a wide berth. Happily, there were lots of others who could handle us. Females are better mousers, as they have the instinct to feed their young after weaning them. Good luck and get a cat - or two.
I had three ducks named Yum-Yum, Peep-Bo, and Pitti-Sing.
Barn cats are a must have especially in a horse barn, which is my experience. In the late 90s I had a large 40 stall barn and decided to board other people’s horses. It was a great experience except for the rodents. We acquired a momma cat and 5 kittens, had the momma spayed and the kittens when they were old enough. The barn had an office and the cats were free to come and go during the day and were put in at night (because we live in Texas and have large populations of coyotes and bobcats.) The arrangement worked well until a barn owl took up residence in our barn. I loved the barn owl and thought he (she?) might help with the rodents. The owl apparently preferred cats. Soon all my cats were missing and the rats and mice came back. I ended up calling a pest control company and sold my dream horse facility. We bought another smaller farm and built an 8 stall barn. Adopted 2 Siamese bonded brothers and a young adult male Manx. We had them all neutered and had the same living arrangement as before with a climate controlled office. Those cats were perfect barn cats, did their jobs with gusto, and never bothered my chickens or peafowl. (The peafowl didn’t work out because they started roosting in the barn.) I had 20 years of living on a farm and loved all the creatures that came and went. I so enjoy reading your farmstead stories. I live in town now in a historical home that we rebuilt (another dream) but your writing inspires me to get back to the farm. I owned and raised gaited horses and would love to have only two for my husband and I.
Can't help with the cat decision, but can comment on the car wiring insulation problem. Certain car manufacturers use wire coating made from rice hulls... need I say more? Different brands of cars and accompanying wiring either create or resolve the problem. Good luck.
Barn cats "aka outdoor cats" are a plus! My grandmother who immigrated through Ellis Island (legally) from Sicily when 15 always had a cat or two at her residence (when I knew her) and she always fed the cat, but the cat remained an outside cat. It was very effective, and while I doubt it was 20 plus years old when it departed, it was never a problem. And she also had a dog. He was a mutt, but a wonderful friend to a young boy (me). His name was "Butcher". So named I imagine, after my grandfather's business...Although my Grandfather had passed before I was thought of! Incidentally, the dog and cat never fought but they were always outside, unless the weather turned bad, then they were allowed in the "service porch"... Good luck with your choices...