curious:indoor vs outdoor

wrote:

Perfect example. I've known lots of cats too who lived to a ripe old
age as outdoor cats, and even more as indoor/outdoor. There's just so
many factors to consider, it is impossible for them to accurately say
that "outdoor cats only have an average 2-year lifespan." If the cat is
vetted, fed well and lives in a relatively safe area, they can live
certainly a lot longer than 2 years.


I'd have to agree, my three come and go as they please and have a
combined age of 35. They've taken it upon themselves to control the
local rabbit population, which I can live with, it's the catch and
release that gets to me, those rabbits can be tough to get out from
behind the furniture :-)

--
Nik Simpson

wrote:
Helen Miles wrote:
"sriddles" wrote in message
ups.com

There's just so
many factors to consider, it is impossible for them to accurately say
that "outdoor cats only have an average 2-year lifespan." If the cat is
vetted, fed well and lives in a relatively safe area, they can live
certainly a lot longer than 2 years.////

My uncle has 38 barn cats who were the result of a feral relocation
program by the local rescue. All are spayed and neutered and all are fed
daily. The youngest is 10 and the oldest is 14.

Oddly enough, vermin are not a problem on his farm. ;o)

Helen M

Forgive me for veering off the original topic, but your post (bless
your uncle!) reminded me of a funny (and sad!) story that just
happened Friday. I was at the shelter, and the kennelmaster was
weed-eating the tall grass from around the cat enclosure. He flushed
out a mouse, who ran straight INTO THE CAT ROOM. You never saw 30 more
excited cats in your whole life.

Sherry

Thought balloon over scurrying mousie: 'have I erred?!?'

Reminds me of the time a friend in another aprartment would have
Feather come spend the night because she saw a mouse and her Lilly was
scared of it. Feather was worshipped as the God of Death by the mice on
Lower Chapel Street.

Will in New Haven

--

"Whiskey - I like it, I always did, and that is the reason I never
use it." - Robert E. Lee

Will in New Haven

On 2006-10-16 12:18:49 -0700, said:

gracecat wrote:

I don't think a barn full of horses can do without a cat.

Is that because the feed for the horses attracts mice?

Joyce

Most horses get a grain supplement/treat on a daily basis. Horses
aren't very tidy eaters, so grain gets spilled on the ground. Mice and
rats are attracted to the spilled grain, so yes, the feed for the
horses attracts mice and rats (and racoons and possums...)

Katrina
--
History: special people in special places at special times
Anthropology: everyone else the rest of the time
-KWorley, 1997

Nik Simpson wrote:

wrote:


Perfect example. I've known lots of cats too who lived to a ripe old
age as outdoor cats, and even more as indoor/outdoor. There's just so
many factors to consider, it is impossible for them to accurately say
that "outdoor cats only have an average 2-year lifespan." If the cat is
vetted, fed well and lives in a relatively safe area, they can live
certainly a lot longer than 2 years.



I'd have to agree, my three come and go as they please and have a
combined age of 35. They've taken it upon themselves to control the
local rabbit population, which I can live with, it's the catch and
release that gets to me, those rabbits can be tough to get out from
behind the furniture :-)

Try getting a California fruit rat out of the mechanism of a
sofa bed! (I had one cat who'd invariably "bring 'em back
alive" and promptly lose interest.)

Matthew wrote:
I hate to say when we were in the barn when we were young.

Oh, you were raised in a barn? (asked very politely) 8^P

--tension

"gracecat" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...

Like they say, 54% per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
(heh)

Sherry


Hehe... Dad's "original" barn kitty is still going strong. She's five or
six years old now.


I don't think a barn full of horses can do without a cat. There is
something very special about a barn kitty. But I wish they'd be taken care
of and appreciated.

Grace


My grandfather was a farmer. (I'm going *way* back in time for this,
folks.) Even though some of his animals were intended to eventually be on a
dinner table, he genuinely loved animals and would not tolerate cruelty in
any form. His barn cats would line up behind him with their mouths wide
open when he was milking the cows, and he would "squirt" each of them in the
mouth with fresh milk. Yuk!! But the cats loved it. He kept draft horses
even after he had tractors, and when he was ready for retirement and moved
to Florida he *gave* his horses away. His son-in-law asked why he didn't
sell them, and his response was that they had given him good service all
their lives and now he only wanted to make sure that they would go someplace
where they would be well-cared-for. He was even pretty early in recognizing
the value of birds that his neighbors considered "pests." He always planted
extra rows of corn "for the birds" and said they were worth their weight in
gold because of all the insects they caught, and he was the first person I
ever saw who placed a bat house on the side of his own house. That is
common now but seemed to be rare then.

MaryL

wrote in message
ups.com...

gracecat wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

Like they say, 54% per cent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
(heh)

Sherry


Hehe... Dad's "original" barn kitty is still going strong. She's five or
six
years old now.


I don't think a barn full of horses can do without a cat. There is
something
very special about a barn kitty. But I wish they'd be taken care of and
appreciated.

Grace

Absolutely. Never underestimate the value of the "working cat." And
being a barn cat is actually a pretty good gig. Warm shelter, food, and
a plentiful supply of mice is *so* much better than a lot of cats
have. These old rancher/farmer guys just don't get it though. They are
always coming in the shelter wanting un-neutered cats for barn cats. We
let them have the ferals, but only after they're neutered. It's pretty
hard to convince them that spaying a cat won't affect its mousing
abilities.

Sherry


My grandfather (who I just wrote about in this thread) kept his barn cats
very well fed. He always said that well fed cats were just as good mousers
as cats that were not cared for because much of what they did was instinct,
and he considered it to be an act of cruelty to let any animal under his
care go hungry.

MaryL

MaryL -out-the-litter wrote:

My grandfather was a farmer. (I'm going *way* back in time for this,
folks.) Even though some of his animals were intended to eventually be on a
dinner table, he genuinely loved animals and would not tolerate cruelty in
any form. His barn cats would line up behind him with their mouths wide
open when he was milking the cows, and he would "squirt" each of them in the
mouth with fresh milk. Yuk!! But the cats loved it.

I've seen pictures of this. (Not of your grandfathter of course, but
of other people squirting cow's milk at barn cats.) I guess it was pretty
popular among the cats!

He kept draft horses
even after he had tractors, and when he was ready for retirement and moved
to Florida he *gave* his horses away. His son-in-law asked why he didn't
sell them, and his response was that they had given him good service all
their lives and now he only wanted to make sure that they would go someplace
where they would be well-cared-for. He was even pretty early in recognizing
the value of birds that his neighbors considered "pests." He always planted
extra rows of corn "for the birds" and said they were worth their weight in
gold because of all the insects they caught

He sounds like he was a wonderful man.

Joyce

wrote in message
...
MaryL -out-the-litter wrote:

My grandfather was a farmer. (I'm going *way* back in time for this,
folks.) Even though some of his animals were intended to eventually be
on a
dinner table, he genuinely loved animals and would not tolerate cruelty
in
any form. His barn cats would line up behind him with their mouths wide
open when he was milking the cows, and he would "squirt" each of them in
the
mouth with fresh milk. Yuk!! But the cats loved it.

I've seen pictures of this. (Not of your grandfathter of course, but
of other people squirting cow's milk at barn cats.) I guess it was pretty
popular among the cats!

He kept draft horses
even after he had tractors, and when he was ready for retirement and
moved
to Florida he *gave* his horses away. His son-in-law asked why he
didn't
sell them, and his response was that they had given him good service all
their lives and now he only wanted to make sure that they would go
someplace
where they would be well-cared-for. He was even pretty early in
recognizing
the value of birds that his neighbors considered "pests." He always
planted
extra rows of corn "for the birds" and said they were worth their weight
in
gold because of all the insects they caught

He sounds like he was a wonderful man.

Joyce

Thank you. He really was!

MaryL

Will in New Haven wrote:
wrote:
Helen Miles wrote:
"sriddles" wrote in message
ups.com

There's just so
many factors to consider, it is impossible for them to accurately
say that "outdoor cats only have an average 2-year lifespan." If
the cat is vetted, fed well and lives in a relatively safe area,
they can live certainly a lot longer than 2 years.////

My uncle has 38 barn cats who were the result of a feral relocation
program by the local rescue. All are spayed and neutered and all
are fed daily. The youngest is 10 and the oldest is 14.

Oddly enough, vermin are not a problem on his farm. ;o)

Helen M

Forgive me for veering off the original topic, but your post (bless
your uncle!) reminded me of a funny (and sad!) story that just
happened Friday. I was at the shelter, and the kennelmaster was
weed-eating the tall grass from around the cat enclosure. He flushed
out a mouse, who ran straight INTO THE CAT ROOM. You never saw 30
more excited cats in your whole life.

Sherry

Thought balloon over scurrying mousie: 'have I erred?!?'

Reminds me of the time a friend in another aprartment would have
Feather come spend the night because she saw a mouse and her Lilly was
scared of it. Feather was worshipped as the God of Death by the mice
on Lower Chapel Street.

Will in New Haven

That reminds me of a notice I once saw in an office. To err is human, to
really foul things up you need a computer.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk