On my arrival home from California a few weeks ago Moon was nowhere to be found. Which was not a worry as he is a stray and an intact male and they do tend to wander. He had arrived out of the fields at Christmas time and had been visiting with my barn cats on and off since.
Before I left for California a few weeks ago I booked That Cat, my big ginger Tomcat, in to be neutured, so I also booked Moon in as well. Moon is a mature and quite smelly Tom with all the noise a male cat makes.
So, of course, he disappeared until the morning after his appointment date. And now here he is.
I had told Our John that I had booked him in then cancelled him because we had not seen him for a few weeks (thinking what a typical and funny story) and Our John was appalled that I would take someone else’s cat in to be neutered. (Actually he was also upset that I would consider paying for someone else’s cat to be neutered – it costs 120 dollars after all). It is true that he appears well fed, though he has returned limping, But he was here for months before that. I assumed, correctly I think, that he was a stray – possibly dumped in the area at Christmas time.
So now I have a moral dilemma. When is a stray and stray and when do you have ownership over a stray. How long must an animal live in your barn before you can amend his anatomy. And what if he is from a local farmhouse? It is not like he travels with a suitcase and papers and can prove that he has no address.
The leghorns are growing nicely. They are a beautiful flock of chicks. Soon their door will open and they will be allowed out in their yard.
Alex has taken on the shape of a wine barrel and I think her udder is developing but she never had much of an udder anyway and as you know now: with a cow (a cow has had a calf before) most of the changes happen in the last two or three weeks. I need to look up her earliest date. She still has at least a month to go I would think. But she surprised us last time – remember? Txiki was the cutest wee calf – smaller than TonTon.
I will get back to you with her earliest date in the comments.
I don’t know why I think this but I have a feeling one of my calculations had Molly and Alex having their babies at the same time. I have no idea where this memory of an equation comes from but it niggles at me – being that they share the same barn. Alex was field bred so she has no conclusive date. But then so was Molly (the sow).
Alex needed no help last time and was with an even smaller bull this time so if the calf is properly positioned she should be OK if I am busy elsewhere.
Sunday today. What a week!
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
47 responses to “Canny cat”
There is always some dilemma or other, isn’t there? Right when one moral situation calms down, another pops up. I don’t know what the planets are doing alignment-wise right now or what it would mean exactly, but I find myself, in this period, dealing with a ton of moral/administrative/monetary issues that are very tangly and hard to unravel. I wonder if anyone else is going through this right now. It is odd. It was smooth sailing for a very long time, and now, boom: Mess.
I think you should get the Moon cat done. He’s adopted you, so your barn is where he lives. Normal people don’t keep unneutered cats in their homes and even in a barn, the spraying is unpleasant. There are many cat charities in the world and they all look towards fixing strays. The fighting and stress that goes with testosterone shortens a cat’s life, also, fighting spreads feline leukemia, which is like a cat HIV. I say the above as a big cat lover 🙂
I agree with MD, who apparently is quite fond of lions and tigers.
I agree with all of your reasons, Mad. Especially the spraying & HIV. I lost a gentle neutered male house cat to that disease, which is awful, because he got out & was attacked. All my other house cats had to be vaccinated & with Rusty’s care & euthanasia, the vet bill was very large. Moon’s neutering would spare you all of this. I would absolutely do it the next time he turns up.
I agree with Mad also. If he were part of a valuable breeding program he certainly would not be roaming from home to home. Too bad you couldn’t prevail on on one of the vets to do it when they made a farm call. Ours are happy to neuter the males on farm just to keep populations and, as you said, disease at bay.
when is a stray not a stray? Hmmm..thats a good question. i have a dog that I feed whenever I pass by. He lives in a disused wood yard..he is not chained and has complete freedom. There is a man who comes once in a blue moon but is he the owner? My problem is that this dog has a skin infection and needs a vet visit but is it my place to take him….answer No because i know he has an owner so I must let him suffer…as far as I can see that is not fair.
So Moon has been with you on and off for ages..he chooses to come to you and to stay..therefore he is your cat…so yes it isright to get him done.
But how can one be right and one be wrong.
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 2:49 PM
I believe there are similar programs around here. Most of the shelters are over run with cats so this is the next best thing imo.I’m
Oh dear, the above was supposed to be in replay to valbjerke, don’t know what I did! To Patrecia, if the dog was suffering I’d probably step in and take him to the vet and damn the consequences.
In reply not replay – aack, I think I’d better stop now!
Do you have a local SPCA or equivalent? Out here, if a dog had a obvious disease and the owner was doing nothing, the SPCA can step in. The owner can also be prosecuted.
I think whichever way you dissect it C, it is always a good thing being responsible by having animals neutered, especially cats as they can have so many kittens every year. Hope you are able to come to the right decision for you.
Have a happy week.
🙂 Mandy xo
Bit of a catch 22 on the cat…….I suppose it boils down to the basics – do you want the cat spraying everything, yowling all night, picking fights….
I’ve had male cats neutered that stay home after the fact, and I’ve had some neutered that continue to wander and sometimes meet an unfortunate fate with a coyote or a car (which makes me cringe at having spent the money).
This year, where I live the SPCA set aside a month to spay and neuter feral or barn cats for free. I had none to take in, but I’m hoping others took advantage of the program. I wonder if there’s a similar program in your area?
We have a similar program here, a spay and neuter mobile clinic, that passed through three times a year, spring, summer and fall. Cats are fixed for $40 and dogs for $50. I think there are also grants for those who can’t afford to spay their animals. It is a wonderful service. All of our porch animals, 4 cats and 2 dogs have visited the clinic, and I often work as a volunteer there with the mobile clinic is in town.
Busy times ahead. I do think that you should go with your initial instinct and get Moon neutered.
It’s a shame, isn’t it that these girls and boys cannot take responsibility for their own intimate adventures and supply you with a clear record, and date, of any expected offspring. Don’t they know that you have much to do and keeping track of their sex lives really should be their responsibility 😉
As to Moon, I am in the group that would say go ahead with your plans if it is financially feasible for you. I am a sucker for strays and even all the neighbor cats who have homes but simply like to lounge about in the sun on my deck. From the rather unfriendly picture you posted though, I’m not too sure that Moon has as much enthusiasm for a trip to the vet as you might want him to.
Interesting question. Seems to me that if someone nearby was missing their cat, they would have been putting something out on Facebook, putting signs up in the local post office or visiting their neighbors to see if anyone had seen their beloved cat. Cats also have a tendency to return to the place where they feel the most comfortable and are fed well. As I see it, you have only a few choices
1. Try to locate the owner.
2. Call animal control to come get Moon.
3. Keep Moon and have him neutered. If Moon returns to his original owner, the owner will likely not be able to determine who had the cat neutered and should be thankful that you didn’t decide to choose #2, which would have likely cost the owner money and a possible requirement to have him neutered anyway.
Also, Our John is such a quiet, soft spoken man, I find myself wondering what appalled looks like in Our John 🙂
what a week indeed! Where we lived in Oregon and now in California there is a group called Feral Cat coalition. When our Lucy showed up at our Oregon home
6 months old and in heat we called the local coalition and they spayed her for $30. She was not a feral, but a stray and when the vet scanned her for a chip and did not find one
we assumed Lucy had been abandoned.
I think you well within your rights to neuter him as he’s in your barn and has been for some time. He’ll be a healthier and happier cat in the long run!
Here’s a link to Illinois cat neutering/spaying services: http://www.safehousepets.org/get-pet-help/resources/
As kitty cats go, as with most things, possession is nine-tenths of the law……. or so my Dad was heard to utter. If you feel Moon is likely to stay and he’s been a ‘regular’ for months, then he’s yours and, therefore, the responsibility for neutering is in your hands.
Txiki was a beauty calf, I well remember, and very small. But I wasn’t aware she was smaller than TonTon… wow As far as Alex being barrel shaped, I have always thought she was at the most normal times. lol And seems Txiki was born 15th April so, if Alex’ clock is a solar one, perhaps she has just three weeks or so to go. Your leghorns look like miniature chickens still. Hope you have a great day. ~ Mame 🙂
I have 5 cats hanging around looking sad that I can’t help but feed and shelter (outside.) There is a barn next door, so I’m sure that people feel that their unwanted cat will find a good home there. (There are more over there!) I also have grandchildren that make sure that said cats, at least the more friendly ones, find their way inside. One of them was definitely going to produce kittens eventually, so I took advantage of a local charity that helps with strays and had her fixed. She is only the more happy for it. It is the responsible thing to do. And I sure didn’t want kittens hanging around, cute as they are!
I had much the same dilemma that you’re having with your Moon when we moved into our home 20 years ago. It “came” with a lovely orange tabby that my children adored and as winter approached we started letting him in at night so he’d be warm. This went on for about a year when I finally took him to be neutered. After all, we’d been feeding him and giving him a place to sleep and tending to the wounds he came home with from fighting with other cats. About a month after he was neutered, on Halloween night, a teenager came Trick or Treating to our door, and informed me the cat was hers. I told her that if he had been hers, then why had he lived with us for over a year? He was, after all, an outdoor cat and always came back to our house, not hers. She never said anything else, and that was the end of that. Milo was ours and lived with us for twelve wonderful years before he died. (He looked rather like your orange cat, whose name I’m not sure of.) All this to say, if you are providing the majority of Moon’s care, then I would say Moon is yours. But, if you are concerned that someone may come round to claim him, you could post a notice in the local paper about him or at the vet or feed store and see if you get any responses. The bottom line is that a neutered cat is a healthier cat (not to mention he’s not out there adding to the feral cat population). Good luck with your decision.
If the putative owner has a problem with you giving Moon the snip, he shouldn’t allow his cat to roam all round your property. Personally I think Moon is an opportunist who has decided the Farmy is a very pleasant place, and a pair of cojones is a small price for a cat to pay for the freedom of the place. It’ll make him a nicer cat and the Farmy a more peaceful place. Go for it.
Snip the kitty. It’s for his own good. He’s yours 😉
Hey there,
About the cat, I agree that Mr. Moon is yours by default…plus since there are so many cats and too few homes for them I agree that to neuter Moon is a wise move. He’ll live longer too.