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”
I can understand how vexed you are about having 2 animals giving birth at the same time. You are tiny enough and trying to split yourself in two would be difficult though not impossible for you. 🙂 You are talented that way. When a cat comes to you, it’s yours. I think the vote here is pretty unanimous. Have a wonderfilled Sunday.
We had a cat become ours by default, he lived across the road but they were seldom home so he would come be with our kids and hunt mice in our barn. We named him Neighbor, he lived with us for years.
Same thing happened to some friends as happened to MDT. Cat was wonderful and kept as indoor cat. Lived with them for about three months. They tried to find owners but were unsuccessful. PGrandpa answered front door while holding cat and said trick or treat,, as a joke. The guests gasped and said it was their cat. Friends reluctantly gave cat back. Two months later they heard the cat got run over on their busy street.
Get the cat checked for microchip when he goes in for appointment. If no chip get him”tutored”. He will live a longer and healthier life and no more offspring .
Moon might have been dumped in order for the owners to avoid the expense of neutering him. He more than likely will not be chipped or vaccinated, I would say go ahead. Keep a copy of the account and should somebody try to reclaim him, present them with the account and that might change their minds. Laura
Our poor John! Or, for that matter, poor any male that cringes at the thought of being ‘snipped’, much less any animal. Think it’s a “GUY THING”? chortle!
Thanks for the super pictures! My Bill is attempting to build a new hen house in between rains. We need a bigger home for the girls because a woman at the feed store is giving us her half-grown ladies (she can no longer care for them) and our new baby peepers will be here in a month. That’ll give our girl kitties (both ‘fixed’) some new friends to play with. Both kitties get on the roof and help Bill build. Quite a business goes on up there!
Great day to you and your farmy!
You’ve been lodging him for over 90 days and he’s come back to you after he’d walkabout; so I’d say you’ve got every right to nip him in the bud; )
Um, was just wondering… Is that a really big “Hi, Meow!” or a “Sod Off!” in the 2nd photo?
I had a male cat in my backyard every day (he always left at night though) for months–along with 5 pregnant females–who all gave birth on my porch–so I figured he was the daddy–so when the first batch of females went to be fixed–George was friendly enough that he also went for the ride to the vets–he still went out catting every single night–(but I knew that no more unwanted kittens were being made by him) but days he slept on my back porch in a rocker after he came back–I swear he loved me more after that–have no idea whose cat he was–but I figured if they couldn’t do right by George, then by George I could–( I named him after my father who loved cats!!)
My parents moved to a very small town after they retired. If a cat took up residence on their property, he/she would be fixed. We know one of those cats did actually have a home. My parents wanted no kittens and felt everyone has a responsibility to prevent the sad overpopulation of cats (and dogs).
So far as I can tell, the vote is unanimous! Moon will be over the moon happy–and so will everyone around him.
If one cannot trace the actual owner (and send him the bill!) it does become a duty to have a feline squatter attended to. The expense of a surprise batch of kittens will be far more, and spayed females often manage, somehow, to reproduce regardless.
I love these discussions 😆 I of course agree that if you are willing to pony up the cash then Moon gets the snip, the G.O. fence-sitting concurs Moon should be neutered but why should you pay. My answer, the same as when I took -our stray who showed up looking for a home share cat- Soossie in and spent just under $300 for her to be desexed because no-one else would. She now permanently resides next door, as Diesel-dog isn’t a fan of damn cats but still I don’t regret it as she is healthy & happy, living with an undesexed tom (who is clearly not my responsibility, otherwise he’d have been done too) but not repeatedly having litters of kittens. We too were subject to a claim by a woman that Soossie was her cat… yep right… all care no responsibility does not equate to ownership.
Yep, go the snip, no question. Good luck rounding him up and getting him there, looks like he has a very strong mind of his own, that one 🙂
There are too many cats in the world already, and given the circumstances I think you are within the bounds of morally responsible to have Moon neutered.
I’d have Moon neutered and not think twice about it, Celi. If his owner was all that concerned, Moon never would have shown up on the farmy. Around here, feral cats are captured and spayed or neutered before being let loose again. I’ve never heard anyone complain about the practice, other than the cost but some of the shelters will perform the surgery for less.
C. To snip or not to snip is the question and I think that question has been answered! 🙂 Even if Mr. Moon does belong to someone else, they are hardly taking very good care of him and how in the world would they know if he’d been snipped or not and even if they did figure it out, I hardly think they’d care. Sometimes we have to do the responsible thing whether it’s our mess or not, right? I mean I pick up trash everywhere I go..it’s not my trash but I still pick it up! If an animal is being abused or neglected, I speak up! I don’t care who it belongs to! I would say Mr. Moon is more yours now than anyone else so you have the right to get him neutered! I mean…you have barn rules right!!