I have come to the conclusion that cats have a lot more personality than we think. Probably most of us had a dog at the same time as we had a cat and being a pack animal the dog tends to overshadow the cat. I don't have a dog for two reasons, one my long days at work would be lonely for a dog and two, I am never really sure what my future holds so it's not fair to bring a dog into my uncertainty. I didn't intend to get cats either; however some people felt that their cats were like outdated cell phones and dumped them. I will say living in the country on a farm without cats, quickly shows you all the good cats do that you were not aware of.
The latest homeless character to come here is a little tabby I named Dusty. She is a complete class clown, I will have had her two years this summer. As far as cats go and I'm not a crazy cat person, personality wise I find her really cute. She cheers me up whenever I'm outside with her constant playfulness, well that is until I get my phone out to snap some pictures, then she just sits there until I shut it off.
With no dog around the cats become the apex predator and I find will slightly take on the role of guardian. My older female will put herself between me and a raccoon, swiping claws and screaming like a deranged banshee to protect me. Touching I think but dangerous for her.
Last night I went to the barn late and as I was walking across the yard, Dusty instead of following me as usual, kept trying to get my attention. She kept making the "come here" sound, it's the sound a mother makes to call her kittens, also she rolls in somersaults to get my attention. I jokingly said, "what's wrong Dusty, did Timmy fall in the well". I knew something was bothering her. As I walked around the corner, a big raccoon was digging at the foundation of the house. He stopped and looked at me as if to say "uh oh, busted" I did my crazy angry gorilla sounds with waving arms and gave chase.
As I walked back towards the barn, Dusty was walking with this little swagger, "I'm such a good guard kitty". I'm impressed that she was trying to let me know something was wrong, normal for a dog but not what you would really expect from a cat.
You should also known that I am trying to bring into law a new rule. Anyone who doesn't spay or neuter their pets, gets neutered themselves!
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24 comments:
Cats give background to a house. dogs are the actors in front of that background.
Our Albert is always "there" just there...calmly watching the action
John, that is my point actually, we always had one or two dogs and the cats were background, until there is no dog around, giving the cat its chance to be the main character. A cat will never be like a dog but it's funny how they will fill some of the voids.
Very cute story! I like how you tell it. I have always been a dog person, but I will never regret the one cat I had. I found her at Neiman Marcus of all places. Someone must have dumped her at the mall I worked at the time. Long story short, I adopted her. Starbooty became her name since she seemed to have that walk of the cat from the Aristocats. She was silky pure black, and the most emerald eyes I've ever seen.
She once carried on terrible when I went to bed with a candle lit.
I grew up with cats too. I have one now which the ex left when he moved away. He wanted a cat but had no problems leaving it behind. I'm glad he's gone but happy the cat is here on most days.
Yes, I remember the ‘ mother cat calling her young’ call. I’ve tried describing it to others, and you are the first person that I’ve spoken to, that gets it. MaggieB
How many cats are we talking here? 2? 20? 200? Are they indoor cats or do they live in the barn with the rabbits and chickens? You claim to not be a crazy cat person but now I am not so sure.
Also: what's up with these raccoons? Are they giant mutant raccoons? Do they think they are badgers? Maybe this is something to leave off your dating profile.
Maddie, maybe she saved you from a fire. I'm neither a dog or cat person. Being an introvert I find dogs are too much of an in your face animal so I don't want one living alone. I would prefer to have a boyfriend that was a dog person and then I would like a dog. I know that may sound strange, I do love dogs however.
RJ, sounds like you got the better of the two! Living in the city I was disgusted by how many young people got a dog or cat and then wanted to get rid of it after the novelty wore off.
MaggieB, I don't think people can imitate that sound. Dusty does it the most, her every day meow is adorable.
Mr. Lurker, you will be honored to know that you are burned into my spell check, if I type "L" Lurker comes up. I only have 37 cats. No just kidding, I have two, that's the sustainable number for this farm. Some sweet chubby ladies help me find homes for any others but so do coyotes and fishers so people shouldn't be dropping pets off in the country. They stay outside but I get them fixed, shots and treats. People at work lecture me but my cats are not neurotic, they actually love people, they understand minor commands and are healthy.
Raccoons are part of life here, they can be quite large, public enemy number one to me so I discourage them from hanging around.
I'm a bird person, I had pet birds for years. My chickens were magnets for snakes, opossums and raccoons. Raccoons are the scariest animals ever created. If I was late and had to lock up the chickens in the dark, there'd often be a raccoon crawling up the barn wall like a cute koala bear. But hissing. Nothing cute about a raccoon. I should have had a barn cat!
Thirteen years living in the farm and no one ever dumped their pets. What was I doing wrong?
Mike, I'm a bird guy too, I like all things poultry (lol) and wild birds. I raised show birds for years here. Raccoons can kill a cat, a good dog is what you needed. I'm not a fan of them either, I stay low key about it on the blog but they fear me for good reason. We never had opossum here before but with climate change (I guess) they have been moving steadily north. My animals are under lock down at night because of raccoons. We don't have any snakes big enough to bother the birds, usually it's the other way around.
Pet dumping has started again with cats the last couple of years. When I was a kid it was terrible, every fall when the cottagers went back to the city, they would dump off their unwanted puppies, kittens and rabbits on the local farms. It stopped for a long time but has started again.
Pet dumping, how sad. Human being is my least favorite species, well maybe just ahead of raccoons!
We built a coop inside the barn for our chickens and an outdoor pen that ran the length of the barn and around the back. Covered the pen with chicken wire to keep critters out. Couldn't keep the snakes out though. I kept the chicks in the house until they went off to college. I miss them.
Mike, same here, the birds are in pens made of wire called hardware cloth, raccoons can rip chicken wire apart. At least this way if they break in there is still some protection. We only have garter snakes which are small little green guys. The cats will eat them and when I had large breeds of chickens they would eat them as well. However those snakes are helpful so I would rescue any I found. The other big danger here is the short tail weasel, tiny little s.o.b that can fit anywhere and kills everything. Again the cats take care of this.
Never encountered a weasel! We have lots of hardware cloth around here. Bob makes (made) armoured quilts out of hardware cloth.
Mike, thanks for the picture, I never heard of making armoured quilts out of hardware cloth but I LOVE that one!!! What an interesting idea.
I enjoyed reading your post about your cats as I am not a cat person at all. I am deathly allergic to them and I have never really been around them for any period of time. I remember growing up in upstate NY that raccoons frequently had rabies. I would not want to encounter one in my barn!
Michael 54, we are lucky in that the raccoon rabies hasn't come this far north yet. We used to be plagued by the rabies that was prone to foxes and skunks. That's almost eradicated from people finally vaccinating their pets and the government drops bait laced with the antivirus to protect wildlife from the disease. I wouldn't want a cat in the house, I don't have a problem with people who do. I hope who ever buys the farm is a cat lover, otherwise I will have to find them good homes.
We had “Disco” he’d drop by in Bermondsey when he was hungry and wanted to have a snooze under our sofa. He lived in a house three streets away with a family 2 kids and a dog. I’m guessing our place was quieter and had better food. I loved him.
JP
I think it's time you get one.
JP, a part time cat, I love that. That happens a lot. Years ago a neighbour had an old collie dog that was going senile, she started to walk into our farm from the village a mile away to lie on our deck. We would give her water and she would return home in the evening.
Dr Spo, get one? You mean a dog? That would be irresponsible.
I think he means a raccoon.
Mr Lurker, hahaha! Don't you think a plague of them is enough?
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