New kitten:

I'm new to this site & have a few ?'s. We live on a farm , and need a barn cat. Do we get a kitten and keep it inside with us for a while then introduce it to the barn? We had A tom for years then he just disappeared.He found us so there was no need getting him acclimated to living in the barn.Any help with this question would be greatly appreciated. Thank you,
Froghollow

Wow! Good question, froghollow. Totally not my area of expertise.

Knowing this site, somebody will ring in with some helpful advice soon. It's funny, we often can conceive of dogs as being working animals, but forget that cats can do same. I know the stable where my daughter takes riding lessons has several barn cats.

At any rate, welcome. Hope to see you around often.

Thanx Deb for responding so soon. Hope you are rite and someone can help me out with my question.

Froghollow:

One of our members, Hissy, lives on several acres in Oregon. She has a horse, and so I would assume a barn. She has a current thread in the Lounge, and I just know that if you email her, she'll be able to help you out.

One suggestion, perhaps a rescued feral cat who wouldn't really adjust well to living in the house to begin with?

IMO if you really just want a barn cat, then I would call around to the local rescue groups or people who deal with semi feral cats. These cats really stand no chance because they can't be part of a family enviroment. They have only known outdoors and wouldn't want to be indoors. If you bring a kitten home and then introduce him to the outdoors, he is already used to being able to come into the house.
I would also try and make sure that he is somewhat used to people so that you can get him for annual vaccines and dewormings. It is also best that he be neutered before left to roam the property.

An older female would make a great mouser. You should have my email by now, and like I said, if you live near me, I have a great cat for you!

Just want to say Welcome to you, froghollow....I wish you lots of luck in finding a barn cat...I hope you will let us know how it goes. Glad you have joined us here at the catsite! Feel free to post often in any of the forums!

Hi FrogHollow
Welcome to The Cat Site!! Here's an example of a possible source of barn cats. My brother-in-law farms and has a large number of barn cats. Almost all of these cats have been just abandoned along the road, some of them are even half dead by the time they get to my brother-in-law's farm. Any cat that shows up is allowed to stay, and my brother-in-law gets really upset with people abandoning their pets.

Lorie...your brother-in-law sounds like a really great guy with a big heart!

Welcome and good luck in your quest to acquire a barn kitty. Please be sure that the kit is 'fixed' and has food and water daily?
PLEASE oh PLEASE!!!!