Where have all the kitties gone????

My mom's boyfriends mother Judy and her husband live on about 40 acres or so of land and have a nice sized garden and barn and house and 2 acres or so of fenced in land for their horse Sara. They also have a large number of unspayed/unneutered barncats.... You dont see many of them in the summer, just the few preggy ones and the nicer ones that come up in the barn for a place to sleep and some food to eat. They live on 40 acres of land.. and thats just about four acres across and 10 acres back. That doesnt count for the numerous hundreds of acres on the sides and on the other side of the road and such. But that still doesnt explain what happened.

Every single cat is GONE.

?????? Judy and her Husband Bill are just as stumped. They would never get rid of the cats. No one would come out and take them. They know they lose some each year if they are in the cornfields when the tractor is in there.. but the cornfields havent been harvested yet. THere were four brand new babies in the old horse manger, three one month old babies, three 2 month olds, 3 4 month olds.. and 2 8 months old. Fifteen new kittens this year that themselves were friendly.. not to mention the regular five or so kitties which hung around.. blacky, sassy, Tiger, Nibs, and Little Girl. But suddenly all of them are gone! All the babies... all the friendly ferals... not there anymore!

My mom's boyfriend doesnt like cats but he wouldnt have gotten rid of them because he has no legal right as it is his parents land/house (he lives with them) He's not that cruel anyways (like drowning kittens or something)

Theres really nothing at all that can be done, with the amount of wilderness that is out there. All they figure is maybe a coyote moved into the area... or a wolf.... and scared the cats away from the barn...

Anyone else think of anything in Wisconsin that might make a whole colony of cats move out???

Most likely they will move back in the winter (as Judy and Billare the only ones with a large, warm barn, and the neighbors dont like cats in their barns)

So just some vibes please that the kitties come back and turn out to be ok....

I figure if something like distemper hit them... there would have been some bodies. Its a real mystery as to where these cats have all gone.. but when winter comes they should come back. Theres about 35, 40 in all... 20 which frequent the barn... others basically live on other farm areas or in the wilderness out there, totally feral...

Is it possible that someone trapped them all?!? Either that or they were chased off by something-maybe raccoons? I think if none of them had their vaccinations, it is possible they got distemper or something, and each one crawled away. I hope that isn't it!!!

We have had barn cats for years, please let your Mom know she can spay/neuter, and get basic shots for the cats, even if they have a lot of animals. You just have to manage them well as you get it done, and give away some of the kittens as you spay the Mommas. And go to a low cost clinic.

Best of luck..it sure is horrible to lose that many animals!

They also have a large number of unspayed/unneutered barncats.... You dont see many of them in the summer, just the few preggy ones and the nicer ones that come up in the barn for a place to sleep and some food to eat. They live on 40 acres of land.. and thats just about four acres across and 10 acres back. That doesnt count for the numerous hundreds of acres on the sides and on the other side of the road and such. But that still doesnt explain what happened.

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I have to agree with Beckiboo....even though these are barn cats...it would be best to have them all spayed/neutered and brought up to date on shots if they do return. The problem with intact cats is that they will roam..so it's hard to say if they have just gone off after other intact cats to mate or whether something has truly happened to them.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

I have to agree with Beckiboo....even though these are barn cats...it would be best to have them all spayed/neutered and brought up to date on shots if they do return. The problem with intact cats is that they will roam..so it's hard to say if they have just gone off after other intact cats to mate or whether something has truly happened to them.

Katie

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I agree too. Sad to say about maybe someone poisoned them

Over the past 4 years here, I have taken in around 10 strays and ferals outside, providing vet care, food, etc. Sorry to say that only one remains. I never know what happens to them, and most of the time I try not to think about it. I've resigned myself to the idea that it's just what happens when we care for strays and ferals outdoors, even though I hate the thought of something bad happening to them!

Grrr I'm sorry everyone...

My mom ... I swear sometimes I dont know HOW I am related to that woman if people didnt swear they saw us together at the hospital.

My mom went over to her boyfriends/boyfriends parents house to help him bring loads of wood to this woman who needed them for heat in the winter.. anyways.. when she came back I asked her if any of judy's cats came back.. and she was like what? Judys cats are all gone? And I was like "Yeah mom.. you told me two days ago that all judys cats are gone." and she was like "Oh.. I did? I guess I did didnt I? Oops.. I meant only those seven kittens were gone" (the four newborns and the 3 1 month olds)



Well duh. People went and looked at the little kittens so the mommy moved em.. and the older ones were with sassy (their momma) and she wanders about.

Sorry for panicing a bit... *sigh*

The sad thing about if they were all trapped and spayed/neutered is that with them dying by harvesting tractors, or in the winter... the colony would probably be gone in about 2, 3 years. Then they would have to get MORE cats and spay them all. They really need at least ten cats with their large garden, and to keep the pests out of the horse's food. THe cats do such a good job keeping the gardens free of mice, gophers, rabbits, raccoons and even the occasional woodchuck. Its sad, I know... but really with accidents some of the cats have and with them really not having that many kittens in the summer, the colony is stable and My mom's boyfriend's parents can care for them. If they were my cats they wouldnt be outside in the first place... but Judy and Bill are old fashioned and stick to older ways and dont believe in cats in the house. I think Judy would like to spay at least all the females but they reallly dont have any money. It will be nice if they can sell the 80 acres they have up north because with JUdy's medical bills and the stuff they have to pay every year for the house and land taxes... but its a sad thing for them because that land has been in the family for so long.

Yep so all the cats are just fine and my mom is (sometimes) a blibbering weirdo. *sigh*

The sad thing about if they were all trapped and spayed/neutered is that with them dying by harvesting tractors, or in the winter... the colony would probably be gone in about 2, 3 years. Then they would have to get MORE cats and spay them all. They really need at least ten cats with their large garden, and to keep the pests out of the horse's food. THe cats do such a good job keeping the gardens free of mice, gophers, rabbits, raccoons and even the occasional woodchuck. Its sad, I know... but really with accidents some of the cats have and with them really not having that many kittens in the summer, the colony is stable and My mom's boyfriend's parents can care for them.

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Actually....if they were to spay/neuter all the cats at the barn...I'm positive they could hook up with a TNR group that would be willing to place other spayed/neutered cats at their barn. They would be making their existing cats healthier AND helping cats that need to be placed as barn cats. Many organizations will cover the costs of spaying/neutering.

As a start, you could contact this group and see if they know anyone in the area that has spayed/neutered ferals that would make good barn cats:

http://www.catsnippers.org/

Katie