23/02/2024
Let me introduce you to the world's best barn cats. But first, some back story...
I love all animals. I'm definitely more of a dog person, but I still like cats. My husband loves almost every animal as well, but cats did not make his list. When we lived on our farm, we had barn cats to keep the rodent population in check. Hubby was tolerant with them living in the barn, but they were not allowed into the house. That was fine with me, and it was more than OK with our dogs.
When we moved into our farmhouse two years ago, I quickly learned there's an animal my husband dislikes more than cats... mice. One evening, in the kitchen getting a drink, a mouse ran across the floor in front of him. Hubby panicked and threatened to burn the horse down. After he calmed down and put the matches away, he suggested that our barn cat could, "maybe for a day or two", come live in our house and help with the rodents. I was shocked. The next day, Autumn, our faithful hunter of 5 years, came to live with us. My kids were ecstatic.
One evening, about 3am, Autumn appeared in our bedroom doorway and began meowing incessantly. I yelled at her to quit it; she didn't. Hubby yelled; no response. I threw a very aptly named throw pillow at the door; it didn't stop her. She kept meowing and meowing. After a few minutes, I decided that maybe - just maybe - she had an important message for us. Perhaps there was an intruder. Maybe the house was on fire and she was trying to save the family. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and decided to get up.
I let my eyes adjust for a moment, and saw Autumn sitting in the doorway, something on the floor in front of her feet. As I got closer, I realized she wasn't trying to save the family from imminent death - she was showing off her kill. In that moment, Autumn gained my husband's respect and she quickly turned from a temp hire into a fulltime position with an impressive benefits package.
Autumn was doing a fine job keeping the mice out of the house, but now they had made their home in our barn and something needed to be done. However, after months of being spoiled in the house, Autumn was fully committed to being an inside cat. With hubby's approval, I began looking for a barn cat or two.
Our local shelter had nine cats that were just brought in to their "working barn cat" program. They were feral, couldn't be handled, and were not going to be happy living an inside life – which was fine for what we needed. I contacted them, filled out an application and received approval. They said that they opened at 11am the next day. The following morning, I packed my kids up and off we went, an hour ride to the shelter. My daughter was so happy to go to the "kitty store" and bring home her new pets; my son smiled at anything that had fur on it.
We walked in at 11:03am, just as two full cat carriers were being taken out. My stomach dropped. The lady behind the counter said that there were five cats left... but there was one couple in front of us in line. The couple asked about the cats, and finally decided on taking three. “Phew,” I thought, “we won't get a choice, but at least there's two left for us.” At the last minute, the couple decided they would take all five remaining cats. My heart broke, and so did my daughter's. She saw the cats leave and began crying. I explained to her that it wasn't meant to be, but she's two, and it's a hard concept for even adults to understand.
We stopped for lunch, (chicken nuggets are an immediate cure for toddler tears,) and I began reaching out to all of my contacts. Another hour away was a shelter that had over 50 cats available, but none were listed as barn cats. I figured I'd give them a call, and to my surprise, they had two that were "unadoptable" and would be adopted as barn cats. “Perfect,” I said, “We're on our way.”
We got to the shelter and I was shocked to see that these cats were in a big play room together. One was laying on a couch, the other casually playing with a toy. It was obvious they were much more socialized than the feral ones we were considering. I was even more surprised when the lady opened the door, and said we could come in to meet them. The two boys immediately came over, and were instantly sweet and friendly. They took to my daughter right away.
I asked why they were unadoptable, and she said that even though they were both a year old, they had each been in and out of three different homes. One was “unable to be litter box trained” and kept destroying houses, p*eing everywhere except his box. The other was - and I quote – "a feisty ass hole," and was terrorizing the family and attacking everything in sight. Well, I thought, I have a rodent problem and a feisty ass hole is exactly what we need! We loaded the two boys up and brought them to the barn. They settled right in, didn't care at all about the horses, and enjoyed having their free range.
They came right around to us, and I couldn't believe how friendly they both were. My daughter could pat them and pick them up, and the more attention they got, the happier they were. They acted like dogs and would come running when they saw us heading out to the barn.
Within a few weeks, our rodent problem was gone. The cats seemed bored, so they began venturing up closer to our house. One morning, one was patiently sitting at the back door like a dog, waiting to be let in. Cautiously, I opened the door and he instantly made himself at home. My daughter squealed in excitement, and my son took off crawling after him. A few minutes later, his friend was meowing at the door, so I opened it, and he trotted in like he owned the place. It didn't take long for them to make themselves comfortable - within an hour they were both laying on my couch, soaking up the sunlight. They eventually went to the same door they came in, sat politely and waited for me to let them back outside.
These two boys were “unadoptable” because they weren't in the right home. They both need more freedom than being a house cat, and that's why they retaliated. Neither has ever been aggressive or had an accident in the house. They let the kids pat them, love all over them, and frequently take naps curled up with the kids. When they are done snuggling, they switch gears and hunt in our field for hours on end.
There's two things we can learn from their story:
1) Not every home is a perfect home for every animal. These two boys were “unadoptable” because they weren't placed in the right situation for their personalities and individual needs. They needed an in-and-out situation, which doesn't work for most people.
2) But more importantly, things happen for a reason. Sometimes you have to trust that there's a plan for you. Not getting those first cats we went to look at made a huge difference in our life... and in these boys' lives.
So that's the story of how Rocky, (the feisty ass hole, who may very well be mentally handicapped, but is a total sweetheart,) and Charlie (Chaplin, for his mustache,) became to be part of our family.