Barn Cat to the Rescue!

Mr. McGee is possibly my best hunter even though he is a male. Typically in the cat world the females are the ones who provide the food to the family. None of the five kitties recently spayed are eating and we are going into a week which is a definite red zone for kitties. McGee happened to catch a huge field mouse this morning and I saw him carrying this proudly back to the house. I always interfere when my barn cats catch prey and if they are okay- I let the prey go, if not, they are dispatched quickly and buried. This field mouse was perfectly fine. I managed to wrangle it away from an indignant McGee and I was headed out to the creek to release it, when I had an idea.

I have a small mesh cage in the hay barn. It’s quite small, a pet store going out of business gave it to me. I use it in traps sometimes and bait it with a live mouse to entice trap savvy cats into the humane trap. The mesh is so small not even a kitten can get a claw through it. I popped mr field mouse into the trap and brought him into the house.

I set him in the bedroom and opened up several cans of kitty krack (Fancy Feast) I spooned out the food and set the bowls near the trap. The mouse had a lot of straw to hide under but you could see the straw moving and hear the mouse squeaking. IT WORKED! All the cats are now eating- the smell, the sounds of their natural prey stimulated appetites and they started chowing down. NO MOUSE WAS HARMED IN THIS EXPERIMENT- Mr. Mouse has been given his freedom and the cats are a bit livelier than they have been since this experience.

7 thoughts on “Barn Cat to the Rescue!

  1. That is, without any doubt, the smartest idea I have heard about this month. Since you let this mouse go free and unharmed (good for you!!), can you get another one quickly if the kittens lose their appetites again?

    I have been telling the story of this neuter and spey to some of my friends who TNR cats and kittens around here. They always try to find low-cost spey and neuter services too, because it makes their dollars go farther. None had ever heard of this bad of a result with it before. But they were so concerned that they asked me to write you and try to get your thoughts on it. They said that they would not be using these any more if it meant extra pain and suffering for the kittens and maybe even death for some. The low-cost speys around here are all done by good-hearted, regular vets who volunteer on a rotating basis. What are your thoughts on this? You really do splendid work. I am so proud of you.

  2. I don’t know if I have the right to be, but I am still so furious about the sloppy workmanship of these upcoming vet surgeons. I know that when it comes to spaying and neutering, we are on the bottom of the totem pole and the majority of the money that was donated recently went toward One-Eyed Jack’s surgery. So spay and neuter money was not available.

    When I got the call initially, I thought this was going to be a good thing and I could stop being a cyber beggar get these babies spayed and neutered and finally get these babies out into homes. Now, I have to wait even longer for the kittens to be healthy and for all the incisions to stop looking so angry and ugly and then try and find homes for them. I already had to delay the spays because of the shape these kittens were in when they arrived here. We fought so hard to keep them alive when they first arrived. They were lively, happy and healthy when they left here.

    If I popped open a can of cat food, they had it eaten even before it hit the plates. It is heartbreaking to open cans and look around for the stampede that just doesn’t happen. Plus they are now older even though they are still technically kittens. The older they are, the harder they are to find homes for.

    I was talking to a friend of mine who also does rescue in another state. I told her I was upset with myself for causing this and she told me I can’t own that. It was not my fault that this happened. I still feel in part responsible and I will as soon as the kittens are on the mend- send a letter (not an email) to the University expressing my feelings of disappointment and disgust over all of this nonsense. It should NOT have happened, but it did and I am just hoping the worst is over. I did not want to lose Brambles or any of them for that matter- but it came damn close to losing Brams. Too close for my liking.

    Expensive lesson to learn adding $400.00 to our already high vet debt. I don’t care if it takes me a year to pay the vet debt. I am done with bargain basement spays and neuters. The rest of the group are already scheduled for their spays and neuters for Oct. 26th at MY vet.

    Oh and yes, I can go 5 minutes down the road to the feed store and buy a mouse to tempt them if I have to. I can also buy feeder mice either frozen or live- but then I would have to deworm them because they would get tapeworms. They have been through enough, so I would just buy one live mouse and then give him to my friend for her 8 year old son-

  3. Considering the$ 400.00 vet bill wouldn’t have happened if they’d done their jobs correctly (one cat, I can possibly understand having complications, but ALL!?) is there a way you can tell them they need to foot it, or at least own up some of the responsibility?

    Truly genius idea with the mouse; well done!!

  4. by all means you should write that letter. Those “vet surgeons” can not be let out in the public. I can not imagine the horror and damage they can do when out on their own. So glad they are eating again, hope this is the beginning of getting back to healthy for them.

  5. I guess when you live with them for a long period of time and observe their habits- things stick with you. I shared this inspiration with our feline specialist and she is going to pass it on to other vets for times when extreme measures are called for, so I was flattered. It is their natural instinct, their hunting ability that never dies. Even when you take them inside and keep them there, they display this ability in play and chasing insects and finding spiders and other creepy crawlies. Brambles crashed last night 🙁 I am taking her back to my vet this afternoon and would appreciate prayers. I suspect they might just have to go in and take out all the dead tissue and infection that lurks within her. All of this she has been through and she STILL loves us! Amazing- I would be mad as hell and hiding from people if I were her.

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