Barn Cat?

[MossRoad]

Yep. Worldwide, only five (5) people have survived documented cases of rabies. That makes it statistically, 100% fatal in humans.

Kind of like nature.... except domestic house cats don't occur in nature in concentrated populations. They are technically, an invasive species. And concentrated, they spread disease among themselves, inbreed, etc... spay, neuter, vaccinate, release.

If you have kids and don't vaccinate your animals for rabies.... yikes!

 

[MikePA]

From a simple suggestion to spay/neuter and 3 vaccinations...

...spay or neuter and vaccinate for lukemia, FIV and rabies.

To 'hundreds of pills, shots...'

Doctors/veterinarians and pharmaceutical industries who push all these "NEEDS" onto people (and Pets) attempting to get people to blindly follow their directions of taking hundreds of pills, shots etc...

 

[tcreeley]

All of this talk about owls had me thinking "Where would one procure a barn owl?" because they seem like an idea solution but I have never seen one around here. Then I saw your eagle comment and that would explain it. We have a number of bald eagles here and see them soaring over the fields all of the time. If the eagles didn't get them, they would probably leave to seek safer neighbours anyway.

Too cold in NS for Barn Owls. Local owls to you are the barred owl and the great horned owl. The great horned will kill and eat skunks! Listen for them at night. These owls overlap ranges with eagles. We have all 3 in the area - the owls can handle the brush in the woods where the eagle would have a tough time flying. And it's daytime vs nightime. An eagle could pick off a perched owl.

- Most stray cats keep you at an out of sight distance- hard to vaccinate. We feed strays- all that come into the house have been trapped, spayed/neutered, rabies - etc.. The others haven't been. Our best hunters are the ones that get the most to eat. The hungry cats that come round for krunchies and leave before I put the wet food out- look hungry, and in the winter - sickly at times. They struggle to stay alive. It is the indoor sleeping cats who are the hunters- energy to burn. They are the ones climbing grabbing birds. routing out mice from the snow. Hunger may make a cat want to hunt, but a weak cat is an ineffective hunter. Cats as they get older slow down, sleep more, hang around more. Cats are also very territorial. One male cat will claim the area and fight all comers (except females). The lessor males sneak in for food when he is not active. A spayed young female makes a great hunter. She is left alone by the other cats, eats well, and is bored so goes and hunts. A neutered male is always looking over his shoulder because he can still be a target of dominant males. A family unit of cats can be peaceful.



---It was around 0F last night. I just passed through the living room and noticed two good sized dead mice stretched out that the cats had left us, from outside. They like to bring them in to play with.

 

[Country Geek]

Hunger may make a cat want to hunt, but a weak cat is an ineffective hunter.

"A city is made of brick, Pharaoh. The strong make many. The weak make few. The dead make none."

 

[SPIKER]

From a simple suggestion to spay/neuter and 3 vaccinations...



To 'hundreds of pills, shots...'

When he spoke of having a large number of Cats then yes, each one needs several vaccines several times in their (cats) lifetime (some say yearly shots are needed.) So YES hundreds of shots, not to mention the costs involved in catching each of them caging and taking them to vet... Again take a look at the (USA) Pet Care industry profits (~60 billion for 2014) and 17Billion in 94. Go back to 74 that number would be WAY less I'm sure list 20 year in link, I'm sure we have similar population of pets as back then...
Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics

The latest trends are Health insurance for pets, yep pay monthly charge and then get life insurance along with it in many cases... The costs are a lot for someone who just wants mouse protection, someone said they had 30 some cats (to me that seems excessive for a small farm. (I did not look at his acreage or number of buildings etc.) but had they not had them fixed would be population growth happens quickly if 3 or 4 female cats pop out 4~6 kittens at a time.

M

 

[MikePA]

When he spoke of having a large number of Cats then yes, each one needs several vaccines several times in their (cats) lifetime (some say yearly shots are needed.) So YES hundreds of shots, not to mention the costs involved in catching each of them caging and taking them to vet... Again take a look at the (USA) Pet Care industry profits (~60 billion for 2014) and 17Billion in 94. Go back to 74 that number would be WAY less I'm sure list 20 year in link, I'm sure we have similar population of pets as back then...
Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics

The latest trends are Health insurance for pets, yep pay monthly charge and then get life insurance along with it in many cases... The costs are a lot for someone who just wants mouse protection, someone said they had 30 some cats (to me that seems excessive for a small farm. (I did not look at his acreage or number of buildings etc.) but had they not had them fixed would be population growth happens quickly if 3 or 4 female cats pop out 4~6 kittens at a time.

M

No one is asking the OP to save the entire feline population in his area, just try and make a difference. Nor did anyone suggest he buy pet insurance for all the cats.

Also, the spending you've referenced twice now is for all spending related to pets, not just vaccinations, which are a fraction of the Vet care total.

 

[/pine]

You can't. That's been tried for the last 50+ years. TNR is the only method that actually works to reduce populations.

What is needed is much stricter laws...I mean serious jail time and felony records...

In FL and probably other states the DNR drops rabies vaccine treated "candy bars" from aircraft in an effort to reduce rabies in raccoons and other species...IMO they should offer a reward for any company that can come up with something similar (only deadly) that ONLY works on non-native felines...and eradicate the scourge...

 

[SPIKER]

No one is asking the OP to save the entire feline population in his area, just try and make a difference. Nor did anyone suggest he buy pet insurance for all the cats.

Also, the spending you've referenced twice now is for all spending related to pets, not just vaccinations, which are a fraction of the Vet care total.

Nor did I say he had to, you and other keep missing the point which I was making that costs ARE REAL for our pets. Barn Cats are not pet however people here are stating that he needs all of this care for these Barn Cats. Tossing out a small amount of low cost food is not that bad, now how much does it cost for vet care per cat??? (I don't take cats in to vet, my dog yes, and each time for his care is into several hundred per year for him in pills, shots, etc.)

Again who keeps saying that the pets need all of this care>? The same people who make the pills shots and the guys we pay to do the work! It is like a plumber you dont call him to come give your toilet a "Check Up" correct?>? What if the Plumber, the people making the little blue things etc said YOU as a responsible Toilet Owner HAS to give it this Pills, Shots and Hire your Plumber yearly to come give it a checkup>??? Ya go ahead and fall for it if you want.

Or better yet how about we start catching all the skunks, bats and racoon take them to the Vet & get them shots, fixed provide them 3 squares a day>?? Some people just don't realize how the commercialization of MANY industries are all that just a big push to separate people from their $. These Animals have ALL lived since the beginning of time without all these experts advice, of pills, shots etc.

Mark

 

[MikePA]

Nor did I say he had to, you and other keep missing the point which I was making...

I understood your point, each time you made it.

...Barn Cats are not pet however people here are stating that he needs all of this care for these Barn Cats.

We disagree on what 'All of this care' means.

I don't take cats in to vet...

With zero care for cats as your frame of reference, I now understand.

It is like a plumber you dont call him to come give your toilet a "Check Up" correct?>? What if the Plumber, the people making the little blue things etc said YOU as a responsible Toilet Owner HAS to give it this Pills, Shots and Hire your Plumber yearly to come give it a checkup>??? Or better yet how about we start catching all the skunks, bats and racoon take them to the Vet & get them shots, fixed provide them 3 squares a day>??

Reductio ad absurdum.

Ya go ahead and fall for it if you want.

When insults start because of a difference of opinion, it's time to leave the discussion.

 

[SPIKER]

Reductio ad absurdum.


When insults start because of a difference of opinion, it's time to leave the discussion.

None of MY posts has ANY insults however yours came thru well enough. So if you think it is an insult then I take it YOU would fall for a Plumber saying you need to feed your toilet pills and give it shots>?

:/

Mark

 

[aczlan]

Nor did I say he had to, you and other keep missing the point which I was making that costs ARE REAL for our pets. Barn Cats are not pet however people here are stating that he needs all of this care for these Barn Cats. Tossing out a small amount of low cost food is not that bad, now how much does it cost for vet care per cat??? (I don't take cats in to vet, my dog yes, and each time for his care is into several hundred per year for him in pills, shots, etc.)

You need a better vet... We do our own shots for rabies, etc for all the small critters on the farm (Llamas, Goats and Cats) and its pretty cheap ($5-10 per cat per year and less for Llamas and Goats). Flea medicine for the indoor and indoor/outdoor cats is spendy though, but cheaper than a fl;ea infestation.
We have a vet come out for the 2 horses and 2 mini donkeys (shots, float teeth, etc) and its something like $140 for all 4.

Aaron Z

 

[tcreeley]

We do our own shots, but we can't buy rabies vaccine and have it shipped to us. It has to be vet administered- though there are ways around that.
In my experience- with spaying and neutering, the cats need a week recovery time following the procedure before being allowed to go outside on their own. Every one of our strays who managed to get out the door after returning from the vet- didn't make it. -Expensive way to put them down. Every cat we confined for a week, spayed or neutered, stray or domestic made it.

Rabies is a real issue. We have it in Maine. Twenty years ago it wasn't here.
In my wife's family there is a story of her grandmother's cousin -Po dying in pain from rabies - Massachusetts.

 

[FTG-05]

How do you guys do your own shots for rabies? With four cats and one dog, I could save some money vs. taking them to the vet each year.

Please use small words, I have very little experience in vet-inese and not much in pets other than food, shelter and water.

Thanks,

 

[Country Geek]

How do you guys do your own shots for rabies? With four cats and one dog, I could save some money vs. taking them to the vet each year.

Please use small words, I have very little experience in vet-inese and not much in pets other than food, shelter and water.

Thanks,

I think it varies by state. I know in NC rabies vaccines are required to be given by a vet but vets are also required to give or participate in a certain number of low cost rabies clinics (like $5-10 a shot).

But in some states, anyone can buy and give them. Check your local laws. B

 

[MikePA]

How do you guys do your own shots for rabies? With four cats and one dog, I could save some money vs. taking them to the vet each year.

Based on a brief Google search, TN is like PA....A vet has to give the rabies shot.

In PA, the owner can give all the other shots, give the meds, etc.