We have both indoor and outdoor cats.
Outdoor Cats
When we moved into the house in 2012 our neighbor had over sixty feral cats (please, please, please spay and neuter your cats!). When her husband passed away and she moved out of the home, a cat rescue came out and we helped them trap over forty of the cats to spay/neuter them and rehome them as barn cats. Ten of the cats died before we could trap them. We took nine cats and had them spayed and neutered. Over time, some of the nine left our barn to play or hunt and never came back.
The cats that stayed with us were extremely feral and afraid of humans. The only interaction they had with humans was when the neighbor’s son tried to exterminate them. Tabitha worked for six years to build trust in the cats and she can now pet them and they rub against her and sit by her! They are proof that feral cats can be rehabilitated, it just takes time.
Trouble and Abetzi
Trouble and Abetzi are two of the once-feral cats we still have. They are big boys and their favorite thing to do is snuggle with each other on the top level of their scratching post in the garage. The boys are so bonded with each other that if you see one, the other one is always nearby. They never go anywhere without each other!
Update…Trouble passed away on March 11, 2021. Abetzi joined Trouble in Heaven on January 16, 2025. The boys were a big part of our family for thirteen years. They loved rolling around in the dirt and soaking up as much sunshine as they could. They were inseparable on our farm, and now they’re together again on Heaven’s farm.
Milo
Milo came to us when his family moved and left him behind. He’s an affectionate cat who loves to sit on our lap purring and drooling. Most times when we look outside, he’s sitting on the back porch looking into the house with his tongue sticking out and drooling. We tried to teach him to be an indoor cat, but after he “watered” the Christmas tree over and over again, we decided to keep him outside. He loves chasing grasshoppers and rolling around in the dirt. He’s afraid of the chickens because they chase him and peck him on the head, but he loves the rabbits. He likes putting his paw on their heads to pet them and they nap together.
Update…Like a couple of our other barn cats over the years, Milo went out exploring one day and never came back. Even though we have barn cats, we’ll be the first to tell you that cats are much safer inside the house. Barn cats are tough little cats, but no matter how tough they are, they face dangers on a daily basis. The hardest thing about having barn cats is, when they leave the yard, you never know if they are coming back. When they don’t come home for dinner, you take notice. When two dinners pass without them, you start to worry. After a month of untouched dinners, you know in your heart they won’t be back. It’s been over a year since Milo went out exploring. Whenever we go outside we still hope to see him run up to us asking for snuggles. Maybe he found our barn cats, Fern and Elm. Maybe just over Rainbow Bridge he’s rolling around in the dirt. And drooling because he’s happy.
Trinity
Trinity adopted us in February, 2020. We don’t know where she came from. She just started coming around and decided to stay. We’re pretty sure she’s been spayed because the tip of her ear is missing. Ear clipping is done in feral cats so you can tell by looking at them if they’ve been spayed or neutered. That way, you don’t have to traumatize them by trapping them and taking them to the vet, only to find out they’ve already been sterilized. Trinity is incredibly timid. We’re hoping that eventually, we’ll be able to reach out to her without her running away.
We set up a couple of houses for Trinity (one is heated), but her favorite place to sleep is in a small burrow the rabbits dug when they shared the yard with the chickens. She hides in the burrow during the day so she doesn’t have to fight with Trouble and Abetzi when they’re out. After Trouble and Abetzi are closed up for the night, she comes out and sits on the back porch waiting for her food and warm water. She really loves our cat, Paige. She meows at Paige and rubs on the glass door when Paige is looking outside. Sadly, Paige doesn’t feel the same love for Trinity!
Feeding the Outdoor Cats
We free-feed the outdoor cats dry grain-free food. Since we have cat visitors from around the neighborhood, we make sure to have dry food available at all times because we don’t know who will be stopping in for a meal. We also give them each a can of wet food at night. We give everyone baked chicken for an occasional treat.
Indoor Cats
The Older Bunch
Chunk, Aspen, Paige, and Lizzie are our older indoor cats. They came to us in 2017 when they were orphaned at the age of two weeks old. We bottled fed them around the clock and now they are affectionate, mischievous little lions. They’ve changed everything in our lives in the few short years we’ve had them.
The Young Bunch
Oliver and Phoebe joined our family in December, 2022. They were born to stray cat at my parents’ house. After the babies were born, my parents trapped momma cat and had her spayed. Once her five kittens were old enough, my parents made sure they were spayed and neutered too. We took the one male kitten of the group, along with one of the females. My parents kept the other three kittens and momma cat.
Loki joined our family in July, 2023. He and his siblings were found running around on the side of a highway. When the person who found them tried to catch the babies, they ran onto her property and hid behind a shed. The neighbor tried to get them out from behind the shed, but her dog kept barking at them, while trying to eat them. The neighbor reached out to Tabby for help trapping the kittens. Tabby squeezed behind the shed and the only kitten she was able to grab was Loki. The neighbor couldn’t keep Loki because she was afraid her dogs would kill him, so Tabby brought him home and he’s been a part of our family since. Every day for weeks afterward, she and the neighbor set traps to try to catch the other kittens. Unfortunately, they were never caught.
Feeding the Indoor Cats
We free-feed the indoor cats grain-free dry food. They split two cans of wet cat food for breakfast and again for dinner. As a treat, everyone gets baked chicken.