Brought home my first barn cats

melontine

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I brought home two barn cats from my local humane society today. Both girls are feral, and had been there for some months. I'm very excited to get to know them and see them thrive.
When I went and got them, the staff led me to a room and I just pointed to a couple of hissy kitties amongst many. I didn't know anything about them before picking them, but now I've got their names, ages, and some medical background.
Nova and Grace

Nova is a grey tabby and isn't even a full-year-old yet. She's 11 months so still a baby pretty much. She had been with the humane society since April and actually had a litter of kittens in June. She's since been spayed and brought up to date on everything. Her three kittens have already been adopted out too. Nova stood out to me immediately. In a room full of cats, I noticed her and her low growl and ended up deciding to bring her angry butt home.

Grace is a calico and is about a year and a half. She was brought into the shelter in June and showed signs that she had recently been nursing kittens. I'm not sure if they ever found her kittens or not. I think they might have, but the photocopy of her medical notes cuts off in an odd place making it impossible to read further. But Grace has also been spayed and vetted and everything too. Grace I picked because I'm a sucker for calicos and torties. She's just so pretty.
Since the two had been sharing the same room for several months along with a bunch of other kitty's, they're already pretty well acquainted.
These girls have been microchipped, with their information being put under my name. So regardless of if the two like it or not, they're my responsibility now.

I put them up in our heated barn/office/workshop building. I have them set up in a back room upstairs right now. There's not a lot to hide behind, it's a pretty big open room that I put all the necessary litter/food/water/toys/beds/ect. Maybe not all of it was necessary, but I'm planning for that room to be like their home-base.
After about a week I plan to open the door into the next room, and a week after that finally let them down the stairs and give them full access to explore the barn. I'm not sure if I'll be letting them outside or not yet. If I do I might wait until spring.


 

Norachan

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Wow, what pretty girls! Thank you for giving them the chance of a home of their own. I hope they both settle in well.
 

di and bob

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Bless you, for giving them a chance at living a happy life! I just moved a feral boy we had been feeding for two years to our acreage, he has been here about 8 weeks and is finally out of his enclosure during the day though I still lure him in with food and lock him up at night. Last night, the only night we couldn't find him and he was out, there were coyotes snarling, howling, and barking right next to our house at 4 in the morning. We got up and chased them away and thank God he was there and came out. He was pretty miserable I think being penned up for 6 weeks, but those coyotes scare me to death! I plan on keeping him pretty much confined all winter, because he pretty much stays in his heated hut anyway, and next spring we are building a shed and plan on giving him better places to get away and hide there.
Just make sure you keep the girls confined to the barn for at least 6 weeks so they know where they are. They would feel safer if they could hide, you might put a couple of smaller pieces of plywood leaning against the wall for them to do so. They will come around, in time, especially when they realize what you have given them! Keep us posted, I am anxious to see how they do!
 
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