Kittens Are Better When They Aren't Flat

KittenBarn13

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Isn't that the truth?

Sorry. Anyway...

My county has a lot of feral cats. We feel the need to take them in and give them a good life, but my dad won't keep one in the house. So we let them stay in our barn. We feed them as much as they want to eat, and we make sure they get proper vet care and attention and such. Currently, we have 6 kittens: Marshall, Jethro, Fez, Hyde, Kelso, and Hoot. They're the best, and I love them so much! If anything happened to them, I would find whoever hurt them and smack them 6 ways to Sunday. Which is why I'm here.

My kittens are dumb.

Now, I don't mean curious. I mean about as smart as a box of rocks. Homer Simpson- No, Ralph Wiggum- as cats (The simpsons characters, for those of you who don't know). Except Hoot, she's smarter than the average bear (Yogi Bear reference right there, if you didn't catch it).

For fun, they like to climb on tires, in beds, and on cabs. For comfort, they like to sleep under vehicles. We've had them for months now and they haven't gotten hurt yet, but it's only a matter of time.

For now, we have signs telling barn guests to check under their vehicles, in their cabs, beds, and trailers, and on their axles. We also encourage people (and we do this ourselves) to just inch out of the parking lot at first, as to scare out the kittens who might be under there.

Now, this is getting ridiculous. There's always a few people who don't do this, likely because they didn't see the signs. It might be those people who end up killing them, and I don't want that to happen. I love my little kittens. So is there a way to teach them to just stay away from vehicles?
 

StefanZ

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Its not answer to your question; but: Are you neutering and spaying them?
Barn cats is fine as you do it if you by any reason cant have them in home; but they should be spayed anyway.... Otherwise they just become more of them...

Re teaching to stay away from vehicles... Difficult. Most cats learn this anyway, but as you say, some dont learn and their life gets shorter. "Darwin award".

Perhaps there is some spray "Fy-spray" in swedish, with a smell cats dont like... And you try to spray these vehicles... You can also try to spray cold water on these cats being too curious about the vehicles... Or even, just make some sound, as from an angry momma cat; when they are smelling on these vehicles...
 

Mamanyt1953

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Compressed air cans, shot at them when you catch them at it, might work as well. I don't generally approve of "watering" cats, but in this case, I'd even advocate hosing them down when they sleep in such dangerous places. A wet kitten is overall happier than a flat one!
 

vince

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Flat cats is the reason mine all stay indoors. I lost at least four to this in my youth.

You can't do this with your barn cats, but I hope you have success in teaching yours to stay out from under the car. One suggestion that I heard some years ago is to toot the horn before you start the engine, the thinking being that it will scare the cats out before they get hurt.
 

ArtNJ

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Lets be honest, the gentle training methods take a while and aren't so reliable. So when cats are doing something actually dangerous, its time to scare the ever-loving-*&^! out of em and teach them that the dangerous thing is bad.

So routinely honk loudly, and encourage your guests to do it to, even if they dont see a cat. And when you do see a cat under a car, you have to really up your game. Teach em cars are bad. Bust out the hose, for example. If you are going to use an air horn, get as close as you can without spookign the cat. I've used a broom as well - goal would be to actually tough the cat with the bristles if possible, give him a good scare. Not great to have to do it, but its the best option. A routine low level kind of scare might take many weeks to work, if it even does.

I'm as patient as can be when it comes to cats and counters, start with the lowest key possible method, simple removal hundreds of times. But if a cat goes on the stove, I slam something down hard nearby. Same concept -- actual danger, up your game!
 
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klunick

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Its not answer to your question; but: Are you neutering and spaying them?
Barn cats is fine as you do it if you by any reason cant have them in home; but they should be spayed anyway.... Otherwise they just become more of them...

Re teaching to stay away from vehicles... Difficult. Most cats learn this anyway, but as you say, some dont learn and their life gets shorter. "Darwin award".

Perhaps there is some spray "Fy-spray" in swedish, with a smell cats dont like... And you try to spray these vehicles... You can also try to spray cold water on these cats being too curious about the vehicles... Or even, just make some sound, as from an angry momma cat; when they are smelling on these vehicles...
:yeah: The less cats around, the less likely one will meet an unfortunate ending.
 
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KittenBarn13

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Its not answer to your question; but: Are you neutering and spaying them?
Barn cats is fine as you do it if you by any reason cant have them in home; but they should be spayed anyway.... Otherwise they just become more of them...

Re teaching to stay away from vehicles... Difficult. Most cats learn this anyway, but as you say, some dont learn and their life gets shorter. "Darwin award".

Perhaps there is some spray "Fy-spray" in swedish, with a smell cats dont like... And you try to spray these vehicles... You can also try to spray cold water on these cats being too curious about the vehicles... Or even, just make some sound, as from an angry momma cat; when they are smelling on these vehicles...
They're too young right now, but they'll all be spayed and neutered when the time comes. Should be within the next couple weeks.

I would try to cat proof the vehicles, but they mostly belong to others. Mostly customers for Al's barbershop or open riding in the arena. I have tried associating vehicles with a scary sound, but they decide to ignore it. I can try cold water
 
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KittenBarn13

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Flat cats is the reason mine all stay indoors. I lost at least four to this in my youth.

You can't do this with your barn cats, but I hope you have success in teaching yours to stay out from under the car. One suggestion that I heard some years ago is to toot the horn before you start the engine, the thinking being that it will scare the cats out before they get hurt.
We do that, as well as just inch out a bit, so then they run away before they get run over
 
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