Savage Pets: Working Barn Cats

I first discovered the joy of being "owned" by a cat (notice, I didn't say "owning a cat") when I moved to the country for the first time. Having just built the place it was pretty much "working" cat free, so my friend found a pregnant barn cat in need of new home as a way to have an instant barn cat work force. Now there is something you need to understand to appreciate this little blog, and that is that I really hate mice and rats, I mean I really hate them. In other words, I don't want you to think I feel sorry for the mice and rats in this story, but I must admit that the cat's witnessed savagry is a little "disturbing" at times - interesting but disturbing just the same. As a matter of fact, be warned, it may be too gruesome & savage for some readers. Back to my story, the cat was working out great, not a mouse in sight, even with four kittens to care for too. I always suspected she was a good mouser but I soon saw this first hand. I was in the barn feeding horses and straightening up, my calico mother barn cat was casually lying around on a bale of hay while her little kittens frolicked below. A few minutes later I heard this savage sounding gutteral growl. I turned around to see the mother cat on top of a huge rat, almost as big as she was. She was on top of it, gripping the top of it's neck in her teeth, choking it to death. If it tried to move or fight back she clamped down just that much harder. The kittens found this all very interesting, however, when they ventured too close the mother released a gutteral growl that would have scared the largest of cats, let alone a little kitten. I've never considered myself squeemish, but this was a little more than even I could take and I left for a few minutes. When I returned the rat was gone, well at least most of him anyway, there was a foot and part of a tail the cats hadn't gotten to yet The savagery of this episode only reminds us that even domestic cats still have that same killer, savage, feral streak that their larger relatives the Lion and the Tiger do, they are just a little "smaller", that's all. It also reminds me how important cats are in the balance of things. Just think how we would be overrun by mice and rats if cats were not available to patrol our barns and country homes. I love my working barn cats and I give them everything that you can give an outside cat including the best food, shelter and health products money can buy. What would I do without them, they're worth every penny, and I appreciate them dearly.