Hello, I know this is an older blog, but I was looking for advice. We live in a suburb neighborhood on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire line. For the first time ever, we have rats in our garden. I saw a brown one run from the garden, I see rat holes and I hear them. One of my neighbors actually had one in their garage. Currently its summer, but I fear that once it gets cold they will try to come in our house. My friend has outdoor cats (population sort of got out of control) but they live in a shed in her backyard. She doesn’t take them to the vet or anything. I was thinking of taking two kittens ( neutering them) and buying a heated weatherproof cat house and place it on the side of my house. (not fenced in) We have a fenced in backyard but our two dogs are there and I want to keep them separate. Our dogs sleep inside, but I want the cats to stay outside. I know its not a barn or a farm but would this work just the same? We live on a quiet street and its rural…but one of the houses next door is only 20 feet from mine and on the other side, our houses are about 50 Feet apart. Similar distances between homes across the street. Do you think this would this work and the cats would be happy?
One more question… Is it Risky taking kittens from cats that never go to the vet? I know she provides them shelter, water and food… but she sort of has the sink or swim mentality. She let her cat population get out of control and at that point it was too expensive to neuter all of them.
Sounds like this could work, especially if you fix your cats. When you take them to the vet for neutering and spaying, they’ll get them up to date on shots. Once they’ve seen the vet, they should be good. We always get new kittens from someone who doesn’t take their barn cats to the vet, and they are in surprisingly good shape.
Tara says
Hello,
I know this is an older blog, but I was looking for advice. We live in a suburb neighborhood on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire line. For the first time ever, we have rats in our garden. I saw a brown one run from the garden, I see rat holes and I hear them. One of my neighbors actually had one in their garage. Currently its summer, but I fear that once it gets cold they will try to come in our house. My friend has outdoor cats (population sort of got out of control) but they live in a shed in her backyard. She doesn’t take them to the vet or anything. I was thinking of taking two kittens ( neutering them) and buying a heated weatherproof cat house and place it on the side of my house. (not fenced in) We have a fenced in backyard but our two dogs are there and I want to keep them separate. Our dogs sleep inside, but I want the cats to stay outside. I know its not a barn or a farm but would this work just the same? We live on a quiet street and its rural…but one of the houses next door is only 20 feet from mine and on the other side, our houses are about 50 Feet apart. Similar distances between homes across the street. Do you think this would this work and the cats would be happy?
Tara says
One more question… Is it Risky taking kittens from cats that never go to the vet? I know she provides them shelter, water and food… but she sort of has the sink or swim mentality. She let her cat population get out of control and at that point it was too expensive to neuter all of them.
thriftyhomesteader says
Sounds like this could work, especially if you fix your cats. When you take them to the vet for neutering and spaying, they’ll get them up to date on shots. Once they’ve seen the vet, they should be good. We always get new kittens from someone who doesn’t take their barn cats to the vet, and they are in surprisingly good shape.