Barn cats...how to deal with them?

[dbarjacres]

For the last few yrs we've only had 2 outside cats, the old hag spayed mama cat, and a neutered male that she beats the tar out of, so he isn't around the buildings much. We've become overrun with mice last summer. So, we got 3, 3 month old kittens late October. They poop EVERYWHERE. They have a litterbox, but they poop under the porch (the dogs have discovered that), they poop in the calf hutches that the goats can go in, they poop in the bedding the goats lay in. I can't even let the house dogs in the pasture anymore, as they look for it right aways. ick.

My other concern is, can't animals get something from cats?

These are really nice healthy kittens, but I'm disliking them more every day (and I love cats, have 2 in the house). I hate to rehome them and then think how much more the mouse population will grow.

[Sherry in Iowa]

You could make them a sandbox..regular size kid's sandbox.

[lasergrl]

Yes this needs to stop if you breed the goats.
I had several miscarriages and even a still birth the first year I bred my goats, then found stray cats using the hay as a litterbox. Probably gave them toxoplasmosis. They usually breed normal after they clear the toxo.

[Crazy Farmgirl]

............one bullet at a time!!

Sorry you asked! I despise cats an everyone seems to get lead poisoning here! People drop off their unwanted one out here all the time.

[Minelson]

Gosh I have 4-5 outdoor cats and never notice their poop anywhere! Maybe my dogs are scarfing it down before I even notice ...eee-gads

[chewie]

the cats we have are old and when they are gone, that's it. for mice, nothing beats a rat terrier dog, or patterdale or some other vermin hunter. the cats here love to spray (they're all fixed too!) allll over my feed sacks, so how fun that is, grab a bag of feed and your hands reek all day long.

can't think of a single way to keep them from doing what's a natural thing, tho.

[Otter]

It's strange that there is so much poop. I've got 9 cats out here and almost never see any. Are they not burying it? I'll second the sandbox suggestion.
Where do your older cats go?
As far as the dogs - it's what dogs do, if it wasn't cat poo, it's horse, cow, goat, sheep, chicken, etc. It's just in a dog's nature. They don't seem to go for it as much when fed raw.

Toxoplasmosis is everywhere in the soil. I'm sure it's nice to point a finger at something when you have losses, but the ever-so-slightly increased risk of ever-present toxoplasmosis there might be to barn animals from having cats around is nothing at all compared to the far more real dangers of rodent borne diseases. In fact, the reason cats so often carry toxoplasmosis is they catch it from ... rodents. Seriously, look it up.

CrazyFarmGirl, really? You're sorry she asked? We're all sorry you answered. So not liking cats gives you the right to be nasty to anyone who dares ask a cat question? Your response was unnecessary and uncalled for.

[wintrrwolf]

Well since they have the freedom to roam where ever they have learned that they can "go" where ever. Since they are kittens even at 3, 4, 5 months of age keep them contained in an area that will have their food and the litterbox, when they are out playing watch them like you would any baby when you catch them pee'ing or poo'ing where you don't want, spray them (water bottle, spray gun, ect...)
I wish I had done something similar with my 5 month old kitty when we first moved here unfortunately a coyote found her to be a nice little snack.
I have a 15 yr old spayed female cat that specializes in killing snakes and sparrows, and my 2 yr old male cat has never sprayed anything inappropriately, here my DM doesn't allow the cats in the house...guess where all the freaking mice are....

[dozedotz]

Funny, Wintrrwolf!! That is where the freaking mice are is absolutely correct! Give me the cats over the rodents any old time. Our cats are fantastic mouse hunters and keep the grain room and the hay barn in great shape. However, we have had some cats in the past that could not seem to learn where was the appropriate place for toileting (or whatever is the scientific name for it). They were eliminated by us. Sorry. My barn, my rules.

[prairiedog]

We really like our rat snake for mice control

[earthkitty]

nevermind

[dbarjacres]

Wow what a range of answers...shoot them to I'm stupid to get them and apparently irresponsible. We got males so we can neuter them. We've done our other male cats ourselves. Let me guess you'll call yhe authorities for that? Outside cats breed like rats. We had 3 very nice neutered boys and 2 of them disappeared in 2010. Which was odd as one never left the barn.

We have never had the pooping all over before. I'm sorry but working and having animals to take care of I certainly don't have time to follow 3 outside cats around with a spray bottle.

I really want to keep them. DH and I play with them daily and they all know their names.

I don't mind the dogs eating goat poop but cat poo is just nasty.

So the toxo is just if they potty in feed? That problem I don't have.

[mygoat]

Honestly, this often happens in the winter. It's too cold for the poor kittehs to go outside and get their paws wet in the snow if they don't have to.

Either supply ample litterboxes, or feed them outside - preferably far away from where you don't want them pooing/peeing so they HAVE to go outside anyways. Then, they should be less likely to just veg around in the non-snowy areas and poo/pee there. They also just plain can't dig in the wintertime, so if they can find anything not frozen, that's where they'll choose to potty. Once one starts using a spot, it smells like a toilet so they all will.

[Otter]

Dbarjacres, sometimes you just have to ignore folks who aren't trying to help. Don't let it get to you.

Livestock are far, far more likely to get toxo from the soil, or from rodent or sparrow droppings, then from cats. That's where cats get it from themselves.

Where are the older cats going? Is there any bullying of the kittens from the older cats? Is it buried?
If it is not buried, then it may well be the older cats marking territory to put these young upstarts in their place. If the kittens are not going where the older cats are going, there is a reason. Are the kittens learning from the older cats, or hiding from them?
Why is there so much poop? 3 kittens can only go so much. Are we sure it's them? Could they have digestive troubles (not burying could also be a sign of this) ?
These answers may help solve your problem.
Mygoats also has a point. Either way, creating a spot for them to go will help.

As far as the dogs- yes. Dogs are nasty. You can't blame the animal that poops for the fact that dogs eat it. And I promise you they'll hunt it out and dig it up. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs, have a bunch - but when one finds a particularly fresh horse pile to roll in, or a nice dead squirrel or something, I don't get mad at the horse or the squirrel. It's what dogs do, and why Leave It is my most favoriteist command ever.

[lasergrl]

Toxoplasmosis from cat feces is a real threat to pregnant goats. Yes rodents and birds spread it as well but cats are an ideal host and they can spread many more oocysts then other critters do.
The cats pooping where goats bed down or on hay is a very good way to lose pregnancies, wethers you like cats or not.

[anita_fc]

It might be better to rehome these cats and try again in the spring. Over the years, I have encountered a few cats who didn't graduate kittengarten with the required "burying poop" credits. Maybe some mama cats aren't so great in the home schooling department. Make sure to get kittens that already know how to bury!

I cannot have barn cats anymore as our new LGDs kill cats. I bought a half dozen of those no-touch snap traps in November and in about two weeks had wiped out the mouse population in the garage and the barn. Not sure I want barn cats anymore! They usually end up moving into the house in their old age anyway. My last barn cat is currently asleep on my bed. He'll be 17 in a couple months.

Anita from Idaho
Dan-Ani Pygmy Goats
www.gndt.net/dan-ani

[Otter]

Lasergrl, cats are a common vector for toxo in humans.

Humans are rather unlikely to take dust baths and then groom ourselves with our mouths, sleep on the ground, eat off the dirt, drink water that sparrows pooped in and eat hay and grain that rodents have been on. Or accidentally ingest bird and rodent droppings in any way.
We are however, likely to clean a kitty litter box, making cats and gardening likely exposures for humans

To keep toxo from our livestock, first worry about all the little critters infesting the barn that the cats are catching it from (mice and sparrows who are pooping in your feed) and then know that it's quite likely that your livestock were exposed anyway, as it is only the most common parasite on earth, and present in the soil pretty much everywhere.

Cat fan or not, toxo isn't exactly news, just the past couple of generations as people are more removed from the soil, folks were more likely to not be exposed to it until late in life. Cats in barns are not a new development.

[Sherry in Iowa]

dbarjacres, just a thought here..so much poop and so few cats..are you sure that the poop belongs to them? Could it be coon scat instead?

[dbarjacres]

No coons around here, one skunk that's hibernating under the hay barn (darn thing refuses to go into the live trap).

I will add an extra litter box, maybe that will help. They bury their poo in the shavings, the ground outside is frozen (duh, I didn't think of that). I'll try adding another larger litter box.

[Hollowdweller]

I wouldn't let anybody pregnant drink any raw milk till those cats are older.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+2134&aid=770