# Barn cats?



## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

So I'm trying to come up with a plan to keep mice out for the winter...I don't do well with killing things so I don't know if I could handle using traps and having to throw away the dead bodies  I've found a couple options online or I could get a barn cat....Options I found online are like repellent type sprays or this ultrasonic thing but not sure if that would bother the horses...My only issue with a barn cat saddles/pads are hung on racks, I worry the cat would use them as a scratching post? Any tricks to deter cats from doing so?


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## clwhizy (Aug 20, 2014)

I don't find the ultrasonic noise things work. One thing to consider with barn cats if you don't like dealing with dead mice is that sometimes the cat will leave you "presents" of either dead or half dead mice/birds/etc.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

clwhizy said:


> I don't find the ultrasonic noise things work. One thing to consider with barn cats if you don't like dealing with dead mice is that sometimes the cat will leave you "presents" of either dead or half dead mice/birds/etc.


Ditto all of that

You're going to have to throw your shoulders back and learn to deal with a dead rodent carcass, no matter the killing method. Trust us, it gets easier as you get older, lol lol. Doesn't make the issue any less grievous but it does get easier.

The other alternative is to let the mice over run the barn and they WILL do that before winter's end. They can multiply before you're done with barn chores:sad:


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## Mulefeather (Feb 22, 2014)

They do have "no see/no touch" traps out there that you just throw away once the mouse has been dispatched, but those have varying degrees of success. A cat could work, and there are always feral cats in need of barn homes out there, but they carry their own issues such as clawing up tack or blankets, and sometimes peeing on things they're not supposed to pee on! So that becomes a question of if you can keep cats out of the tack areas, or are willing to protect valuable items with appropriate covers. At my first barn, we put a heavy canvas cover and a leather "sacrifice" cover over our saddles to protect them from cat claws. 

I agree that unless you want to be dealing with mice making their home in your barn and tack room, you're probably going to have to get used to the ick factor.


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

Blehhhh my husband said I just needed to suck it up too. You'd think being a dog groomer and seeing some of the nasty stuff I see with dogs it wouldn't be such a big deal to me!! I do NOT want to be over ran with mice though so traps it is 

Yeah I know barn cats like to leave presents too....thats the other bad thing about them! I don't want to have to worry about my things, and especially my boarders things getting torn up/peed on so sounds like traps are better option.

Whats your favorite kind of trap?


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Mice in your barn are like roaches in your kitchen. They are Waaaayyyyy more of them than you will ever see!
Cats are the best mousers of any domestic animal. I have lost too many cats to coyotes, coywolves and a bobcat, who committed suicide, or we would have Never known. Right now, I have my 3yo male cat, "Tomkins," who comes and goes and lives inside at night. His son, "Purrkins", who has become a Great mouser, contrary to the myth that male cats won't mouse, and Inky and her sister (dumped, we Think), who have both moved into the barn. I am THRILLED to have barn cats, again!!!!!
You HAVE to feed your cats to keep them healthy enough to kill vermin. I feed cheap, dry cat food, and I've been bulking up my new barn cats with a can of wet food, daily, and also, to gentle them. Here is a recent picture of Inky:


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## HarleyWood (Oct 14, 2011)

I have a 6 year old barn cat she was part of the first group we had and the rest have died or ran to another farm because they will feed everything.... and then skunks and stuff come to my house looking for food too_-_ but my cat will kill everything that is in my barn!!! and usually will eat most of them or leave them.. but i use a pooper scooper to pick them up and throw them away. she keeps all the mice from my barn and my horses food!! she also like to cuddle in the winter when im waiting for the horses to finish their grains. shes a very easy keeper and will take care of herself in the summer and the winter we will feed her daily of cat food but she still hunts in the barn. she doesn't like other cats so shes by herself in our pole barn and has the whole place to do whatever, the arena is a giant little box, and the hay gets her up high in the winter so the sun hits her from the windows. we give her beds to lay on too. the vet checks on her every year when he comes for the horses. and every year he cant believe that shes a barn cat as shes in such amazing health. she doesnt bother the horses, she doesnt really mess with anything but she does scratch her nails on my feed bags.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

evilamc said:


> Blehhhh my husband said I just needed to suck it up too. You'd think being a dog groomer and seeing some of the nasty stuff I see with dogs it wouldn't be such a big deal to me!! I do NOT want to be over ran with mice though so traps it is
> 
> Yeah I know barn cats like to leave presents too....thats the other bad thing about them! I don't want to have to worry about my things, and especially my boarders things getting torn up/peed on so sounds like traps are better option.
> 
> Whats your favorite kind of trap?



Lollol. One of these days, without realizing, you will find yourself doing nothing more than heaving a big sigh when you pick up a dead mouse with a paper towel

I use these traps in cupboards in the barn.

Shop TOMCAT Kill and Contain Mouse Indoor Rodent Trap for House Mice at Lowes.com

I have only ever seen the little mice in my barn. Never the big field mice and the only time I saw a rat (one in 12 years) it was dead in one of the horse's stall buckets. Which, I am pretty sure he killed it and flung it in there. The rat could have easily gotten out. I scrubbed that bucket with Clorox and water for ten solid minutes, lol

That was the day I called the landlord of the house next door and told him to do something about his renters burning their food garbage on the burn pile. Ever since that got cleaned up, we haven't seen any signs of rats


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

clwhizy said:


> I don't find the ultrasonic noise things work. One thing to consider with barn cats if you don't like dealing with dead mice is that sometimes the cat will leave you "presents" of either dead or half dead mice/birds/etc.


Or the cats ummm 'upchuck' the mice and that is like 100 times worse than throwing away a carcass. IMO


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

evilamc said:


> Blehhhh my husband said I just needed to suck it up too. You'd think being a dog groomer and seeing some of the nasty stuff I see with dogs it wouldn't be such a big deal to me!! I do NOT want to be over ran with mice though so traps it is
> 
> Yeah I know barn cats like to leave presents too....thats the other bad thing about them! I don't want to have to worry about my things, and especially my boarders things getting torn up/peed on so sounds like traps are better option.
> 
> Whats your favorite kind of trap?


I like the Tom Cat sticky traps. They work really well. Much better IMO than snap traps which I also use.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

We keep the saddles covered, no straps left hanging to tempt the cats to play. We fold pads and blankets and put them on shelf and the cats do like to lay on them but I just make sure there's an old worn out one on the top because sometimes they do puke on them.


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## avjudge (Feb 1, 2011)

ChitChatChet said:


> Or the cats ummm 'upchuck' the mice and that is like 100 times worse than throwing away a carcass. IMO


Wimp. After 23 years of home + cat ownership I'm hardened to pretty much anything a cat can leave! :???:

Just this morning I cleaned up barf (nice & dry, picked up with TP & flushed) and the adjacent single remaining uneaten hind leg + tail in my basement - not a barn, I'm in the city & these are house mice. Unfortunately, we do also have rats - a citywide problem - which I know because my mouser gets a couple per year & leaves those bodies in my basement, too.

And what's this picking up "with a paper towel" someone mentioned? I just grab the tail!


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