The benefits of barn cats

Not everyone likes cats in their barn. They have little regard for your preference of where they poop and seem to take great joy in peeing on bags of salt and minerals.

I learned a long time ago to never throw a bag that cats have had access to over my shoulder. It may be easier to carry 50 pounds that way, but my shoulder is very close to my nose. Tomcats may like their smell, but I don’t.

Even if I have to carry bags less comfortably and scoop cat turds out of the hallway in the winter, I still like having cats at our farm.

How many cats do we have prowling our premises? That’s a good question. I don’t think any of us actually know. It’s more than 20, I’m pretty sure. There were at least that many hanging out at the food bowl tonight when Emily gave them a scoop of cat food. The two times a day we feed them, after feeding calves, is about the only time you can count them.

After eating their meal of the cheapest cat food the feed mill offers, most wander off to hunt mice, rats and occasionally rabbits. With all the cats around, they keep our mouse and rat population very low.

The only time I see mice is in the knife drawer in our house and hiding in the pig feeders. I think we need a house cat since there are seemingly more mice in our house than in the barn. I just caught one with a trap in the knife drawer this morning. Unfortunately, Emily is mildly allergic to cats, so no house kitty will be moving in any time soon. Why do mice have a love for getting into the knife drawer and chewing on my favorite wood-handled boning knife? I do not know, but that seems to be the first place they head once they find their way into the house.

Rabbits, on the other hand, seem to thrive living on a pasture-based farm with haylage to munch all winter. The garden has to be located up by my parents’ house, where the farm dogs spend most of their time, and the rabbits, correspondingly, do not. The cats don’t seem to make a dent in their population, even though I see them catch full-sized rabbits occasionally. It could be the rate that rabbits breed with a full-service salad bar year-round.

There is another benefit to having cats around, which we all enjoy. They are cute and cuddly and often entertaining. Some cats that live at our place want absolutely nothing to do with us beyond getting some cat food and milk every day. They are the best hunters. The cats that follow us around and just want their backs and chins scratched are generally lazy layabouts. They do make up a little bit for their lack of rodent removal skills by always being around for a cuddle when things are going poorly that day. Petting a warm furball is the cheapest and quickest mental health boost available. Dogs work for that too, but they rely almost as much on you to feel happy as you might need them.

Come to think of it, cows are pretty good for hugs, too, if you’re feeling down. There are so many options on a dairy farm for free therapy. Don’t forget to take advantage of them. A kitten and a piece of twine are a great combination to help you forget for a minute that the gate you just replaced for $250 and a couple of hours is now a funny shape again because some heifers just don’t believe they are not Olympic-caliber high jumpers.

Until next time keep on living the dream and give those farm cats a little scratch as you walk by. They may not be able to fix gates, but they can help keep those pesky rodents and birds in check, and that’s worth something.

Tim Zweber farms with his wife, Emily, their three children and his parents, Jon and Lisa, near Elko, Minnesota.