Our barn cats not only keep me and my daughter company when we are doing chores in the barn, they keep feral cats out. We have 5 cats, 4 of them are barn cats. One cat is our indoor cat and loves the indoor life but our barn cats are the workers of the bunch.
All of them were found in the barn as very young and very sick kittens. Each one of them were almost dead. They were all abandoned by their mothers. Maybe they were the ruts of the litter - I will never know. Every one of them were brought back to full health. Our female house cat adopted them all and raised them as if she were their natural mother. She was spayed as a young cat so she never knew first hand how to be a mother but those kittens bought out her natural instincts.
After they became adult cats, they became the resident barn cats and our official organic pest control service - they keep all the neighborhood feral cats away from the area. All of them are boys and are neutered. I had heard that only entire males will keep other cats out of their territory but my boys are not entire males and they are still territorial.
Yep, I love my barn cats
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Is It just me or are today’s kids not interested in animals as much as we were when we were kids? Instead of kids asking their parents for a puppy or kitten, they are wanting a new Xbox or cell phone. Everything seems to be related to entertainment or electronics in some way. Parents are much more likely to give an electronic device to a child than a pet because that device does not need attention in the same way a living being does.
I bet you thought that I was going to say that electronic toys are not as expensive as pets since they don’t need to be fed. You are wrong on that account. Have you priced the cost of a cell phone service account, or looked at the price of Cell phone accessories? Video games are not cheap either. So long range cost does not factor into the decision but time and energy do.
I think if more children had the full, and I do mean “full” responsibility of having and caring for a pet then they might be more prepared for life after they leave school and are out on their own.  By “full” responsibility I mean that mom and dad don’t step in to help with potty training, feeding and clean up after the pet. If the child is old enough, and have an allowance from doing chores, they should also put in some money towards the pet food or vet visits.
So what do you think? Are we short changing todays youth by only getting them the latest electronic gizmo on the market? Or have we become a nation of pets only for adults?
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