While I detest the idea of a cat being in my house, and walking on my kitchen counters after scratching in his own toilet, there is a need for cats particularly on farms. I have a rancher friend who practically bags for people to bring him stray cats to live in his barn and defend his hay supplies from rodents.
Those cats suffer a high mortality rate due to foxes and other predators.
“While I detest the idea of a cat being in my house, and walking on my kitchen counters after scratching in his own toilet...”
Many people either don’t think of that or evidently don’t mind it. I try to avoid eating food prepared by people who allow their indoor cats on the kitchen counters. Yeah, consuming a little bit of Fluffy’s $hit probably won’t kill me, but the thought of it is an appetite killer.
“I have a rancher friend who practically bags for people to bring him stray cats to live in his barn and defend his hay supplies from rodents.”
I had one neighbor (a very ‘old-school’ type rancher) who liked having cats outside in his barn. He’d put out some food for them to keep them around, but eventually their population would start to explode, and I’d start seeing cats everywhere. Then, over the course of about a week, I’d hear what sounded like a small war going on over at his place, and the cat population went back to somewhat ‘normal’.
In contrast, I currently have a neighbor about a quarter mile away who also likes to keep cats around their barn. They too put out food to keep the cats near the barn. However, they do NOT spay or neuter any of the cats, nor do they do anything to keep the population in check. It’s a real problem for myself and other nearby neighbors who like to put out bird seed to feed and enjoy watching the local bird population, which includes quail and doves, both ground nesting birds. The feral cats start parking themselves next to the bird feeders, thinking such as some sort of all you can eat buffet. Then the male cats start marking out their territory, so for not even being a cat owner, areas around my house, inside my shop, and the inside of my vehicles smell like cat piss. That’s the point when I start reducing their population, which is something I’d rather not have to deal with. There’s plenty of foxes, owls, and coyotes around, but they never can seem to keep up with the reproduction rate of fertile barn cats.