Barn Cats of Golden Oak Farm

Melissa, retired barn cat, helping watch a movie 2011

We’ve had a good many barn cats over the decades. Many of them have lived until their late teens. When they start to get feeble, they become house cats for their last years.

Melissa August 2005

Debbie September 2000

Melissa and Debbie came to be barn cats with their mom, Roxie. We found Roxie, only 3 years old, asleep forever under the rhododendron one morning. She had curled up, gone to sleep, and never woke.

Both Debbie and Melissa were terrific mousers. We’ve always noticed cats with long bodies and tails are good hunters. Melissa was also quite a lover for a cat, as you can see. Her sister Debbie was always very stand-offish. She became a little more loving when she moved to the house, but not much.

Hercules, aka Herkie March 2012

Nina Zip-Zip April 2010

When Debbie and Melissa moved to the house we got 2 rescue cats to replace them. Herkie was a “city kid” and was scared to death of those “biggest darn dogs” he’d ever seen, aka cows. He eventually realized that they had no interest in him.

His partner in crime was Nina Zip-Zip. If there ever was an ADHD cat, she was it. She was in constant, FAST motion all the time. She was not very friendly and once we let them out of the butchershop she was all over the barn. The butchershop is the secure room we keep cats in until they know where "home" is. Of the 2 we figured she’d be the safest, as nothing would catch her!

But alas, she disappeared in a few months and Herkie lived on by himself at the barn. He had double paws all around and loved being held and patted. He was not a very good mouser, preferring to sit and watch them.

When he died in 2017, we got 2 more rescues.

Lily and Dennis the Girl May 2018

These 2 are considered “spirit” cats. You know they are there but don’t see them much. They have gotten much better, especially with my husband. Lily, the brown tiger, loves being held and patted by him. She will tolerate me patting her every now and again. She’s not a great hunter.

Dennis was thought to be a male by her previous owner, until it became obvious she was not. Hence the name. Dennis does not like being held and likes to be patted on her terms. She will jump at your hand to be patted.

Dennis roams quite a distance hunting but Lily stays right at the barn. Dennis has cut the pest population drastically at the barn and has moved up towards the house where it is high. Our house cat at 17 is too blind, deaf, and arthritic to do much hunting now.

We’ve always had cats in the barn before we brought in animals and feed. We were the only farm on the road that didn’t have rats. When Herkie died unexpectedly, we got new cats as soon as we could. But because they were spirit cats, it took the best part of 2 months before we felt they could be let out of the butchershop. The 3 months without cats was enough for the rats to move in. :(( Dennis has done her best, but it will be an uphill battle from here on.