For centuries cats have worked as beloved farm animals with an important purpose of ridding the barns, homes and feeding stalls of rodents. With large sacks of grain, troughs of hot mash, oats, and corn meal for pets, the warm nooks and crannies of barns could draw quite a following of hungry mice, rats and other pests. An attentive cat will keep the vermin at bay, without creating much of a disturbance to the livestock residing there. Because of this, cats have been regarded as an important contributor of farm life, fitting right in with the other animals and proving that felines are as useful as they are charming.
Cats have been patrolling farms for decades!
https://twitter.com/leefer3/status/699690850545225732
They are excellent rat catchers, and enjoy the occasion sampling of fresh cow milk!
https://twitter.com/DrGaai/status/680133581965004801
On a farm, there are plenty of interesting animals for cats to observe…
Ernie the farm cat was making friends with the calves #LoveFarming ^Claire https://t.co/fj3ZhXBuBL pic.twitter.com/BFHbnbZAHD
— Thisisdairyfarming (@thisisdairy) February 15, 2016
Have you heard the #news? Princess our barn cat asks the new guy.. PH "Mason"is official. Thanks to all who voted. pic.twitter.com/U3rtMgvP9K
— VPD Mounted Unit (@VPDHorses) February 23, 2016
They might even make new friends with some of the livestock!
https://twitter.com/AwwCuties/status/702997890038435841
https://twitter.com/DrGaai/status/700237653200015361
You can still take your cat on a walk if you live on a farm. (In fact, this is probably a safer option then leaving them to roam freely out of the barn and across the property).
https://twitter.com/greycatsunite/status/701147575857053697
There are plenty of warm piles of hay for these kitties to snuggle up in on chilly evenings.
Luna is trying to look like a proper farm cat snuggling on the straw. pic.twitter.com/MNO2NQyWGS
— Barnacre Alpacas (@BarnacreAlpacas) February 19, 2016
Just look at how darling this little guy is snuggled up near his home.
Meet Simon, our new barn cat at SAFTA! #fireflyfarms pic.twitter.com/Vja93DOjBz
— SundressPublications (@SundressPub) February 28, 2016
If you think farm cats are as cute as we do, then you might love visiting an actual cat island and cat farm like the one pictures below:
#MyPersonalityTestRevealed that I'm meant to live alone on some cat farm island. pic.twitter.com/7xlpn0u2AV
— Erica Strada (@HollowKat) February 18, 2016