Farm Sitting Part 4: Cats and Dogs

Cats and dogs are as natural to a farm as cows, chickens, and pigs. Farms are large enough to allow a dog lots of space and the barns provide mice for the cats. This farm was no exception. The first three animals I fed were Ramses, the cat, and the two dogs--Davy and Terry. Ramses actually belonged to the couple's daughter away at collage. He decided to be my particular friend and followed me around sitting in the shade of the beans while I picked them and licked my arm while I dangled my feet in the swimming pool. He even challenged Davy once when Davy came over to be loved. He still liked me even after I stepped on his foot because he was so close to me. Here's Ramses:



Terry is an old dog who has to have his food soaked in water. (No picture of Terry, unfortunately) Ramses and Terry were fed in the garage and Davy got his food outside. I quickly learned the reason for this. I suppose this was the first benign mistake I made. After having fed all three, I must have gone back in side to get something (goat milk maybe) and Ramses was meowing like he was hungry. I realized that both Terry's and Ramses' food were gone and rather too quickly. Davy! I re-fed the cat and dog and kept the door closed so Davy wouldn't get at it. I learned to shut Terry and Ramses in the garage for a while so that Terry would actually eat his food before Davy could get in there. This was especially true at the evening feeding since all three got shut in the garage overnight. I even started putting Ramses food on top of the freezer so that he had food even when Davy was in there. Here's Davy lounging on the grass while I did the chores.

Ramses wasn't the only cat, however. A wild mama had adopted the red barn as her home (probably because they fed her) and had babies there. I'm not sure even the owners know exactly how many cats call the barn home. I knew there were at least three, but I never got a good enough look at the ones I saw to know if there were more. They would hide under the barn, watching me warily as I approached to feed them and the chickens. As soon as I was too close, they hid their faces. It's a good thing I have a excellent zoom feature on my camera, or I may not have been able to take a decent picture. Here are two of the cats hiding under the barn.