Please tell me they have all their vaccination plus being spay/neutered
also.

It is going to take a while for them to adjust if they adjust at all.  Is it
possible to keep them inside?

Are you sure about no predators in the area?

Plus if the other cats except them into the area.  Most barn cats are feral
and feral can be pretty tough about accepting new members in to their pack

I see. That must have been hard on you. Does your family member
object to indoor pets?

They will turn up dead, Anne. They don't know how to defend themselves. Are
you so sick you cannot even go outside? So that your cats, now put outside
after a lifetime indoors, cannot even see you?

FYI, we have been on our farm for over a year now.

The indigenous barn cats we care for have a very high turnover rate, by
which I mean they die (or at least disappear) quickly. The incidence of
FeLV is so significant, we bleach all feeding dishes every day.
Predators, from snakes to eagles, lurk everywhere in this rural area
(Wisconsin), and individual barn cats vanish overnight without
explanation.

It is heartbreaking because they are wonderful, engaging animals. Of the
all barn cats who lived here when we first arrived, only one is left.
And he looks pretty sick. I have pictures of the ones we got to know who
died and I miss them every single day. To see one of the special ones, I
will post her picture on <news:alt.binaries.pictures.animals> under the
subject: line, "Slutty" (we called her that because she was the first
female we saw go into heat here).

The winters are dreadful and cruel to domestic cats. I hear coyotes
calling almost every night, and the raptor birds around here are easily
large enough to snatch a 6-pound cat away.

Also, when moving cats, if you MUST allow them to roam in their new
location, you should keep them confined for at least six weeks before
letting them out. This will give them time to acclimate to their new
surroundings, reducing the chance that they will get lost or disappear.
Even so, you should know that your odds of losing a cat after moving are
very high if you let them out at all. I have seen it happen time and
again in my work. It is never pretty.

I am sorry for your situation, but these are the realities. I hope it
works out differently for you. Please do whatever you can to keep them
safely confined for as long as possible. Both for your sake and theirs.

That's very sad, I think.  It won't be easy on them at all.  If this
person just lets them loose, they might just disappear.  They won't know
what to do.  Oh my!

You may do better trying to find an indoor home for them where they would
only have to adjust to a new person rather than an entirely different way
of life.  IMO, you should rethink this one.  I realize you want somebody
in the family to have them, but I think you chose the wrong person.

Eva

Well then, I guess you are happy.

Good for you, for asking the hard questions, and accepting the
answers you want to hear.

(Your IP resolves to New Jersey.)

Anne. I want your cats to be okay, and the farm to be an ideal haven
for them. But if they were my cats, I would want to do everything I could
to make sure they are safe, not just get people to tell me that they will be
fine. It is good that they are young, as they are still agile and fast--but
you know as well as I do that there are dangers outside that they never
dreamed of, living inside all their lives. It is admirable that you kept
them
and did not want them to be separated. I hope they are okay, and I hope
your "relative" gets what he/she deserves for being so cold-hearted that
you are not allowed to live with your cats, when you are ill. Please keep
us posted, let us know how they are doing.

Instinct overrides intelligence when it comes to cats and other animals.

Farms are dangerous. You have machinery, animals, etc.

Oh jezzzzzzzus talk about and idiot.

Maybe you have to move but you could have found a better solution than
dumping indoors cat out on a farm someplace.  They will be dead inside of a
year.

That is good news.

lol

They'll be fine Anne, it's pointless for anyone to speculate just how
things will go.

I don't know the circumstances that led up to this move

but.. if you had taken them to a shelter, that would have crushed their
hearts.

Maybe you can go visit from time to time, I know you miss them already.

As a man who has known dissapointments not a few, having to accept hard
facts that some folk would have just as soon blown their brains out
than assimilate; your cats will be fine. In other words, when you say
you HAD to take them there, I understand that part. It doesn't mean you
liked doing it. I bet it made you cry.

In life, change is certain. We may as well accept that fact. Nobody is
exempt and somtimes we are just faced with difficult decisions. If I
was a cat I would rather goto a farm ANY DAY than to a harsh spirit
breaking shetler cage.  That's nothing bad about a shelter, we need
more shelters and more money for them, if I ever hit the lottery I
would probably open my own shelter, with neutering facilities and all!

AND best wishes to your new situation, lol, how is ANNE adjusting...
LOL

When change occurs, my idea is to get on with the change, not woller in
the past or sit and mull over my dissapointment (if that is where i
find myself).

For what it's worth:  My first two cats were strictly indoor apartment cats
for the first seven (7) years of their lives.  Then I got married, moved to
Tucson and a house, and let them roam outside.  It didn't take them long to
adjust, and I made sure they were in every night.  No, I wouldn't (and
don't) do that now, but when I grew up it was common for cats to be
indoor-outdoor pets.  Two years later we moved to TX and again I let them
roam during the day.  Both houses were in suburbs, where there are dangers -
cars, dogs, cat haters.  (Note:  Both cats eventually died of CRF at 18
years of age.)

The point is you seem to be making the best of a bad situation. If your cats
have a safe place they can run to if they are frightened, perhaps they will
do fine.

Good luck.

Gail F.
Owned by Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa

Anne, they *will* eventuall adjust. Cats are adaptable. It is not in
their favor, though, that they're house cats and don't have any "street
smarts."  Being fearful actually increases their chances of survival in
the meantime, though. Cats who are too bold around livestock end up
getting stepped on. These may not apply to their barn, but here are a
couple of suggestions: Be sure they are provided fresh water. Cats will
try to drink out of stock tanks if they don't have water, and can drown
in the metal ones if the water level is low. It will help tremendously
if the owners can lock them up in a tackroom or something at night.
Predators mostly come out at night, and even a raccoon will on occasion
tangle with the cats. Make sure the owner isn't currently leaving
poison out for rats/mice.

I know some of this may not apply, but it's all I can think of right
now. I keep cats in the barn; they're feral cats that were trapped and
brought to the humane society. Being a barn cat is a great life for
them, better than they would ever have. With your former house cats,
it's different, and it's too bad you could not find a gig for them as a
house cat. But even so, with some TLC and caution, I do think they'll
adjust.

Sherry

Oh, that explains it. I could not remember the word feral. Thanks.