What makes You an "Easy" Gardener?

[baymule]

Pretty kitty! Wish I could have a cat, my dogs will kill cats.

 

[flowerbug]

Pretty kitty! Wish I could have a cat, my dogs will kill cats.

that's often the way of things, but i've certainly known the family pets where the puppies and kitties were raised together so they manage to get along or at least to tolerate each other.

when i lived with my best-friend and his family for a while they had nine birds and a kitty living together and that kitty wasn't even raised around birds and was a very accomplished hunter, but it never went after the birds even when she'd let them out of the cages to hop around on the floor and stuff. the kitty would just sit there and watch them. i only saw it tense up once to pounce at a bird when the bird took off running away from it (which is bound to get any hunting animal primed for a chase). it was a nice kitty too, we'd curl up in the sunspots on the big living room floor together for naps - the birds weren't so nice, made a lot of noise and one of them was pretty mean to the other birds. they had to get rid of that one...

 

[ducks4you]

Hmm... all the earlier talk about rodents resonates with me. We've never had problems with mice, but DEFINITELY issues with rats. Under the house, up in the attic, around the coop. It's been such an issue controlling them.

So... we got a rescue feral kitty and let her out of her cage on Saturday. She's already killed two rats!!

View attachment 37284

We had a NEST of rats several years ago. The trashy people who lived right across the st from us, who didn't pay their mortgage, and left all their garbage in their garage attracted rats, who decided to live underneath my coop. My coop is located in a 12 x 30 ft run, inaccessible to my (then) 6 cats, one of which (now dead) was feral and popping out kittens. They ERADICATED the whole nest. My first indication was a headless rat in the barn, that the female had decapitated and was feeding the rest to her brood. Cats are the very best mousers/ratters you can have. They have a natural drive to pursue mice. THAT is why God gave them the "M" stamp above and in between their eyes, for "Mouser."
Btw. PRETTY cat!

 

[ducks4you]

You know, people wonder WHY I don't adopt adult dogs. I never know if they will kill my cats. Rose (2007-2016, RIP) was 1/2 Husky, notorious cat killers, but we raised her to respect them and she never attacked My cats. in fact, they slept with her on occasion.
Eva, GS, could be a cat killer. Once, I Tried to adopt a gorgeous 6 month old male GS, black and cream, from a shelter, he grabbed one of my cats by the neck in front of me and even attacked my favorite horse, IN HIS STALL!! To us, he acted affectionate.
NEVER adopt ANY dog on a Friday!! I had to crate him until Monday, when I returned him. I think that he had been trained to be vicious, and then dumped. Not even good for a police dog, IMHO. THEY need obedience.
Hmmm, Eva would make a good police dog, since she is becoming more and more obedient to voice every day.
I believe that had I gotten him as an 8 week old, he could have been a solid citizen, like all of my dogs, "Clark," "Xena," "Rose,", "Pyg," and "Eva."
If you want a dog that can live with cats, you NEED to get the dog as a puppy and RAISE them right, and then, like a good parent, stick to that.

 

[Nifty]

is the rescue feral kitty friendly enough you can be sociable? or very standoffish? it looks like a nice kitty to me.

We started out VERY worried about her being too standoffish, but it's only been 4 days since we let her out of her cage and she's been coming right in the house more and further each night (with the help of some treats).

We don't have any expectations of ever petting her, but the fact she stuck around, comes in the house a little, and will sometimes eat a treat off our fingers is way more than we expected with a feral rescue!

I put all the info details from the past month into one post here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niftys-feral-kitty-adventure.1424389/

 

[Zeedman]

The friends who own the property where my rural garden is located have both dogs, and semi-feral cats (which means the cats adopted them, not the other way around). Their dogs are all adopted, but get along with the cats other than chasing them playfully. Maybe it helped that they adopted their dogs one at a time, and the new dogs took their cues from the alphas.

It is really funny to watch them take the dogs out for a run, and see one of the cats following.

 

[Marie2020]

You know, people wonder WHY I don't adopt adult dogs. I never know if they will kill my cats. Rose (2007-2016, RIP) was 1/2 Husky, notorious cat killers, but we raised her to respect them and she never attacked My cats. in fact, they slept with her on occasion.
Eva, GS, could be a cat killer. Once, I Tried to adopt a gorgeous 6 month old male GS, black and cream, from a shelter, he grabbed one of my cats by the neck in front of me and even attacked my favorite horse, IN HIS STALL!! To us, he acted affectionate.
NEVER adopt ANY dog on a Friday!! I had to crate him until Monday, when I returned him. I think that he had been trained to be vicious, and then dumped. Not even good for a police dog, IMHO. THEY need obedience.
Hmmm, Eva would make a good police dog, since she is becoming more and more obedient to voice every day.
I believe that had I gotten him as an 8 week old, he could have been a solid citizen, like all of my dogs, "Clark," "Xena," "Rose,", "Pyg," and "Eva."
If you want a dog that can live with cats, you NEED to get the dog as a puppy and RAISE them right, and then, like a good parent, stick to that.

There are some rescues that will test out if their dog's are good with cats and children. A really good one would.

 

[flowerbug]

We started out VERY worried about her being too standoffish, but it's only been 4 days since we let her out of her cage and she's been coming right in the house more and further each night (with the help of some treats).

We don't have any expectations of ever petting her, but the fact she stuck around, comes in the house a little, and will sometimes eat a treat off our fingers is way more than we expected with a feral rescue!

I put all the info details from the past month into one post here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/niftys-feral-kitty-adventure.1424389/

aww! cute pics/story. hope you enjoy your time together as long as that may last.

 

[bobm]

I used to get 10 feral cats for for free for pest control for my ranch. However, in our area, the life span of a cat in the country is much less than 30 days due to them being coyote snacks. After a couple of years, the bleeding hearts took over the county pound and things changed. They started with a $25 per cat as a fee. ( $25 x 10 = $250 ) 3 months later it became $50, then 3 months later they raised it to $75. Much too expensive to feed the coyotes, so POISON GRAIN from the County at $32 per year supply.

 

[Zeedman]

I used to get 10 feral cats for for free for pest control for my ranch. However, in our area, the life span of a cat in the country is much less than 30 days due to them being coyote snacks. After a couple of years, the bleeding hearts took over the county pound and things changed. They started with a $25 per cat as a fee. ( $25 x 10 = $250 ) 3 months later it became $50, then 3 months later they raised it to $75. Much too expensive to feed the coyotes, so POISON GRAIN from the County at $32 per year supply.

That's really too bad... it just translates into more cats being euthanized, and less finding good homes. When trying to encourage good behaviors - such as animal adoption, or increased recycling - high fees can get in the way of good intentions.