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My cats have a pretty short life cycle, of course they are barn cats and never have been in the house. They will greet me at the front door and walk between my legs as I make my way down to the barn. But these are working cats and not pets.
At any one given time we have around 10 cats but that can go much lower and a little higher. The coyote's and fox keep the cat population under control while the cats keep the rat and mice population under control.
Every once in awhile my daughter will become attached to one of the cats, that's fine but it becomes less of a hunter. I enjoy watching them stalking the fields and I am amazed how they can sneak up on birds.
We have not had much luck with dogs, they have all been house dogs but they are not as smart as the cats. Our last dog lasted two years until he found the road and was at the wrong end of a passing truck.
The cats are important and they keep me from having to use traps and poison. I am sad when I have to put one down because it was on the losing end of a battle with a larger animal. When the cat population takes a sudden drop we also know we have a larger predator problem.
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