The Mentor

From the day Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty arrived at Barn Cat Mansion,

Bumble Butt

has looked after him.  He showed the little guy around and even taught him how to drink out of the water bucket.  We were hoping this little grey striped kitten was a female, but that's not the case.  Now we have a dilemma......when the big kitty figures out CtheFGK is a tom, he'll beat him up and chase him away.  Maybe we should call Dr. T and ask her to prepare the OR....

Fox Farm

So close to the prairie, yet on the doorstep to the foothills of Southern Alberta lies a farm we call

Fox Farm.

You've met Sid, Suckee, Ghost Kitty and Suckee's kittens, but there are more.  Over the next few months, you'll meet some residents and we'll remember a couple of infamous characters that roamed the neighborhood at will.  Fox Farm cats live in and around that building with the orange light above the door.

Growing up

When this photo was taken, we were down to 5 kittens.  Saving 2 week old kittens is not easy, so losing 1 over 4 weeks of bottle feeding isn't too bad.  I know you  see 4 here, but the other was hiding and wouldn't come out.  We'll follow these

little cuties

for a while and see how their lives progress. 
They still think I'm their mom, and if I sit in the chair, they all sit on my lap.  If I say "get in", they jump in the truck. When I walk across the yard, 2 or 3 are with me at all times.......friends for life :)

Red Alert!!

.....a small wolf (Canis latrans) native to western North America

\'ki-ot, ki-ot-e\ coyote

known to Barn Cat Mansion and Fox Farm as

Cat Wolf!!

Cats beware!!  Cat Wolf was spotted just north of Barn Cat Mansion at 7:15 this morning.....EVERYONE GET INSIDE!!!

Saving the kittens

When you've been selected to feed a litter of kittens, this is all you need, plus a lot of time.
Mix some cream with Cat Milk, suck it up in the syringe and squeeze very slowly into the mouth of a hungry

kitten.

Be careful not to drown any of them and after a few days, they'll start to suck just like a baby with a bottle.   Whiskas Cat Milk alone is not good enough, but add some cream and you're set.  Just don't take pictures of the orphans......they look like fuzzballs with big bellies and sticks for legs.  After two weeks, bring out the camera, because they do get cute again.

Barn Cat Mansion

Look carefully.  That little brown building just past the golden grass is "Barn Cat Mansion".  Cats living at this Mansion include:

Bumble Butt, Orangey Tail, Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty

and more you haven't met yet.  Twelve miles from the closest town and 1 mile from the closest neighbor, this is an isolated and quiet part of the world.  We see wildlife such as deer, elk, black bears, grizzly bears, moose, cougars and coyotes, up close and personal......

Suckee's Adventure Ends

Well, rather than lose the whole family, we moved the kittens back to the shop.  That just didn't set well with Suckee.  She pretty much gave us the ultimatum:  "If I can't have my kittens where I want them, then I don't want them at all!!" .....and she walked away.....

Great!!

That's just great!!  As if I didn't have enough to do.   Off to town to buy Cat Milk, cream and a new vaccination syringe to feed hungry kittens......All I could say was, "Thanks, thanks a lot!!"  Oh well.....they were such cute little critters, who could resist?

Suckee's Adventure (with kittens)

As bizarre as it may be, Suckee packed her kittens up, again.   This time they moved into the back of a

truck!
Maybe she wasn't happy with her home at Fox Farm.   Did she believe the family would be better off elsewhere?  There was no bed, no shelter, no food....no nothing in this truck and it took off every day.  Obviously, she didn't want to live with us anymore......the whole family was planning to move away.. :(

Suckee's Adventure (with kittens)

It was a cozy, safe place to be, but when a trailer leaves home with a load of kittens, their mother could jump out anywhere - like on a country road, in town or even going down the highway.  That's why we moved them and their bed into the

shop.

Suckee seemed to be fine with this for about two weeks, then something totally bizarre happened......

Suckee's Adventure

Finally, we found Suckee.....and her six kittens.  She made herself a nest in a dog bed way in the front storage compartment in the top of the horse trailer.  She jumped 4 feet with a

kitten

in her mouth to get there (x6).  They could have moved into a barn, or a shop or even a shed.  There are dozens of places for a cat and kittens to live at the Fox Farm.   Why stay in a "makeshift" motor-home?   That's no place to raise a family......

Bumble's Secret Mission

We'll take a break from Suckee's Adventure to check in on Bumble Butt.  No orders yet to inform him of a departure date for the

Secret Mission

so he's been sitting in the tub, relaxing for now.  Mansion cats lost the ability to go out hunting this week..... maybe because Mother Nature threw a few days of winter our way.  What I wouldn't do for one of their fur coats....feeding horses and cows is a cold job on a January day in Alberta.....

Suckee's Adventure

This is the blanket where Suckee was told to stay.  Well she stayed for at about 24 hours, but then she left.  Why did she leave the nest?  Better yet...how did she move the

kittens?

She was in a trailer with walls at least four feet high. That's a big jump with a kitten in your mouth.....not to mention a 5 foot drop on the outside......and to do this 6 times?   Our only course of action was to call her for dinner and hope we could follow her to the new home.

Suckee's Adventure

So.....part way home, we stopped for fuel and  looked in on Suckee.  Well, she was right where she was told to be - on the blanket.  But, guess what was there with her!  It was one soaking wet little

kitten!!

By the time we got home there were four kittens and, lo and behold, by the next morning there were six of them!
A trailer that leaves the yard isn't an ideal spot for kittens, but we thought we'd let them stay there for a few days.  The problem is, if the trailer goes somewhere and Suckee jumps out like she did at the arena, we might leave her.
She was going to have to move......

Adventures

Imagine being 35 miles from home, walking over to load your horse and seeing a cat you recognize wandering around outside the horse trailer.  That's what happened with

Suckee

last summer.  She was two months pregnant and had hitched a ride to the riding arena.  What could I do?  I put a blanket down, loaded her in the trailer and asked that she stay "on the blanket" until we got back to the Fox Farm.  What happened on the trip home was totally bizarre........

Characters

This magnificent tom moved to the Mansion early last summer.  He's young and sassy, irresponsible and totally unreliable, but he is friendly.......and a friendly Ghost Kitty whose mother is the original Ghost Kitty is an anomaly in the world of Fox Farm GK'S.  His name is

Casper the Friendly Ghost Kitty.

You can pet him, but don't try to pick him up.  He follows Bumble around like a little puppy dog and thinks that someday, he can BE Bumble Butt.  The Big Kitty will put this young whipper-snapper in line when breeding season arrives at Barn Cat Mansion.........mark my words!!

Secret Mission

Waiting for a call to embark on another

Secret Mission

is taking its toll on Bumble's usually calm demeanor.  Leaving Barn Cat Mansion for any length of time is difficult, but the fear of never coming back is downright scary.  Some of these missions are dangerous.  Travelling in a cat carrier in the back of an open truck bed is terrifying.  Not knowing where you're going and having no idea how to get back home can be devastating.

Will he take the assignment?......Will common sense prevail?.....Or will plain old "instinct" rule the day...

Escapades

Back in the winter of 2010, Orangey Tail thought she was the love of 

Bumble Butt's 

life.  Wrong!!  Little did she know, Bumble was about to embark on a secret mission that would change their relationship for.......ummmm......at least a month.

He left early one morning and was gone for nearly a week!!  No calls.......no emails......no texts.......no nothin'!!!

Activities

Cats enjoy

sports

as long as all they have to do is "sit".   Put a nice, cushiony saddle blanket in a wheelbarrow, and every one jumps in.  Out the door and across the field we go.  Nobody complains about the bumpy ride, and if the wheelbarrow "accidentally" tips over, they just smile and get back in.  That's the joy of participating in Cat Sports.

Fox Farm Felines

In one year

Sid

produces more kittens at Fox Farm than any other female ever thought of having.  She remembers her last batch of cute, little darlings as if they were born yesterday........but they weren't!!!   She tried desperately to keep them, but Sid finally gave up her last two kittens three days ago.  With huge careers ahead, two little toms sadly left their farm behind to explore a big, new world in the processing barn at a local feedlot.  Good luck, little toms....

Fox Farm Felines

Want to see a

Ghost Kitty?

You're looking at one now.  Don't stare too long, or she will disappear.   Impossible to catch, hard to see and even harder to photograph, this old Ghost Kitty is a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt......oh, you get the drift.  

Ghost Kitty wins the "Mouse Hunter of the Year" award every year.  After all, its easy to catch a mouse if the mouse can't see you...

Special Occasions

You've never seen a

Party Animal

until you've seen a cat at a party.  Put up a few decorations, add a bag of cat treats and they throw caution to the wind, sometimes partying all night long.

Barn Cat Mansion and Fox Farm cats celebrate most major holidays.  The change to Daylight Savings Time became an event worth celebrating one year thanks to our friend J.  You never know what will cause a cat to "shake loose".  What you do know is, with all the fun, you won't want to miss it!

Family Portrait 2010

Not all cats have

9 lives

As our series progresses, you will see that some cats disappear and new ones become stars.   Only 4 of the cats pictured in 2010's family portrait remain at the Mansion, but we have 10 residents now.  Spring kittens and imports from Fox Farm ensure the future of the pride.  Coyotes are a constant threat and cats are easy to catch.

 So......with an open mind and a happy heart, enjoy Cattales, because its just another story.....

Background

Barn Cats

are a fascinating group of felines with a social structure all their own.  Individually and confined, cats are unable to express themselves as a pride.  Let them have space and the right to come and go as they please, and a whole new dimension develops in the personality of each one.

Much like your favorite cartoon or mini soap opera, you will look forward to happenings at the ranch called Chinook Country with the barn called Barn Cat Mansion and the related farm called Fox Farm.

Queen of the Mansion

We call her

Orangey Tail

because the last inch of her tail is orange.  She's the mother of 3 cats presently living in the Mansion, one of which is also a mature female.  Her best friend is Bumble Butt, although she has been seen cavorting with other tom cats from time to time.  As a rule, when Orangey Tail has kittens, only she knows who the father is and we don't question her integrity.  After all, she is the queen.

King of the Mansion

His name is

 Bumble Bee Lion King Orangey Butt.

Rescued as a kitten by a young girl named Peyton, Bumble grew to be a majestic tom cat and established himself as king of a pride of females that reside in Barn Cat Mansion. 

This is their story. 

.

Happy New Year

Meet 



Chick

She suggests you live 2012 like a Border Collie.......

be friendly to all you meet and  eager to work any day of the week.......

Happy New Year!!

Welcome Everyone!

Cattales from Barn Cat Mansion is a simple story about a simple life.  Horses, dogs, kids, cats, cattle and the odd magpie spend time in "Barn Cat Mansion".  Though not a mansion by people standards, it is truly a mansion to the animals that seek shelter inside.   It is presently home to 10 barn cats, two Border Collies and two weaned Quarter horses.  Every one of them has a bed to sleep in, meals served twice a day and maid service to clear away debris.  Oh, everyone except the magpies......they're on their own.