@threadtalkpodcast: AITA for snapping at my friend for her "concerns" over our barn cats? #reddit #aita #tifu #cats

Feathers and Blooms :

I will ALWAYS have indoor kitties. Outdoor cats have much shorter lifespans and are very detrimental to native song birds. HOWEVER. I completely understand having working barn cats. Live and let live if you're being responsible about it. Which they seem to be.

KhristieLP :

City people don’t understand farm stuff.

Skye bird :

nta i have indoor and outdoor cats, and they do a great job at taking care of the mice, molds and everything.Some of them Don 't like attention and I have a stray cat don't know who it belongs to, but it does great on my farm.So your friend needs to stop being so judgmental, there's nothing wrong.The fact you keep them vaccinated is amazing

DandySpark :

personally I don't live on a farm or out in the country. So, my way of keeping cats is irrelevant. But, barn cats can be taught from a young age where safety and the home range is. Lots of barn cats do just fine living their whole lives outside on their farms as long as their owners provide the necessities they need to thrive. Sounds like the owners in this story are doing that. There is still risks involved, but a working fair will have more than barn cats patrolling at night. Most night time predators will not risk having to deal with a guardian dog or other bigger animals just for a cat that could scramble out of reach if they spot it.

Cath 🏳️‍🌈 🇳🇱 :

I hate "animal lovers" like that. You just love the image of the animal that you have in your head. You dont care for their actual wellbeing and individual needs. If you truly cared about giving them the best life, you'd see that Lucy is in her element and being met where shes at. Its like people that "just loveee dogs" and feel the need to pet every single dog they come across

chrittalee :

They’re barn cats - not house cats. NTA

NikitaVanShark :

nta. i was raised in a farm and we had pet cats and working cats, they are not the same thing. if you try to put a working cat inside they go nuts.

Storm :

A lot of people refuse to accept that animals on a farm have specific jobs. You may get the odd Barn cat that is super affectionate and loves people but the majority of them are either feral or half barrel and do not care about being around people and are perfectly healthy and happy. Especially on the farms that go out of their way to make sure the farm cats are cared for and a lot of farms have a lot of cats that don't even actually belong to the farm they just showed up so to get mad that those cats aren't being treated well is ridiculous

Dana :

as long as theyre socialized enough to be approached to get medical attention then that's all a working cat really wants. not all cats like being pets.

JoJay :

If the cats didn’t want to work, they wouldn’t be

aida_potato :

Does she realize that cats are trained to be domesticated pets…

Madi🇨🇦 :

there are many cats who are feral and do not want direct human contact there's a reason there's Barn cat rescue programs for feral cats so they can have a safer home and still be a cat with a job

Madd Mags 🌙💫 :

working = living as cats should

OG Robbery :

No, not every single cat or dog is a house pet

KorokBuddy :

A whole new use for the “but I never thought leopards would eat my face” meme

🐈‍⬛April 🌛🌑🌜 :

NTA I'm older now but grew up on a farm with working cats. Many were feral but not all. They were well taken care of and lived in a good barn. You don't have to go to a vet for basic vaccinations and care, we did most of that ourselves. Plus we had ostriches, so we regularly had the vet out, so if needed for anything else he was usually willing. Our working dog did stay inside at night, along with baby animals of whatever crazy variety we had at the time, we had a few exotics.

NotRelevantYet :

nta. I had a rescue who was a stray left at a truck stop, lots of people would feed him but LOTS of people would pick him up and toss him or kick him. He did NOT like to be picked up and did NOT like his rear end touched. He would sit it your lap to be pet, drool all over the place and was super vocal. just don't pick him up and don't touch his butt. My aunt came to visit and was CONVINCED that he just needed to love on her BC all cats loved her. She refused to listen, finally picking him up because "his paw is raw! LOOK AT HIS PAW!" His toe beans were pink because he was a tabby. so she picked him up, and he hissed, she keeps grabbing at his feet, do his swiped at her face, she pinned his leg down in her arms. SO HE BIT HER FACE. and after that, she kept telling us he was vicious and needed to be put down. no YOU need to be put down. Anyway, he lived another 10 years after that, and passed this year at 16 years old. RIP Leroy Jenkins

Gorrie :

We treat our dogs like they're our children. But I understand that working dogs are treated differently from "pets".

Gia :

Nta.

Christina Alexandra :

That friend is the worst kind of person.

watcherintheweyr :

im so tired of people not respecting what animals are more comfortable with. cats that are feral DONT WANT LOVE. and barn cats prefer barns. if my farm was further from major roads, id have barn cats again, but I refuse to until I move somewhere further from roads and until I have another LG dog so I have a team to protect the cats AND my horses

Tania :

I would not call this "working Cats". They are just cats living their best life how they should.

Chlo :

Myepye Chill :

I hate it when people don’t respect a cats boundaries. Some feral cats will never want human “love” ever. You will see them cuddle with the other cats though. They are fine and happy.

JES :

I mean, I kind of agree a little bit with both sides here