Got Rats? You Need Barn Cats!

Rodents like mice and rats aren’t just a nuisance – they can be a threat to human and animal health. On farms and ranches, rodents contaminate livestock feed, their droppings are unsanitary, and their chewing damages barns and sheds. Traps and poisons can be used to control mice and rats, but many of those methods create additional hazards for people and family pets.

Regional Animal Services of King County (RASKC) has a solution for rural Woodinville residents: adopt barn cats. These outdoor felines are a totally natural, organic rodent control method. All they generally need is shelter, such as that provided by a barn, a warm place to sleep, fresh water and food. 

Many of these cats are feral or very shy, and so will be seldom seen. Others are friendly, but are too unhappy living indoors to be good housepets. Most of our barn cats have been rescued from sites threatened by development, or other outdoor homes where the previous owners have moved or can't keep caring for their outdoor cats. Regardless of the origin of these cats, our goal is to humanely prevent free-roaming cats from uncontrolled breeding, which is a major source of homeless kittens and adult cats winding up in shelters.

These mousers and ratters will provide totally organic rodent control that does not depend on the use of poisons that can sicken kids, pets, livestock, and wild animals. Best of all, RASKC places barn cats at no charge to you. Once placed, you only need to provide warm, safe shelter, a dependable source of food, and fresh water.

Our volunteers will "install" your new barn cats for you, or you may pick them up at the Pet Adoption Center after filling out an adoption application and being interviewed by one of our barn cat program volunteers to make sure that you are prepared to properly acclimate your new cats so they stay on your property.

On large rural properties with barns, we recommend that you adopt three or four cats to ensure effective rodent control. In addition, cats in groups can alert each other to dangers from approaching predators such as coyotes or free-roaming dogs. Urban and suburban garage homes are ideal for one or two cats. We routinely place garage cats with backyard chicken farmers, where chicken feed is causing a rodent problem.

To ensure they are healthy, our barn cats have had a check-up by a veterinarian, are spayed or neutered, have been ear-tipped for identification purposes, have tested negative for serious feline communicable diseases, and have received all the usual cat vaccines, including the rabies vaccine. If fleas are an issue, depending on how tame your barn cats are, you can apply a normal feline flea treatment, or feed them a tablet like Program once a month. If you need to get them re-vaccinated or take them to a vet, we will advise you on how to trap them and transfer them to cat carriers.

We often have barn cats available for immediate adoption. If not, we will place your name on our barn cat program waiting list. Please fill out our Barn Cat Request Form (PDF), and email it tobarncatsrus@gmail.com. We usually place barn cats in King County, but some of our volunteers are willing to deliver them to other areas in western Washington.