DIARY OF A FARM CAT
Cookie faces her biggest challenge yet — not being the only farm cat! Donya Donger tells of another feline at Peacock Farm.
Cookie faces her biggest challenge: the arrival of a second farm cat!
Acouple of years ago, we welcomed Neal to work on Peacock Farm and as part of the job, he moved into a cottage that is next to our farmhouse with his wife and young son, as well as their spirited (has anger management issues!) Jack Russell. Neal was already a friend of my husband Leigh and it has been great having our two families living and working on the farm.
Neal and his wife, Hayley, decided to get a cat.The opportunity to get a kitten presented itself around their son Elliott’s birthday and so we gained a second farm cat just over a year ago. Bobbie the cat is also a female.
Now, we knew another farm feline could be viewed by Cookie as a threat to her territory so we worked on an adjustment process.We swapped the scents of Cookie and Bobbie so that when Bobbie was allowed outside she wouldn’t be a complete shock to Cookie.
Bobbie didn’t stray too far from the garden but we noticed that you never saw the two cats patrolling the same area at the same time; it was like they had set up a rota!
One day, we saw them having a stand-off across the garden.There was never a fight (that we knew of) and as time went by, we saw them becoming more comfortable with each other.Then one day, Neal got a photograph of them sat together on his patio — it was a breakthrough moment.A year later and we think the pair of them get along just fine as we have seen them together around the farm.
Bobbie has got a tale or two of her own to tell. When she was a kitten, curiosity didn’t kill the cat but it ended up with her soaking wet! She attempted to jump over the garden pond, misjudged the distance, and ended up making a splash. She was also once intrigued by the bath, got too nosey for her own good, and slipped in.
She is a proper farm cat and catches mice and rats, but is not quite as proficient as Cookie yet — and has had a few mishaps!
Neal once saw Bobbie carrying a mouse through the window into the house. He rushed to get her back outside but in true cat style Bobbie was playing with the mouse and it managed to run off. Neal and Hayley searched everywhere but just couldn’t find the runaway mouse.That evening, they heard a scuffle in the kitchen and their Jack Russell Roy had found his inner terrier and was chasing the mouse around. Neal and Hayley tried to show Bobbie the mouse but she just wasn’t interested. Fortunately, Roy caught it and even proudly carried it outside.
Another morning, Neal went to feed the cat and wondered why Bobbie was transfixed on Elliott’s school bag. When Neal checked the bag, there was a mouse inside! Maybe Cookie could teach her a thing or two. Anyway, while the two cats are happy sharing the farm, we best not let Bobbie invade Cookie’s territory, this is her column after all!