A straight forward list but I liked what was posted about feeding the outdoor cats. I used to treat my outdoor cats to liver from the grocery store. Not too often and bring enough so they aren't sharing (chicken livers worked best). Generally, I gave them a can of cat food each day. Sometimes there was left over meat from dinner or cooking. I never gave them bacon grease, that would probably make them sick. But, meat we boiled for soup, scraps we cut off from steaks and so on, gave the cats that little extra. They were never fat house cats but always healthy and we never had mice in the house as long as we had cats around. (I can't say the same about skunks though. For some reason my cats became friends with the skunks. Really, not being sarcastic about that).

• Spay and neuter. Outdoor cats can have 2 litters of kittens each year. Don't let it happen and end up with too many cats.
• Vaccinations at the Vet.
• Space in the barn for shelter on really cold days. (If they choose to use it).
• Don't collar them. Collars can get caught on things.
• Keep track of their comings and goings (so you notice if they go missing).

Since they work so hard, our barn cats deserve to be treated like other high-performing work animals. I have heard people state opinions about how you shouldn't feed them much because then they won't be hungry enough to chase their own dinner! Nonsense! If you want an animal to perform work for you, then you should feed it adequate nutrition so it has the energy and stamina to perform.

Cats need a diet that contains quality protein. Living outside, chasing rodents, eating rodents, running from the big dogs, all these activities require strong bodies and lots of energy. Cats are carnivores. They only eat meat. Cats do not need vegetables, sweets, or grain fillers. Cats often do not drink enough water. Feeding the canned cat food in addition to the dry, increases their water intake. In the winter, when bringing warm water to your backyard chickens and dairy goats, make sure you save some for the cats, too. I know my barn cats enjoy a warm drink of water on a freezing cold morning.

Try to give the cats a place to eat where they won't be chased off by livestock entering the barn, or in our case the dog trying to "share" the dinner. We put shelves up in the barn that the cats can access, and we feed the cats on the shelves.

Source: Countryside Daily -- How to Raise a Barn Cat Right

I'm allergic to animals. If I'm around them (fur bearing animals) I get an allergic reaction and then suffer an asthma attack. I can take anti-histamine and asthma medications, but I'd rather not.

At this point, to be honest, the idea of having animals in the house is gross to me. My Grandmother felt the same way - she lived in a one room house (over 80 years ago) and had to share it with the farm animals in winter.

This doesn't mean I don't like animals. I do like most of them, just not enough to want them as pets.

What's your style of fake pet?

Instead, I'm interested in virtual pets, digital pets, artificial pets and assorted other pretend pets who are low maintenance and inexpensive. Tamagotchi, robot pets, Virtual Petz, vintage pet rocks, and others in that theme and genre. Do you remember Fur Real Friends, doesn't seem that long ago they were the new thing and yet I haven't heard them promoted for years. They were cute, and mechanically inclined.

Do you know where your pet rock is?

I did have a pet rock, long ago when they were the fad. I don't think mine was an official pet rock. Mom did buy one with the whole kit, the box and all. But, some how all four of us had a pet rock but there was only one box. She did wash them all first, she was fairly clever that way.

Do you like online virtual pet games?

I've played with several of the online game type of virtual pets. The interest wears off after awhile. Most of the sites push you for money. You can't feel you really have a pet you want to keep around if you keep getting badgered to spend more money on something that doesn't really exist.

The virtual pet I'd pick is a robotic cat.

Something sort of cute, sort of pretty but not in the made for children way. A cat that could double as an attack cat would be fun and a great conversation starter too.

Really, a robotic dragon, but... they don't seem to exist yet.

Today is Y on the A- Z Blogging Challenge. A lot of words begin with Y. But for some reason I thought of 'yowl'. That sound a cat makes when it wants to get noticed.

What other words can you think of for sounds cats make? Skip the easy ones like meow and purring. If you were going to write a story with an animal as a sidekick what animal would it be? How would the animal communicate or would it just be like an ornament, sort of moved around like a dead weight?

It’s a fluffy cat that sits asleep in a basket and for some reason it freaks out my 14 year old nephew just as one like it used to freak me out at my Grandmother’s house. Why, I don’t know. It is not a real cat. It is even asleep, or seems to be. It is too small to be a real cat. It never moves, not one eye ever slits open as cats will usually do (when real).

My Grandmother had a cat like this. It was also curled up in a basket, had real fur but her cat was awake. I was always spooked out by that. Yet now I wish I knew where it was. I could have the two cats together. One awake the other asleep. Guardians of the house. No mice or teenagers would dare to mess with us then!

Does anyone know if this is a type of toy or knickknack? Do they go by some kind of name which I could search for and find others of their kind? Or maybe, as my nephew says, they are in fact aliens from another planet just disguised as toy cats to keep us all from getting suspicious.