For centuries cats have worked as beloved farm animals with an important purpose of ridding the barns, homes and feeding stalls of rodents. With large sacks of grain, troughs of hot mash, oats, and corn meal for pets, the warm nooks and crannies of barns could draw quite a following of hungry mice, rats and other pests. An attentive cat will keep the vermin at bay, without creating much of a disturbance to the livestock residing there. Because of this, cats have been regarded as an important contributor of farm life, fitting right in with the other animals and proving that felines are as useful as they are charming.

Cats have been patrolling farms for decades!

They are excellent rat catchers, and enjoy the occasion sampling of fresh cow milk!

On a farm, there are plenty of interesting animals for cats to observe…

They might even make new friends with some of the livestock!

You can still take your cat on a walk if you live on a farm. (In fact, this is probably a safer option then leaving them to roam freely out of the barn and across the property).

There are plenty of warm piles of hay for these kitties to snuggle up in on chilly evenings.

Just look at how darling this little guy is snuggled up near his home.

If you think farm cats are as cute as we do, then you might love visiting an actual cat island and cat farm like the one pictures below: