For some, the name “catio,” or cat patio, may evoke images of tabbies and Persian cats lounging on lawn furniture or sipping iced tea. But for the Pope Memorial SPCA, it’s the name of their project to house and care for barn cats who are waiting for new homes.
Barn cats are feral, or unfriendly to humans, and as their name suggests, they prefer to live in barns or other structures that provide easy access to the outdoors. They are excellent animals to keep on farms because of their ability to keep rodents away, but while they’re at the SPCA, they can’t be kept with other cats.
“We had been trying to keep them in the shelter, and some of them we tried to rehome, but it just wasn’t working,” said Cathy Emerson, director of operations at Pope Memorial and organizer of the barn cat program. “We had to figure out something else we could do for these feral cats, so we started the barn cat program.”
The project began in 2015, and since then, the SPCA has built the catio as a permanent space for the barn cats. It’s a part-indoor, part-outdoor structure with shelves and logs for the cats to perch on.
“We tried to make it as much like a barn as we could,” Emerson said.
Pope Memorial has already had success with the program, having placed more than 150 cats since it began. Emerson said none of this would have been possible without local “catvocate” CherylAnne Williams, who made a donation that allowed the SPCA to build their catio.
Williams is an animal-rights advocate and lifelong cat lover. She contributes to several animal-related charities in New Hampshire, but said barn cats hold a special place in her heart.
“My family are farmers, and growing up there were always cats around the barn,” Williams said in an interview. “Cats would come and cats would go, but there were always cats around, and they were my friends.”
Williams said cats have served as her support system and even her immune system over the years.
“Cats have been a part of my life since I was 4. Once I tried to go six months without a cat and I caught every flu around,” she said.
So Williams has dedicated her life to raising awareness of what cats mean in many people’s lives. To her, supporting the barn cat program is another way to do that.
“If you think back to the Egyptians, cats were revered because they kept the mice away. So in a way, this program is harkening back to that,” she said.
Pope Memorial is hosting a dedication of the catio as part of their Summer Open House & Wish List Drive. From noon to 2 p.m. May 24, anyone who brings something to donate from Pope Memorial’s “wish list” will get a free ice cream cone from Arnie’s and a tour of the shelter, including the new catio.