Our little orange kitten has become a champion barn cat, a much-loved family member and so much fun.

Cedar has been with us for six months. You may recall we adopted him and his brother Maple at the same time as the chickens and turkeys arrived in the spring.

We kept the kittens confined in the coop for several weeks so we could get to know each other and get through their neuter surgeries. (The birds were still in their brooders in the house.) After we let Cedar and Maple out to have free range, Maple disappeared just a couple of days later. We’ve never found any sign of Maple, but Cedar has stayed safe and stayed home.

He is a very social little cat and loves to be with us.

He’s usually waiting outside the mudroom door for Cigo and me in the morning and then runs to the barn for his breakfast. If we’re inside and he feels left out, he will sit on the steps outside the living room door or on the kitchen windowsill and meow. He hasn’t figured out how to break through the screen on the kitchen window, but he keeps trying.

Occasionally he comes into the mudroom if the door is open and one rainy night he made it as far as the living room until he decided he was ready to go back outside.

He’s gone on the trampoline, the saucer swing and the treehouse, loves belly rubs and tolerates being carried around by Ellie. He’s accompanied us down the driveway to the school bus and gone with Cigo for a walk to the back field.

The biggest adjustment has been Cigo. Cigo has always been super excited by cats, so it took a while for him to get used to Cedar. He chased Cedar several times and got dragged back to the house for a timeout. Cedar learned climbing trees was a good escape–a good lesson for predators beyond Cigo.

But Cedar is an easy going, tolerant, confident cat. So he kept venturing out of the barn even though he knew Cigo was around. We kept doing supervised visits with Cigo and Cedar and lots of treats for everyone. Eventually, they got used to each other and now we all–including the chickens–can be together with no issues.

Cedar can sprint past Cigo or walk through Cigo’s legs, and Cigo doesn’t blink. In fact, sometimes he seems to say, “Little dude, can you give me a break?” They occasionally try to play together, but haven’t figured out how to manage the size difference yet.

Beyond the fun, Cedar is also doing his job. He is a prolific hunter, and we find dead bodies in the barn and on the lawn regularly.

For winter, we’ve added a cat house full of straw outside the mudroom door. He also has the barn with lots of straw filled spots.

Cedar has added to the love and joy in our little family, and I’m very glad he’s with us.