Cat Hoarders are Detrimental to Their Cats.
By pammitay49
@pammitay49 (16)
United States
November 26, 2009 1:59pm CST
My sister is a cat hoarder. She is also a packrat. I have tried to help her find homes for the 16 cats she has, but to no avail. Just to give an example of how bad this is for cats, 2 of her cats inbred with their brothers. One of the kittens in the second litter was born without a foot. Deformities are not uncommon in inbred animals.
I was able to get 5 of her female cats spayed, which was a big thing for her. She was supposed to take to an adopt-a-thon and find homes for them. She asked her husband to take them, but he is just as bad as she is, so the cats did not find homes.
Shortly after that, her cats got a virus, and 5 cats died within a few days, all of them were from the inbred litters. This points out that inbred cats have weaker immune systems, and are more susceptible to disease. She is lucky that more of the cats didn't die. She incurred a large vet bill as she had to take the other sick cats in to the vet for IV treatments to keep them hydrated.
My sister has no children, so both she and her husband treat the cats as their children. People should know that having a lot of cats is not beneficial to the cats. Many become feral even when they are in the house. This is because there just are too many animals to give individual attention to. I had to just throw up my hands and report my sister to the humane society.
My sister is mad at me, but she had taken on a big burden that neither her nor her husband were able to handle. She admits that she has a sickness, but does not know how to fix it. She thinks it was cruel to take the cats to the humane society, but I think it was cruel for her to keep all of them. Anyway, that is my oppinion.
1 person likes this
9 responses
@mariposaman (2959)
• Canada
27 Nov 09
I agree it was cruel for her to have so many cats and you were correct in reporting her to the Humane Society although you may have alienated your sister and brother-in-law.
Please do not feel bad as you did the right thing.
I heard an off beat theory that people with a lot of cats have caught the brain worm from cats and it makes them crazy. Certainly these old cat ladies not have a house full of cats seem to be a bit crazy. I do not know if they are crazy then accumulate cats, or accumulate cats and then go crazy.
@pmbhuntress09 (1608)
• United States
28 Nov 09
LMAO, that is funny. I do have to say though my cat could drive me crazy some days. I only have one cat I can't imagine having any more then that. One is enough. Maybe I should test that theory and get a few more and see if they drive me nuts.
@anne25penn (3305)
• Philippines
27 Nov 09
Five is the most number of cats that I ever had in my garage. But I had to let two go because I can only afford to keep three cats. If your sister loves cats, why not concentrate on just one or two. From your description, it seems that the cats don't have much running space which is bad for their health. You are right to let the society take the cats away.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
27 Nov 09
I love cats and I have always had one or two. The most I had was when I was married to my late husband and we had four.
I completely agree with you. It is not faur for your sister to keep so many cats, if she cant afford desexing and vaccinations. It is also correct that inbreeding will cause deformaties.
It is difficult for you to have to try to help her and sort this out. To be honest, in my city if she were reported to the RSPCA they would take the cats away.
She probably does need medical help too, she may have an obsessive, compulsive disorder.
For the sake of the poor cats, try and get someone to help you deal with your sisters cats.
@LilyoftheThorns (12918)
• United States
27 Nov 09
You tried multiple times to help her find homes for the cats, so you did the right thing reporting her. Did you tell her that you would call the Humane Society if she did not get rid of most of them? I would have, but even if you didn't I'm on your side. I understand why your sister is mad, but I don't agree with it.
I don't think it matters the number of cats (TO A LIMIT)...it depends on the home and the people. My family has had 7 cats WITH 4 dogs before--all our animals were healthy, our house was clean, all the animals were happy..so there is a right way to have a lot of pets. BUT I definitely think a lot of people like your sister don't do it the right way.
I think of my animals like babies too (I'm only 20 and don't have kids ;P)....and I really do love my animals like family. But I know there is a limit, and I would never allow myself to pass my limit because I would want to be able to keep the pets I have healthy. I'd rather have 2 healthy dogs than have 5 unhealthy ones. (I use dogs as an example b/c, even though I like cats, I'm more of a dog person).
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
27 Nov 09
You did the right thing! Those cats are better off at the humane sociaty! They will get the proper care and they will try to get the cats adopted! I just hope your sister doesn't start hoarding cats again! Alot of hoarders do this when they have to surrender other aniamls! Hoarders don't understans they are doing more harm then good! You sister needs help! Maybe there are professionals who can help her! You did what you had to do and now your sister has to do that! I hope she does!
@bibbyboy12 (188)
• United States
27 Nov 09
i believe that you did the right thing by reporting your sister to the humane society. if she really loved those cats she would have let them be adopted and be able to live healthy normal lives away from all the inbreding and diseases that will surely come about from living in such cramped conditions. What she did was cruel to the cats and she should be punished for it. Cats are living things and not collectables. You cant just keep that many cats in that small of a space and expect them all to be normal
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
26 Nov 09
You did the right thing to report her.
There is one other thing you should do though - urge her and her husband to get therapy. If they do not get help, they will just repeat this behavior over and over. Next time it could be even worse - some of these hoarders end up with more than 100 animals in one house and then things really get our of hand.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
27 Nov 09
I have more than 16 cats, but all of them are fixed, the only related ones came from outside and they came together. The "Wonder Twins" Ping and Pong, the "Bouquet Girls" Flower and Blossom and the feral trio, Elmer, Emily and Elizabeth. Other cats have come together, Boo came with his sister, but we were able to find her a home. The "Fearsome Foursome" were all placed in new homes. Now, the "Grumpy Girls", Nef and Tuti, are not actually related, but they were adopted together and came to us together from their former owner.
We do have 6 feral cats, Star, Ronnie, Gizmo and the siblings. But they came to us feral and Ronnie and Giz we can touch, Giz, in fact, comes to me for pets almost every night, but the rest of the time we barely see him. Star will sleep on the bed, but doesn't like to be pet.
We placed 16 cats in 07 and while we have cats looking for homes, I could only set aside a year to re-homing and of the 10 cats we started with looking for homes, and the 10 more that came in we only have 4 of them left. All 10 of the kittens found homes, and 6 adults. But I don't have the health or energy to keep after it (and the lady running the rescue has run off all the people that were helping her at the time.)
so, yes, we have too many cats, but we are running a rescue and we do have them all fixed
@captainmorgan (773)
• Canada
26 Nov 09
I think it's probably a good thing that you reported her to the humane society. In the end that is what is best for everyone. I am a huge cat lover, and I have a feeling that when I am older and have my own place I am going to have alot of cats, but no more than I can afford to take care of.
I rescued a cat from my friends farm a few years ago. He was inbred, but seriously the cutest thing. He had extra long legs and a super long tail and never walked in a straight line. He ended up having some sort of immune disease, and we had to get him put down a few months later. It was really sad, especially because on my friends farm there are plently of inbred cats just like the one I rescued from there.
People who get animals NEED to take proper care of them. It's really cruel if you don't!
