In the news: Over 50 cats found in house

katiemae1277

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That's horrible, probably a story of someone just trying to help and it got out of control
 

silentnate

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Someone keeping over fifty cats in one house is neither financially viable nor does it suggest someone mentally well

I hope the cats all find new homes
 

naturestee

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Poor kitties. So many new additions to the Rainbow Bridge. I hate seeing stories like this. Hoarding is a mental illness, and I can't believe the woman's hubby thought this whole thing was okay! They might have been fed, but having cat feces everywhere, diseases running rampant, and dead animals laying around is not obviously not a good situation.

How can a person stand to live in a place like that?

 

lsulover

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That is just so sad, I think the woman just loved cats and tried to do the best that she could. I have heard stories where people went without food just to be able to feed their animals.
 

callista

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Yet another hoarder... There should be help for people who have too many cats--help that comes with a guarantee that the cats will not be put to sleep. Without such help, a hoarder has a "good reason" to keep her cats--She knows that if she gives them up, they will die.

Certainly the problem of people who hoard animals is an animal-welfare issue; but helping the hoarder herself should be a priority as well. Her entire identity revolves around the cats; and if she is not able to take care of them, she endangers them and herself. There should be programs that help hoarders to help the animals they love... while still having the support they need not to go overboard.
 

wookie130

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Originally Posted by silentNate

nor does it suggest someone mentally well
I disagree with this. Animal hoarding is now a documented and identifiable mental illness...and it's a symptom of a much larger problem. People who hoard animals are sick...they truly cannot see the illness in their animals, they are unaffected by the unsanitary conditions their situation has created, they are unable to provide adequate water and food for their animals...and yet, they literally cannot stop taking in more animals, and allowing their existing animals to breed as well. It is a mental illness with a lot of components of OCD, anxiety, and depression. Cat hoarding is a real problem, and the illness in humans needs to be dealt with compassionately, in addition to the treatment of the cats being removed from the property. It makes me very sad.
 
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