I am definitely a hoarder.

I understand completely. I too have to stay away from shelters and such cause I would LOVE to be able to have hoards of cats too. In fact I am thinking of getting a kitten from a friend to make five cats for us. Not sure I can handle it though. Anyway, I don't think you need help...but maybe I say that cause that would mean I would need help too.

Oh, I hear ya. I was just counting all the food I've hoarded, the litter I buy whenever I encounter it and I'm right now fighting the urge to go to petsmart today and apply to adopt a great big MC mix boy I saw this week.

This morning I was thinking about the next plain brown tabby order and whether or not to buy a little gift for my tenant's kitties downstairs This as I fish out no fewer than 10 little fur mice from under the washing machine...

The important thing is to be aware of the tendency and the possibility that it could go out of control. I am currently on a canned cat food buying moratorium. I do have capacity for another cat, but I wouldn't want to be over the limit if a truly needy soul came my way needing a home.

And yes, I do know both a cat hoarder and a bona-fide pack rat (I happen to have one of each in the family ). They are both well-meaning intelligent people with mental illness. The cat hoarder lost her house because of it; the pack rat is my mother

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

I know you are just joking around, and I hate to be a wet blanket. But the reality is that it is likely that we have some hoarders posting here.

Click to expand...

Here's the thing. I am NOT joking around. I am dead serious. My mother's mother was a depression era hoarder. When she and my grandfather passed away, it took two giant construction dumpsters to clean out their apartment. They had saved every paper bag, newspaper, rubberband, you name it, they SAVED it. Why, because there was no such thing as recycling back then, and the stuff they kept MIGHT be useful *someday.*

My mother doesn't save rubberbands, but if I need a paper bag, boy, she's got TONS of them. And newspapers. She saves them until she reads them. There is no place to sit at her kitchen table - all the chairs have stacks on them. Once she reads the papers, she cuts out clippings and saves THEM. (Then she recycles the read papers, thank goodness!)

So you see, I was NOT joking. I am serious. I have quite a few "collections," but I have worked hard on myself over the years to prevent the need for collecting to become a more serious illness beyond my control. I know what I can BECOME if I don't stay on top of it. It is in my genes and my upbringing. My home is MUCH less cluttered than my mothers, than her mothers' was. It is a continual effort to LET GO of things.

I see pictures of that great big house the affluent cat hoarding couple had in what was it, NC? The authorities, when they went through, couldn't step anywhere without stepping in cat feces.

I know that IF I LET IT, that could be me. If I lose the cognative ability to recognize what is healthy and ok and what is NOT healthy, THAT COULD BE ME.

So you see, I am making light of this, but I am most definitely not joking about it. Hoarding is MY reality as well as many others. I just have to be careful about what I choose to hoard. Which is funny, using the word "choice" because in a way, I can't control it.

I guess in a way, my starting this thread was a form of therapy - I am putting in writing how it is, and confirming to myself that I am not over the edge.

In no way is this thread meant to mock or dismiss the realities of hoarding. If anything, it is to bring it into the light - for ME.

For me, the most important thing is NOT that I "save" every cat I run across, it is that my cats be HEALTHY and HAPPY, because caring for them helps ME to stay healthy and happy. So instead of hoarding animals, I am hoarding animal supplies. As long as this is the way my sickness is manifesting itself, I think I'm going to be ok.

And if MY thread about this can help another hoarder recognize certain things about themselves, and then DO something to change their situation to try to make it better, then that is wonderful. But this was about me, and is not meant to be discomforting to anyone else.

One thing that a couple of you have stated: hoarders are intelligent people. This is SO true. It is one of the reasons why most folks can't understand how someone can let it get so out of control. But people like me, and Shopcat and others CAN understand how easily that can happen. Which is why we must pay attention and make effort to make sure that never happens to us.

oh my.

I have three cats and they take up all my time...

I understand the hoarding thing all too well though. I grew up with it!
My mom was/is a hoarder in every sense of the word. We had nearly 30 cats and two dogs growing up, all because my mom couldn't stand to turn anyone out. This included people! so we almost always had someone staying w us. and then to top it all off she's a pack rat in the worst way. Thank god we worked her through all that and she only has one cat now. (she still has a house full of junk but it's getting better)

and then of course, my nana was a pack rat, saved anything and everything. She also lived through the depression. Turns out there's a long line of them in my family. After she died I found newspapers from as far back as the 1800's! also papers from Martin Luther King Jr and Kennedy assasinations... I saved those.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

Do you think I need professional help?

Click to expand...

If I say "yes!" then I should take my own advice and seek some myself! LOL

I too have dozens of cans of cat food and enough dry food for about 6 months! Plus I have cat litter for about 3 months, and while I have some frozen dinners left that I have made, my fridge is pretty bare except for milk condiments, egg whites and some tomatoes, LOL

Originally Posted by GingersMom

I know that IF I LET IT, that could be me. If I lose the cognative ability to recognize what is healthy and ok and what is NOT healthy, THAT COULD BE ME.

Click to expand...

I have said the same thing to friends: "If I get old and slip a cog, I could end up the crazy cat lady living in a pile of . We have a good laugh about it of course but there is a part of me that truly fears it. I pray that doesn't happen! With my current thinking ability, I can't imagine how anybody can stand to live in those conditions.

I definitely have packrat tendencies. It's very hard for me to throw some things away. Good boxes are extremely difficult and I have no idea why. You never know when you'll need a box (for what I don't know).

I am a food/supplies stocker. I think I must have listened to too much Art Bell when I was on night shift those many years. I'm expecting a natural disaster or Armageddon any day now.

Well that's enough true confessions for now.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

One thing that a couple of you have stated: hoarders are intelligent people. This is SO true. It is one of the reasons why most folks can't understand how someone can let it get so out of control. But people like me, and Shopcat and others CAN understand how easily that can happen. Which is why we must pay attention and make effort to make sure that never happens to us.

Click to expand...

I joked when I made up my list. You can't walk into my home without realizing that I have animals in it. Evidence is everywhere in the form of toys, beds and cat trees, oh yeah, then the dogs and cats that greet you at the door. But other than my long list, I don't pack rat anything else.

But you are absolutely right about paying attention to that tendency. I had the same fear about myself as my clan grew so I sought validation through the Humane Society. I invited them into my home to assess it and asked what they thought. They asked me if I could adopt more (I guess I passed their test). They then included me when they went into a real hoarder's house and I understood the difference. But I haven't adopted another animal since that experience nearly 4 years ago.

I understand the tendency. I have always been a collector - glass animals, wallplates, carved boxes, clothes and I cannot bear to throw or give a book away after I have read it, so I have over 6,000 volumes in my house, many of which I will never read again. I did though donate 300 to the university library when I left Bosnia. My family say I collect 'lame duck' people too, which is why I have never succeeded in relationships, despite two marriages and several live-in partners. I swore it would not happen with animals, and up to recently in my life I have managed to limit myself to two or three cats. But now I have seven, plus the three ponies, and I am terrified of what will happen if someone else who is needy comes across my path. I really did try to find homes for Wellington and Napoleon when they were dumped on my doorstep, but that was impossible in Sarajevo. And I looked for Bonaparte's owner when he turned up.

It is hard to say 'no' sometimes, and I hope now that if anyone else turns up that TCS will help me be sensible! The answers are not always apparent though.

Originally Posted by GingersMom

But...I am a hoarder. I can't help it. Right now, I have enough dry cat food and enough wet cat food to last a MINIMUM of three months for each cat.

But my fridge is empty except for condiments, and I have nothing in my cabinets, save for dried pasta, that is fit for human consumption.

It's definitely a sickness. I think I would hoard cat litter, too, if the packages weren't SO heavy.

Oh - and them there are the cat toys. I have more than 150 furry mice in the house, and scores of catnip toys, dozens of wands, at least three laser pointers...

Do you think I need professional help?

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I too am a hoarder.

I have 13 cats and 2 dogs
I have 600 pounds of litter sitting in my basement closet
I have 2 pantry drawers stocked with canned cat food
I have 2 large bins of dry cat food
I have 2 large bins of dog food
I have an entire pantry drawer full of treats

Click to expand...

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I too have dozens of cans of cat food and enough dry food for about 6 months! Plus I have cat litter for about 3 months, and while I have some frozen dinners left that I have made, my fridge is pretty bare except for milk condiments, egg whites and some tomatoes, LOL

Click to expand...

I'm glad you started this thread, Betsy! I can see I'm in good company here. I just bought 576 cans of cat food, plus another 3 kg. of dry, for one cat! Let's see, that should be enough canned food for one year, seven months, since he only eats one can a day. I'm low on cat litter, so I have to order more - I usually get about 28 kg. at a time. I also have about ten bottles of cat milk in the cabinet. I won't even begin to count cat toys.

Who, me, hoard? I make bulk purchases to save money, but that doesn't explain the over 1,000 books up in our attic. Hubby allows an upper limit of 1,000, so I've got to get rid of some, seeing as I have no less than 7 books pre-ordered.

I gave up on my closet last month, and got rid of everything I hadn't worn in a year.

The only thing that keeps me from hoarding cats is Jamie's dislike of them, I'm afraid. When we got married, my husband thought he was getting 2 large dogs, a cat, a guinea pig and a hamster as part of the "package". Within three months, we had another three large dogs, none of them weighing under 80 lbs., and one over 120 lbs., all because I had to get the dog licenses at the local SPCA. I can't wait for hubby to retire in 10 years or less, because I'm going to go out and adopt a dog or two to celebrate.

How in the WORLD do you have time to walk them all?

I hoard food. When I was a little girl, I didn't get a lot of good food (long story), and ever since then I've had the habit of buying more than I need. As of now, I'm obese at 190 pounds and 5 feet tall... needless to say, I went a bit overboard with the eating when I got out of the house! Right now, I could be locked in my house, and my cats and I could eat for about three months on what I have with me. Most of it is nonperishable, some frozen, mostly sensible stuff like canned goods, pasta, packaged dinners... Kind of ridiculous, when you think about it. But it isn't that bad--the weight problem's the real thing. Maybe I need to say to myself about a hundred times a day, "Food is fuel, not love"!

This is a pretty big stash, considering my income is $5000 yearly! Nope, I did not forget a zero...

Originally Posted by jcat

I just bought 576 cans of cat food, plus another 3 kg. of dry, for one cat! Let's see, that should be enough canned food for one year, seven months, since he only eats one can a day.

Click to expand...

Where do you make such big purchases? Surely not at a store, I doubt they keep that much in stock.
And what happens if your cat decides he no longer likes that brand or flavor? Mine would do that to me if I tried to stock up on cans.

I'm pretty lucky with dry cat food, currently I have around 100-120lbs of dry maxximum nutrition(or similar formula but different brand name) for the two outdoor cats. Occasionally I give away dry food to my dad or to a neighbor, but that's mostly to keep any from expiring (don't forget that food expires when stocking up!). And for Sho and Tomas, I have 50 lbs of castor & pollux.

I really don't have a tendency to hoard or even consider hoarding animals. If you can't give each one equal attention, then you have too many.
I do however hate throwing things away. If I can fix it or 'might' need it again then I keep it. Bits of paper, ribbon, string, wire, fake plants, it's all sorted and stashed away somewhere.

Now that I look at the pile of people food in cans, I think I buy too much for all of us

I need to practice a new mantra "food is not love or security"...seriously, I have some mental tests I do to make sure I'm not turning into my pack rat mother:
1) can I still see where the floors meet the walls
2) how many piles? could I get rid of them all in a day's worth of cleaning (answer must be yes!!) especially with magazines and newspapers...
3) why do I have the urge to go out shopping? Is it because I actually need something or because I'm bored and anxious
4) would I be embarassed by my house if a non family member just stopped by? (once again answer must be no!!)

As they used to say on Saturday morning TV...knowing is half the battle...

Three years ago we did`nt even have 1 cat....then an old neighborhood Mama cat dropped a 6 week gray tabby kitten off on our front porch. We fell in love and adopted Toby.
A few months later, in the spring, when I started being outside working in the yard more, I`d feel sorry for him sitting in the window watching me and crying.....so we adopted a 'brother" for him....a yellow tabby kitten the same age...Tedy.
That was going to BE IT !!! 2 cats were "just right'.
Then this summer we took our son`s year old beige tabby, because he was not home enough to spend the time he needed to with him to train him not to scratch everything up....and he was talking about DECLAWING him !!!! We took him and named him Tawny. (He`s doing just fine with using the scratching posts....he was no trouble at all to train)
Now 3 is most certainly enough cats for us, with food, litter, and vet bills, not to mention toys and treats which my Hubby is constantly bringing home.....but I do find myself eyeing that darling 1/2 grown calico that keeps coming into our yard to hunt.......Gotta keep telling myself "No No No...Look but don`t touch!!!!" :-)
Linda

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Where do you make such big purchases? Surely not at a store, I doubt they keep that much in stock.

And what happens if your cat decides he no longer likes that brand or flavor? Mine would do that to me if I tried to stock up on cans.

Click to expand...

I'm probably familiar with just about every online supplier in Germany. I live in a small town, where there's basically no selection of cat food, and have an 8 1/2 -year-old cat with food allergies. Thus, I started ordering online. I volunteer at the local cat home, where some of the cats have food allergies, too, so I started ordering for them. I've gradually added friends', neighbors' and colleagues' cats, so I get free shipping and quantity discounts from just about all the suppliers, plus lots of free samples and cat toys! I often get free bags of cat litter, too.

Jamie doesn't really like canned cat food, but this is one brand (organic, all meat and/or fish, or with at most 1% rice, in the small cans he demands; unfortunately, it's only available in Europe) that he's guaranteed to eat, and they have lots of different flavors. My husband has been known to steal a can or two at times - the food is that good. If Jamie gets sick of it, I can just buy something else for a few weeks, because I know he'll go back to it. The offer I got was for cans with a 2009 Best By date, but when I got the consignment, all the Best By dates were summer/fall 2010, so it won't be a problem if my picky cat decides they have to go into "temporary retirement".

I don't know what I am. I guess I am a hoarder and without the intervention of my SO, who I am just now realizing loves me and is not trying to ruin my world, I realize I need his guidance.

When my mom passed it got pretty bad. I remember as a kid seeing my dad's home and his almost 100 tvs piled on top of one another [he used to own a tv repair shop, among other things] and there was this joke that he wasn't 'bad' because he was neat [or so he said] So without TMI I will just say besides other stuff I have to work on, after mom passed, I got to a point where I had so many bath and body works stuff, so much so one year I gave new bottles to my coworkers, and then there were the lipglosses and lipsticks, I hated to part with them because I knew I would have to get more. and then there were magazines and records, and the dolls. I called myself honoring the bond between my mom and me by getting dolls of my childhood [ebay is bad for a hoarder] gee, I don't suppose I needed 1200. I still have them packed away, but try not to think of it until my SO will probably want to spring clean.

And now I have my kitty kat. I would never have dead cats in my home or unsocialized cats, I would love them all. I would. Sometimes, when my boyfriend puts his foot down to my three saying he and I would have to get sep't places if I wanted more, I sometimes think I would. How wild is that, all of a sudden I am a cat lover, willing to leave my man for more cats. Cause one is never enough, I was a siamese, a pointed, a tortie, a funny face {like black nose, white body...}, maine coon, orange, white, black,...

In my mind it just goes on forever, so I try to enjoy photos and leave it at that. as far as I know there are no meds for hoarding, just cognitive therapy, I am medicated for bp.

Thanks for listening, ladies, I will live vicariously through you all. and be at peace. I only have two arms anyway. I don't think I could love more than 3, and the third was pushing it...

I heart you all.

I honestly don't think you're any worse than the rest of us, lol!

I just bought 6 cases of 5.5 oz cans, 6 cases of 3 oz cans, an 8 pound bag and a 4 pound bag of renal cat food. In my garage there are fourteen, 28 pound buckets of cat litter, and three in the basement (I stock up when it's on sale.) In the furnace room I have about a bushel of catnip bunches, hanging from the ceiling to dry. I buy the sparkley pompoms at the craft store in bags of 100. In my tiny 1,000 sq foot house, I have 3 cat trees, three window seats, and 9 assorted beds and cozy cubes. I also have an entire cupboard dedicated to different renal failure medicines, IV bags & lines, needles, syringes, brushes, nail clippers, Feliway, Advantage, pet toothpaste...the list goes on....ad nauseum!

We don't have a sickness. Right? It's normal behavior. Right? I don't see a problem. Do you?

Originally Posted by dorabella's mom

I don't know what I am. I guess I am a hoarder and without the intervention of my SO, who I am just now realizing loves me and is not trying to ruin my world, I realize I need his guidance.

Click to expand...

It sounds to me as if you are in a very good state of mind about things. With you already realizing that you have a propensity to gather things, and with your SO to help you along, I believe you'll be fine

It sounds as if you'll make a wonderful caregiver to a reasonable sized cadre of kitties.

But if you do find yourself feeling bad about not being able to take them all in, relax...most of us feel the same way

Not a hoarder.I tend to get into a hobby and spend tons of money on it then deside I really don't like it then give away or sell most of the stuff.I hear this can be a part of my illness(I have bi-polar).I do alwas have alot of cat food(canned and dry),litter,and treats on hand.If I think I have to much I just donate some to the local shelter.Thankfully I have my parents to stop me for getting out of control with money to often.My last 2 obessive shopping times were my short hobby of video games and short time as my little pony collector.

Thanks, everyone. There are just so many beauties. I will just love what I have, well not JUST love, but love completely. There are so many colors, patterns, lengths, and textures. I will kiss my babies, hug them time, and listen to them when they say, "Mommy, you CAN'T have ALL of these BABIES and STILL have time for me..." They're right... two is ideal, three is puuuuushing it a little, four is just the absolute last straw...

I have three

Hoarding tendencies are definitely present in my family. I remember my Grandma's house having a path (she went to rummage sales, estate sales, and auctions all the time). My Mom is a paper keeper. She doesn't file, shred or toss. It's all there in boxes.

My DH has really helped with the paper collecting tendency of mine. My other tendency to collect things has manifested in a positively ridiculous amount of cat toys. It turned out to be a good thing when Lola walked into our lives. My first experience having a kitten! She's crazy! But she plays with all the right things, very rarely gets into something naught. My DH swears it's because she has so many toys to distract her. Before Lola came along, I donated gently or not used at all toys to the shelter pretty regularly. I also have a giant pantry of canned cat food, and bins of dry. But mostly because all 3 are eating different dry foods right now. One of which they decided is "icky", so I have to try and find a different "regular" food for all 3 to snack on between meals (Lola is still getting kitten dry and Nabu is trying out RC Active Mature). I think our shelter benefits from my cats spoiled rottenness.