Possible hoarder?

I found this lady in my area that's trying to place a lot of kittens and cats in a short amount of time. Her landlord wants them all gone.
I can't take any, but I figured I could try to place them. So I told her to email me pictures and informaton on the cats/kittens.

Well...Now I don't know what to do. At least 2 of the cats look sick, I don't know what's wrong with the one. His nose looks odd and the other one looks like it's eye is sore or infected.

She doesn't know the genders of anone besides the older cats and the kittens are old enough that you should be able to tell easily.

No ones up to date on shos, spayed or neutered.

And from the pics, the house looks cluttered. Not dirty though.

Does that sound like a hoarder? I'm having a hard time matching all the pcitures with the right info on the cats there's so many.

And what legally should I be aware of? She's getting rid of all the cats, so I don' really think I should call the cops. She keeps saying "I have to because my landlord and I can't afford them".

I'm kind of nervous now. Help?

Could be a hoarder. Or just a kind soul who got in over her head. When you say "lots of cats" do you know how many exactly?

I wouldn't get the cops involved. They'll likely call animal control. Depending on the facilities (and mindset) in your area, the cats may all end up getting euthanized.

Someone needs to evaluate the condition of these cats. If there are sick ones, as you suspect, they need medical attention. All of them actually need to be vetted, since it's not a good idea to adopt them out without first getting them examined and spay/neutered.

You're wonderful to try to help these poor cats & kittens. It seems to me that it's going to be tough for you to try to handle this alone. Are there any local organizations/shelters that would assist you with this?

No, I've tried in the past to contact local angencies and if they ever did get back to me they didn't offer much besides lying to me (saying trapping ferals was illegal, and its not) or saying they'd kill the cats involved.

2 weeks ago I had a lady contact me about 4 kittens, she took hem to the shelter and the staff said they'd take them, but they wouldn't get a chance at adoption. They'd be killed immediatly.

I don't know. I don't have the room or the money for so many. She just kept sending pictures and she wasn't sure if she sent me the same picture of a cat twice or not. It was hard making sense of all the information she sent me.

I think I might start contacting some friends and seeing if they'd be able to assist. I know another animal lover and then a vet tech...she's kinda...iffy so Idk how much help she'd be lol

oh and no, I have no idea how many. It looks like at least 3 older cats, but as for kittens. I have no idea.

You need to just be like "Look, if you want me help, I need clear pictures and descriptions of these cats and kittens. I need to know their sex especially."

If she lives near you, can you just go to her house and take pictures and make sense of everything yourself? That would be the easiest solution. Borrow a digicam from a friend if you don't have one.

I'm sending out emails and going to call some friends in a bit. I don't want to go alone, people are crazy anymore. But I think I'll get some supplies ready and if I can get a hold of this lady today and find at least someone else to go with I'll head out.

I'm just scared of getting myself into something too large for me. Y'know?

The white kitten on the left and that bottom one worries me. From the pics, those are the only two that don't look healthy.

I found a program that I think she qualifies for that'll spay/neuter the whole lot for free. I sent her another email about that.

After re-reading the emails and studying the pictures (they all look so similar!) I think there's 9 cats in total. 3 cats that are almost 3 yrs old, a 8month old kitten, and 5 11wk old kittens.

Originally Posted by Khayos

No, I've tried in the past to contact local angencies and if they ever did get back to me they didn't offer much besides lying to me (saying trapping ferals was illegal, and its not) or saying they'd kill the cats involved.

2 weeks ago I had a lady contact me about 4 kittens, she took hem to the shelter and the staff said they'd take them, but they wouldn't get a chance at adoption. They'd be killed immediatly.

Click to expand...

Good grief!!! A "shelter" that would take kittens and kill them without even giving them a chance at adoption?!? Some shelter! I thought there were laws that shelters had to hold animals at least 7 days to give owners a chance to claim them or at least give the cats a shot at being adopted. Guess it depends on the state. Holy cow, it sounds like you really don't have any decent local resources to help you. I can't imagine this. I'm grateful that I live in an area with a wonderful no-kill shelter and at least a dozen grassroots rescue organizations. Have you and any like-minded friends ever considered forming a local rescue organization, maybe even eventually a no-kill shelter? Sounds like your area is sorely in need of one.

Thank goodness you've at least been able to locate a great spay/neuter program - a big step in the right direction.

It seems that once the cats are vetted, the only thing you can do is to try to adopt them out through newspaper ads and posters in vet's offices. You'll need to evaluate if you think this woman is able to properly screen potential adopters (my feeling is, she isn't). And if her time is very short and she can't keep the cats much longer in her apartment, foster homes will, of course, be necessary.

The cat & kittens in the picture are beautiful They appear to be healthy, but I see what you're concerned about. It's hard to determine if the cat's nose is sore or not, and the white kitten may just have a scratch from another kitten - the eye itself looks ok, as far as I can tell. Is the vet who does the s/n willing to attend to any other medical needs at a discount?

I hope the woman cooperates with you and you can begin to help these sweet cats. Please keep us updated.

She said she'll be calling the place about getting them spayed/neutered.

Here's hoping she's true to her word. I've been burned a lot in the last couple months trusting others when it comes to animals...

We have a couple no kill shelters, but they're not accepting any new animals. They haven't for months now. The kill shelters are accepting everyone but owner releases are being killed, the strays have 7 days and if they have any problems, they're being euthanised as well.


She says there's only 7 cats though.

I had to give up.

i'd get potential owners lined up. She'd blow them off.
she never called the program about free spay/neuter
I told her I'd call her at 8am Saturday to let her know when I'd be picking up the kittens, said I was meeting some people at 10am. Called and call, left messags up until it was 9:30. Then I had to call the potential owners nad tell them nevermind.

One lady yelled at me for a good 20 minutes over it.

So I emailed the lady with the 7 cats. Explained what I've gone through to help her out, that she wasnt willing to help me help her, and that I was going to wash my hands of the situation. I then explained that if she is able to keep the 7 cats, they have to be fixed ASAP. Told her how many kittens an average litter is, how many times a cat can give birth in a year, did the math and told her at the end of 1 yr she could have over 60 cats.

Oh well. I feel sick to my stomach over the cats. But I can't do anything else at this point. she sent me an email about how I didn't tell her about calling her or anyhting...I know I did. She replied to the emails and I have them all saved. She knew. She just...for whatever reason, isn't willing to give them up.

Oh my goodness, what a sad, sad situation! It's made me tear up just reading about it. You are an angel to try and help. Unfortunately, there's no way to force help on people who don't want it. Those kitties are beautiful--I wish I could take them all in and make that woman's home a "no-feline" zone for now and forever. I will pray that the kitties find their way to good, loving, forever homes.