Tonight's episode of Hoarders

Has anyone seen tonight's episode of Hoarders? There was an older couple on there that hoarded cats. They estimated they had 24 or 25 cats. By the end of the episode, about 41 cats were found alive and ten of them had to be euthanized. Another 30-some cats were found dead. Kittens, adults, you name it, dead. Terrible. The woman was being investigated on animal cruelty charges, but in the end, they never charged her because she tried to take care of the cats. She got to keep three cats.

Any thoughts?

I have been watching this program the past few weeks. It is heartbreaking to see these people struggle.

Tonight's episode features a woman who hoards cats. Not sure if I will be able to watch it - will be so very sad

Anyone else watching this program?

I'm fascinated by this program and watch it when I remember.

This is the first animal hoarding ep they've had, I believe.

Mostly I notice, no matter what they hoard, is the logical way the hoarders explain their behavior. I totally "believed" the animal hoarder when she said she just helping animals that have been dumped and are hungry. It just got out of hand but started with good intentions. (paraphrasing) I saw one animal hoarder on an Animal Planet show (animal cops) and there was a kitten skeleton in her bed and she just slept there night after night. She had like 30 other cats or whatever.

At least with this ep last night many of the cats seemed tame - so I hope they can be adopted out.

I'm glad she was able to keep three. I so hope they are fixed - and that the authorities follow up with her regularly to see if it is out of hand again and/or any new cats hanging out are taken into get fixed.

I started watching last night and once I saw where it was going I turned it off.

heard of this program. When is it on and what channel?

I passed up an episode of this the other night, it said it was about some person that hoarded garbage and didn't sound very interesting to me.

Garbage? Come on now... To me that just sounds like a cry for attention.

I would like to see the cat ones though.

I watched the show last night. It was horrible to see all the dead cats and kittens. I am glad they let her keep 3 . I hope they are spayed or neutered. She started off wanting to help the feral and abandoned cats. It just got way out of control. I think this is clearly a mental health issue. I hope that after the show is over they continue to help this women.

While I think programs like this can be educational - ? - it makes me really thankful we haven't paid for TV since 2005 or 2006. I can barely read stories about animal hoarding - especially cat hoarding - without having horrible nightmares for a while. I avoid even reading news articles about it these days, it's gotten that bad.

Originally Posted by mbjerkness

I think this is clearly a mental health issue.

Click to expand...

All hoarding is, not just hoarding animals or trash. Anything that leads a person to having problems with compulsive behaviors can potentially turn to this - OCD and OCPD are well known for having hoarding as a component (this isn't to say that everyone with these disorders hoards) - in these parting with an item can cause extreme anxiety.
Ultimately that behavior needs to be addressed, not just the collection cleared away.

I saw it. At first I felt bad for the woman because she said she loved the cats and she obviously was hoping to keep many of them, and she said it had just gotten out of hand. However after they started cleaning up and showed how bad the place was and found all the cat skeletons, I felt differently. I can't believe they found that many dead cats in that place! It was horrible and sad. I hope she got help.

I watched it as well.

It's on A&E for whoever it was who asked what channel it's on. Not sure what days.

Even seeing the dead cats I still felt horrible for this couple. (obviously i felt more horrible for the poor cats) I honestly believe some of her problem and people who have a lot of animals (not everyone I don't want to generalize) is the feeling of being lonely. Once you get a certain age your kids move out and start their own families.. I can see it.

I truly believe they had the best of intentions the whole time. I think it got so out of hand that they truly did not realize that there were dead cats/kittens.

I hope she and the others get help because the situation is just unbelievable and sad.

No I haven't seen that particular episode although I have watch the program a few times...

It never ceases to amaze me at just how bad the compulsion is in these people or how hard it must be to finally try to get help for it.

I had an aunt that passed away a number of years ago who was a bit of a hoarder. Not quite to the extent that these people are but I remember it took us forever to clear out her house after her death. I think the thing that sticks with me the most is she saved newspapers and she had some in her attic that dated back to the 1930's. Now if they would have been in good condition I could see saving them as a keepsake I guess. However they weren't they were moldy and falling apart.

So, there's a new episode on and as of now, two more dead cats. I don't care how callous I sound, but I have absolutely no pity for people like this lady, mental illness or not. If you can't take care of a cat, one of the easiest animals to take care of (in my opinion), then you fail at life.

Yes, that's the point: mental illness can cause a person to "fail at life." It's agony for the mentally ill person, and for those around him as well. Many of these people watch their entire lives waste away, decade after decade, completely helpless to overcome their compulsions.

One thing that becomes apparent as you watch this series is that there are different kinds of hoarders, and certainly those who involve animals in their illness are more desperately sick than others... but they're all tragic cases who deserve pity, not scorn.

Okay, back down off the soapbox now.