The face of hoarding

His name is CAT. He is 12 yrs. old. He SHOULD be at least 15 lbs. He is 10lbs. He is a Maine Coon.

I got a call on Thurs. of last week. "Is there room at your house?"

Of course! What is one more?

Back story. I had a coworker that I used to "babysit" her cat if she had to go out of town or had to have surgery. He gets along great with all of my cats and dog.

She retired 1.5 yrs ago and NO one had heard from her despite calling and stopping by her apartment.

The call came after she was Baker Acted for not cleaning up her apartment. The smell was so bad the neighbors called to complain. Once the authorities got into the apartment they had to wear Haz. mat suits with outside breathers. It looked like she had not thrown anything away for the 1.5 yrs. she had lived there. The litter box was over full and CAT had been going potty all over the apartment.

Animal Control was called and they took CAT with them.

She refused to talk to anyone. "I am a grown adult and can do or not do anything I want."

It took 9 days before she started talking. The first thing she did was ask about CAT. When she was told that he was at the shelter and she was going to be charged with animal cruelty/neglect and would never get him back she asked them to call me to come get the cat. I picked him up on Sat.

He is home and eating everything we put in front of him. The vet said he should be fine in time. Right now it is a matter of getting cat food into him instead of the human tuna she fed him when she remembered to fed him.

Welcome home CAT!

Thank God for angels like you. There are sick people out there. Poor kitty, I hope he is going to be ok. Take some before and after pics if you can.

God bless you.

Thank-you for taking him in and fixing him up. I have a Maine Coon and if your poor guy is only 10 pounds, he's really been starved.

Hope he recovers completely.

Oh the poor boy! Thank you so much for giving him a better chance in life

Lots of that he settles in quickly and fills out more. So tragic for him

Bless You and Bless CAT. I'm so happy he is out of there. Thank God the woman had a lucid moment and mentioned your name!! Prayers and vibes go out to you and CAT!! And also to the woman with the hoarding problem. I do hope she accepts help

Poor Cat. Bless you for taking that boy into your home!

That poor baby

I'm glad that she had sense enough to ask if he could go to you!

I look forward to updates and pictures of him thriving under your care.

Oh that poor darling boy... Thank you, thank you, thank you! The world should have more people like you.

Oh, thank you for saving him! So glad she asked for your help. I hope she gets help, and never gets another cat. I'm glad she didn't have more. People with that illness rarely just have one animal.

There is a special place in heaven for people like you.


Robin

aaawwwwww---such a cutie too

Thank goodness there are people like you around to help out in such a situation

kimkat thank you for saving him. As someone who does the same type of work in my area, I would also like to suggest that you change his name. Give him a new lease on life and get rid of the name that he relates to a harsh environment of neglect. He is going to be stunning in time- but as I am sure your vet told you, you can in your concern to get him healthy over-feed him and cause more problems in the long-term.

How sad is that, thank goodness there are people like you in this world to care for the kits in need. Hope Cat will be back to normal real soon.

Originally Posted by hissy

kimkat thank you for saving him. As someone who does the same type of work in my area, I would also like to suggest that you change his name. Give him a new lease on life and get rid of the name that he relates to a harsh environment of neglect. He is going to be stunning in time- but as I am sure your vet told you, you can in your concern to get him healthy over-feed him and cause more problems in the long-term.

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I second that!!! He deserves a dignified name like Winston or Winchester or Lincoln or some male person you admire.

for rescuing him.

for his recovery.

And THANK YOU for pointing out that hoarding is a disease - that has nothing to do with how many cats are involved. Hoarding is a mental illness and affects the care of the animals.

for CAT's former... "caretaker," that she gets the help she needs. How terribly, terribly sad.

Thank you for taking care of this kitty

Originally Posted by Bellaandme

Bless You and Bless CAT. I'm so happy he is out of there. Thank God the woman had a lucid moment and mentioned your name!! Prayers and vibes go out to you and CAT!! And also to the woman with the hoarding problem. I do hope she accepts help

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CAT is lucky to be rescued. Sounds like this woman really has some mental health issues, and I hope she gets the treatment she needs.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for rescuing this little senior boy. This case is overwhelmingly sad...I love hissy's advice to change his name.
Tons and tons of for him to get stronger soon

Thank you for saving and helping this sweet boy

It turns out this is the 3rd time we KNOW of that this has happened to her! This was the worse as she lived in an apartment with shared walls. The other times she was able to still take care of CAT.

The other two times were in stand alone houses. One a rental the other she was buying. Come to find out she does not pay her bills as she cannot find them or her check book or reading glasses. She was without water for 2 months this time. It was the bills not being paid that tipped off the authorities the last two times. This time it was the neighbors complaining about the smell.

One condition of her release was that she went to live with her sister in Kansas OR move into a residential home. She has instead moved in to an extended stay motel. I have called the authorities to let them know her whereabouts as she is a danger to herself because she is diabetic and will not wear her glasses when she drives.

I have offered to take her to where ever she needs to go. She REFUSES any and all help and is very ugly about it. "All I need from you is for CAT to live with you." She then pushed me out the door and slammed it shut. She is now refusing to answer the phone when I call. I have given my name and numbers to everyone I can think of as a contact that cares and will help if at all possible.

Until then I know I have made one life better by being here. CAT is loved, cared for, on his way to being healthy.

We are putting out all of the kibble he will eat and give him half a can of wet food twice a day. He is eating and going potty great! His tail is at full mast now and he is trotting around the house like a happy cat! (Hissy is this a good plan???)

His new name is HANDSOME !!! We both found our self talking to him and saying "well hello there Handsome" and such so..............

Thanks for all that responded. I will keep a weight log and update weekly.

HUGS to all!

Kim

Poor woman, she's mentally ill. She's very lucky to have you be there for her, but I'm so sorry she's refusing help.

If Handsome is not eating to the point of throwing up, free feeding on the kibble should be OK. You may want to consider mixing a little warm water in with his wet food, give him a little extra hydration. He's been to the vet, and he's not experiencing problems with his kidneys or liver, right?