Cat Hoarder Issue - need advice

note: also posted on rec.pets.cats.health+behavior

Does anyone have experience dealing with a cat hoarder? I was
approached by an elderly couple about a month ago for spay/neuter and
adoption assistance. One week later, the husband asked whether he could
take three of his cats to my vet, as they were sick. They were dying
from anemia and had to be euthanized (three more were since
euthanized). It turns out he had 70+ cats in his house, only 10 of
which are altered and is dealing with a severe flea infestation.


History: Animal Control was actually at the former residence of the
couple 2-3 months ago and randomly removed somewhere between 25 and 35
cats (including two altered animals). The other cats simply hid, and
some escaped during the raid. I am calling it a raid as this was what
the couple described it as. They apparently had offered to help round
up cats and get them into carriers, but Animal Control refused the
help. Instead, they simply caught whichever cats they could with dog
catch poles. Subsequently, Animal Control did not involve anyone else
e.g. Social Services, so the couple is not receiving counseling or
other help, nor were they charged in court, they were simply evicted
from the home.


I have at this point removed 32 kittens and 13 adoptable adults from
the house, with app. 40 cats remaining. Everyone at the house has now
been treated for fleas and moved into the two least infested rooms. The
cats are pretty much unsocialized i.e. unadoptable. The couple has
started to clean up the house. But they need more help than I can get
them. They need help with the clean-up or it will take months. They
have no running water and no usable kitchen (ruined by the cats). They
can neither pay for the altering of 40 cats, nor care for them (I have
requested a grant but it will only cover 10 animals). They need
monitoring so that they do not acquire new animals (but I do believe it
is in everyone's interest to return some - altered - cats to them, to
suppress the urge to take in new animals).

Where do I turn for help, without involving Animal Control at this
point?

Call the media
call social services
call the police
call animal control
call the city , county and state authorities

KEEP CALLING UNTIL SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING

Actually, calling the media (TV and newspapers) would be the first
thing to do. All of the others could cause problems for this couple
who, it seems to me, you are trying to avoid. I would contact Social
Services after the fact. I would call Animal Control only if you had
no other choice.

I would keep the Police, City, County and State Governments out of it.

A newspaper story can generate a lot of help from within the community,
and if it is pick up by the AP you could also get financial assistance
for others around the country, even people willing to travel on their
own dime to help with the clean up

Since you are able to get a grant to cover 10 of the kitties, I would
definitely involve the couple in selecting those ten animals, and then
limit the ones they can keep to just 4 or 5. I would express this fact
in the newspaper article and that you need to find homes for the
others.

I'd like to say to involve the Humane Society or SPCA, but they have
been known to move in and confiscate all the animals and then take the
people to court for animal cruelty. I don't think this is the case, at
least not purposely. I feel this couple is not guilty of hoarding, but
merely of things getting out of hand and their not being able or not
knowing what to do (other than have the animals turned over to Animal
Control which they may have felt would have been an automatic death
sentence.

You also stated that most of these animals were not "socialized", so
you might also be able to involve one of the Feral Cat Organizations

JMHO, do with it what you will.

Hemma

"Hemmaholic" wrote in message
oups.com...
Actually, calling the media (TV and newspapers) would be the first
thing to do. All of the others could cause problems for this couple
who, it seems to me, you are trying to avoid. I would contact Social
Services after the fact. I would call Animal Control only if you had
no other choice.

I would keep the Police, City, County and State Governments out of it.

A newspaper story can generate a lot of help from within the community,
and if it is pick up by the AP you could also get financial assistance
for others around the country, even people willing to travel on their
own dime to help with the clean up

Since you are able to get a grant to cover 10 of the kitties, I would
definitely involve the couple in selecting those ten animals, and then
limit the ones they can keep to just 4 or 5. I would express this fact
in the newspaper article and that you need to find homes for the
others.

I'd like to say to involve the Humane Society or SPCA, but they have
been known to move in and confiscate all the animals and then take the
people to court for animal cruelty. I don't think this is the case, at
least not purposely. I feel this couple is not guilty of hoarding, but
merely of things getting out of hand and their not being able or not
knowing what to do (other than have the animals turned over to Animal
Control which they may have felt would have been an automatic death
sentence.

You also stated that most of these animals were not "socialized", so
you might also be able to involve one of the Feral Cat Organizations

JMHO, do with it what you will.

Hemma

Perhaps you could identify some of the affluent people in your community who
love animals and ask them for help? If you have a vet that you trust, maybe
they can work with you. The media can be helpful as well, like was stated
above.

We had a situation in our area where the cat hoarder had over 100 mostly
sociable cats in his house and about 30 ferals in another building. A few
years earlier, the newspaper had done an article on him about him helping
some of the local elderly people with their cats and he had 14 in his house
at the time. Of course, they irresponsibly published his address, so for 2
years people started dumping their cats and litters of kittens on his
doorstep. He had a benefactor that would help him with the financial part,
but she had died and he was in a real crisis trying to care for these cats,
which were multiplying and taking over every nook and cranny of his life. He
was unable to work and would go without meeting his own needs to take care
of theirs. By the time we heard about him, the situation was pretty bad.

The week before we met him, our local Animal Control actually called him and
told him that they received lots of complaints about his cats, and said he
didn't have to worry, they weren't going to bother him. They actually just
wanted him to cool his jets until a few months later, when they could raid
his house (and probably euthanize all the cats) as a prime example for other
Animal Control groups in the state, as they were hosting the annual ACO
convention.

Fortunately, our group heard about the guy and talked to him to find out how
we could help. A local couple offered to fund the project, and we worked
with our vet on strategy and the medical care. We also involved the
newspaper and they did a responsible follow up story about the situation,
which helped bring in more donations (and also angered Animal Control, who
lost their opportunity to sacrifice this guy and all those cats). It's been
a long, slow process, but his cats are all vetted, his house is no longer a
giant litter box, our local cat food factory supplies his food, he still has
a credit balance at the vet's office for his cat care, and so far we've
helped him get almost 60 of his cats adopted to wonderful homes. He still
has about 40 in his house, but has taken no new cats in, and is actively
trying to get them adopted through our Petfinder listing, adoptathons, and
word of mouth. The best results are that he now has his self esteem rebuilt
so he can work, and none of his cats had to be euthanized.

It was great that this guy would keep the unsocialized cats separated from
the socialized ones, and he would bring one or two into the fold until they
were socialized. If the cats in the situation you are describing are all
feral, that makes the task so much more difficult. It will certainly take a
lot of patience and planning to deal with them, and lots of different
volunteers/fosters, if you can get them, since this elderly couple are not
able to do it. You have a big job ahead of you in dealing with this. I hope
you receive the help you need to save these cats.

Hemma,

thanks for the advice. I had involved the news media and a local
newspaper did a story, which generated some adoptions, no funding
unfortunately :-( I am afraid to involve TV, as Animal Control may
remember him from his old apartment if they see the story and may try
to go in before I can get him back on the right track.

We have selected five (alreayd altered) cats they are getting back and
I have paid for altering another 10 which we selected as immediately
adoptable (I do hope that the grant will eventually come in!). I have
adopted out 10 kittens and the SPCA in the next larger city took
another 10 off my hands. 10 older kittens are in a foster home for
socialization. That leaves about 40 cats at the house currently. If
nothing else, for now they are all treated for fleas and have
sufficient and mostly clean litterboxes.

It actually turns out that the cats are not as unsocialized as it
appeared. With removing the cats from the premises many of them quickly
become adoptable. The adolescent cats at my house (9-18 months) have
all come around nicely within only a few days and want to be petted -
they are just not comfortable being picked up.

And I do agree, I think they are not classic hoarders. They recognized
that the situation had gotten out-of-hand and asked for help (not
usually a hallmark sign of a hoarder). They voluntarily let me inside
the house when I offered to help with the cats. When I told them they
have to not only take care of the animals, but the house, they agreed
to do so. It seemed to me like they were incapable of getting going
with the tasks at hand because they were so overwhelmed they did not
know where to start. But since I started giving them specific tasks
(order dumpster by..., frontline all cats by..., clean up these two
rooms by..., move all cats into now clean rooms etc.), things are
actually moving ahead. They seem to feel bad about the state the
animals are in and are doing the best they can to alleviate things. I
do have a vet who offers low-cost spay/neuter and who has agreed to let
them keep a balance for medical costs, as long as they pay off a little
bit every week. All I need now is for some rescue groups to take a few
cats!

I'll try to call a local TV channel to see what they can do without
identifying the couple.

Thanks for the encouragement - I guess the biggest challenge I am
facing as far as adoptions are concerned is that ALL the cats are the
same coloring ... brown tabbies! That just sparked an idea - maybe I
can get one of the local petstores to allow me to hold a 'Tabby
Adoptathon' in the near future :-)

This is really good news, and it does sound like you have been very
good at getting this elderly couple started in the right direction.

I like the idea of a "Tabby Adoptathon"; isn't it PetSmat that hosts so
many of these nation-wide? Perhaps you can contact some at corporate
level who can give you some guidance and perhaps assistance on get it
organized and advertised.

It doesn't really surprise me to hear that most of these animals were
not as "unsociable" as once thought. In an over-crowded population
such as this was, it would be normal for there to be a lot of "unease"
among the cats. Putting that many felines in one place would keep them
all on the defensive even if no people were present, there was just no
space where they could (the cats) could form their own "social groups".
In large colonies of feral cats you will find there are actually
several smaller groups that tend to stay together and interact well
with each other but not necessarily with those from other groups. I've
noticed that altered and unaltered cats, when kept in large groups, do
not always get along with each other, especially spayed females and
unaltered males.

If you approach your local TV News and request anonymity for this
couple up front, explaining what could happen - as Gina stated - they
would be very willing to cooperate. Have a game plan ready when you
talk to them about the project. Tell them the situation, what has
already been done and what you hope to still accomplish and what you
would like to see come from their involvement.

Here are a few links to sites that you may find helpful:

http://www.alleycat.org/orgs.html

http://www.pets911.com/programs/national/feralcats/

http://amby.com/cat_site/feral.html

http://www.statelinetack.com/adoptions/index.shtml

It will take some work but I know it can be done! Also, try to contact
your local Boys/Girls Club; Boy Scout and Girl Scout Groups as you may
be able to get them involved in helping this couple not only care for
the animals but help them get their home back in order, and keep it
that way. 40 cats is still a lot of felines for any one person to take
care of, let alone an elderly couple who have been treated badly before
by those very people who are supposed to help. Plus the more
organizations you can get involved in this cause, the less like Animal
Control will be to come in and, shall we say, "act badly".

Do keep us posted on your progress and remember, every little step
forward counts as progress! I applaud you for getting involved and
helping this couple do what they (most likely) wanted to do in the
first place, save these animals that others had discarded.

Hemma

wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for the encouragement - I guess the biggest challenge I am
facing as far as adoptions are concerned is that ALL the cats are the
same coloring ... brown tabbies! That just sparked an idea - maybe I
can get one of the local petstores to allow me to hold a 'Tabby
Adoptathon' in the near future :-)

Sounds like you're doing all the right things! Also sounds like all those
kids are related, hehehe.

Here's a link to a Petfinder page that gives several good ideas on getting
cats adopted. Hope there's something of benefit there for you. (It was a
huge url, so hope this shorter one works - I've never used that feature
before.)

http://makeashorterlink.com/?P24932CFB

Please do keep us posted on your progress, if you don't mind.

Animal Control got involved yesterday - they agreed to wait till next
week to come to the house and seize any remaining cats. I have an
adoptathon scheduled for the weekend and the couple has asked several
other local rescues to check whether they have space for a few cats
each. I wasn't very successful with the news media (given that I also
wanted to protect both the couples and my identity), but two channels
did say they would try to talk about the adoptathon on their Saturday
morning pet show. They have consented to agree to a charge of animal
cruelty/animal neglect, and to conform with a cort order to own no more
than a number of yet to be decided altered cats for the rest of their
life. They will also receive counseling. This is probably about as good
as it gets in a situation like this.

Thanks again for all your advice.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Animal Control got involved yesterday - they agreed to wait till next
week to come to the house and seize any remaining cats. I have an
adoptathon scheduled for the weekend and the couple has asked several
other local rescues to check whether they have space for a few cats
each. I wasn't very successful with the news media (given that I also
wanted to protect both the couples and my identity), but two channels
did say they would try to talk about the adoptathon on their Saturday
morning pet show. They have consented to agree to a charge of animal
cruelty/animal neglect, and to conform with a cort order to own no more
than a number of yet to be decided altered cats for the rest of their
life. They will also receive counseling. This is probably about as good
as it gets in a situation like this.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Thank you for sharing the outcome on this situation. It could have turned
out so much worse if you had not worked so hard for a better solution. You
did a good job!