To consult the RSPCA?

[Wherethehellisrickgrimes]

I have a neighbour of 10+ years, she is a lady of middle age and has severe mental health problems. I have got to know her reasonably well but don't know the her exact diagnosis, although I do know she suffers from delusions and when she's unwell she's a completely different person.

She has been detained under the mental health act dozens of times over the course of me living here, the most recent time being a couple of weeks ago.

The recent episode lead to her completely trashing the house, smashing things, screaming and shouting to herself for hours. The police were called and she was taken to hospital where she remains.

The reason for my post is that she has two cats who are caught in the crossfire of all of this every time it happens. As a pet owner it breaks my heart to think about how terrified they must be as it's terrifying to hear even through the walls. Every time she is hospitalised a family member comes round on a daily basis to feed and tend to them and when she's well she does take good care of them, but the last time it happened the cats couldn't be found for almost a week as they were hiding too frightened to come out 😔

IDK if being an animal lover is making me too judgemental but WIBU to speak to the RSPCA with my concerns?

Would you be concerned or no?

I've NC.

I can understand your concerns but sadly I don’t think rspca will do anything 😞

I would be concerned and I would contact them for advice.

Contact them see what they say. X

Can the cats get outside when they need to ?
I understand your concerns, the situation is far from ideal but it looks like the family are doing their best if they are going round feeding them when it's needed.

Thank you for the replies.

I'm really conflicted because for the majority of the time they are well cared for in general from what I'm aware, but they must be so traumatised.

They are predominantly house cats, I've only ever seen them in the garden once in a blue moon. We live by a main road and she keeps them indoors presumably for that reason.

Cat Protection might be able to advise better.

Could you speak to the family member? Maybe they aren't fully aware of the impact on the cats. Perhaps they would be willing to help their family member to rehome them?

The RSPCA are not the right people to contact in a situation like this, they are extremely over burdened with animals and as a result don't maintain housing for very long. If the pets aren't able to be rehomed in a matter of weeks they are destroyed.
The first thing I would suggest you do is to speak to the family as others have suggested. The are a small number of charities that will house surrendered pets indefinitely but spaces are limited, perhaps both yourself and the family would be happier if something like this could be arranged.

Yes, I'd be concerned. Could you get hold of a crisis team number to ring when she starts to become unwell instead of people mopping up after she's exploded? Do the family visit when she's well or just feed the cats when she's not?