Is cat hoarding a thing?

[HelmutFrontbut]

I have three cats, proper indoor and outdoor cats. They are so happy and enjoy their lives - cuddles in the evening when I'm home but run free outside during the day.

My friend however has seven cats in a tiny apartment. She looks after them very well but is obsessed with rescuing more. She cannot drive past a cat in the street without picking it up but she also finds abandoned kitties on fb!

She has so many cats in her Apartment, it stresses me out!!

Yes it is a thing. Celia Hammond did a big rescue of 45 recently and the volunteer driver at my CP centre had to collect a number from a flat recently. Both in the same London borough.
There are often mental health issues on a lot of these cases. I don't know enough about MH to say what or why though. It is worrying your friend picks cats up off the street as they could have good homes!

Yes, it is, cats and other animal / birds etc.
My cat was one of 60 removed from one premises

Yes, my grandad adopts all the cats... I think at last count he had 13 that are in and out of his flat constantly 😂 my nan started it when they were still living together with 3 and she now lives in Spain, with 5 cats she has adopted. No idea where either of them get these cats from, but they're everywhere!!! And they all like (tolerate) my dog.

Thanks Vino. I live abroad and there's a massive problem here with feral cats, it's a bloody nightmare to be honest.

I don't know why my friend consistently wants to take random cats in, it's exhausting. We have such a problem here with disease, FIV and FIP, it's horrendous

Ah I see so it could explain why she is so keen to take them in. Sadly these are the problems that not neutering leads to. It's far from perfect in the UK but at least there is more of a neutering culture here (if that can be a thing?!)

I'm overseas and am trying very hard to keep a lid on the numbers of cats I have but it's hard as there are NO animal charities or shelters - if private individuals don't take sick, injured and abandoned animals in they die a horrible death in the heat. I love where I live but the lack of animal welfare is horrifying.
I have 2 proper indoor cats; 2 that live part indoors/outdoors, three 'teenagers' who were only supposed to be with me for a while but refuse to go outside for more than a few minutes, a half blind one who lives in the garden, and as of a few days ago tiny kitten (5-6 weeks I think) I picked up squealing in a carpark. If I didn't grab it it would have been squashed before the day was out.

I don't know why my friend consistently wants to take random cats in, it's exhausting because she sounds like a lovely person. The cats seem happy, that's what's important. They've got a far better life then they had, that's what's important. It's obviously what she wants to do with her life. The fact it stresses you out, isn't important.

Is your friend neutering and vaccinating them?

We have a massive trap, spey and neuter scheme here but it's just not enough.

I know someone who has 28 indoor cats in a flat. She ‘rescued’ them all.

I think it’s cruel tbh. I have 3 indoor cats and that is more than enough

What if those cats are healthy animals who have a home which they return to after having a walk?

Jesus Dormouse where do you live??

Yes all her cats are vaccinated and neutered. They've never been outside (born in captivity) which is fine but she just wants more!

Helmut I'm in the Middle East. So a very unforgiving climate and a society that doesn't have a history of pet ownership. I only take in cats as I work long hours, but it's worse for dogs as the police go round shooting them regularly. Any dog without a collar and an owner in sight can be shot.

There are a couple of organisations set up by mainly expats who are trying to change things but they can't get charitable status so fundraising is extremely difficult. And people involved get themselves terribly in debt (I know a couple of low paid workers who owe the equivalent of several thousand pounds in vets bills). And a couple more who can't say no to an animal in need who have 20+ cats and dogs in their care. I donate food to help them but even I ran out of money last month!

I have a secret tattoo across my forehead, visible only to animals and small children. It clearly says MUG.

DP is used to it now, but did say early on when we were dating that he'd never met anybody who seemed to have their own gravitational force pulling in random animals wherever they went.

I left him in the kitchen this morning with instructions on how to care for and release a stray bumblebee that got itself shut in the house overnight - and he always gives me that look when he hears his name from the direction of the back door, followed by 'Look what I've found!', as he's learned from experience that means something alive. He also fills the bird feeders, put up bee hotels (he likes watching the Masons and Leafcutters) and I think he's still emotionally scarred by the way I bellowed at him 'they're butterfly Chrysalises! Don't clean them off!' when I spotted him about to remove a bunch of cocoons where they'd decided to climb up the doorframe and set up home for the duration of their metamorphoses.

So far I've had stray kittens, an abused kitten, abandoned dogs, an accidental hamster brought in by the DTwatCat and plenty of random wildlife hefting up for a stay, such as slow worms, concussed sparrows, toads and a hedgehog. Oh, and lots of retrieving and releasing of birds that get trapped in buildings at work.

I think I'm just on the Not-Quite-Batshit side because I don't seek out waifs and strays or pay good money for anything that could just as easily turn up on my doorstep the following morning.

But only just.

Cat hoarding is definitely a thing. But that isn't what this is. This is someone who sees a desperate situation and is doing the best she can to help.

But if it stresses you out then stop visiting.

Sadly, animal hoarding is a major problem for some people. While your friend may be trying to do the "right thing", it sounds as if she may have some issues.

It's quite possible that the cats she picks up do, in fact, have good homes. It's possible that she has a compulsion to pick up every cat she sees (there is a suspicion that hoarding is a form of OCD).

To those people saying the cats could well have homes, I think you have no idea how things are in other countries. The numbers of stray and feral cats in the UK is bad enough - in most other countries it is overwhelming. It's very easy to spot a cat without a home in these countries (and this is unfortunately most of the cats). I'm pretty sure this woman is only doing what any animal lover would be tempted to do in such circumstances. It doesn't sound as though she has a mental health problem (she isn't allowing them to breed after all)- it sounds as though she has compassion.

My initial thoughts were of a potential animal hoarder but now OP has explained she is overseas that changed my thoughts.
I still remember all the strays in Dubrovnik. Heartbreaking. We went to a restaurant one day and a gorgeous white pregnant cat settled down right beside me. Didn't know at the time but was also pregnant myself.

As she's abroad I assume it's one of the many countries with a huge problem with strays and very little available in terms of shelters.

I have a couple of friends who volunteer with an animal charity abroad and all their fosterers have around 10-30 cats at home at any one time - they are looking for adopters but attitudes are not like here in the UK and a cat may not receive a single adoption enquiry for years. They mostly rescue special needs cats (lots of kittens with cat flu who lose their eyes etc.) who would literally die if they weren't rescued... They are also involved in spay & neutering for strays and ferals to try and reduce the overall cat overpopulation in their area.

Owning cats and mental health:

www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/reality-check-can-cat-poop-cause-mental-illness