History / How can I tell if someone is an animal hoarder? / Interesting Facts About Animal Hoarding / Animal Hoarding Definition / Cat Hoarding Video / Healthy Multi-Cat Home / Conclusion /

"Crazy Old Cat Ladies" have a long and mixed history. Women, particularly older women who have no "mate" and who have multiple cats are generally lumped together under the term. Like any group, there are the good and the bad among them, although I like to think all "crazy old cat ladies" share the common trait of a kind heart, no matter what else their motivations may be.

In times past any old widow woman who fed the neighborhood strays until she had a house full of cats was generally burned at the stake as a witch. This was even more likely if she happened to have inherited property as the last surviving heir of a man - since this allowed the authorities to confiscate that property and get it back into the hands of a man - where it belonged to their way of thinking.

We did stop burning people at the stake - mostly - a few hundred years ago. But we still tend to socially castigate the "crazy old lady down the street with all those cats".

With the interest generated by the A&E series "Hoarders" as well as sensational cases of animal hoarding reported by news services, "crazy old cat ladies" are once again under scrutiny.

But not every woman with multiple cats is a cat or pet hoarder. Not every woman or person who feeds stray cats or feral cats, is a cat or animal hoarder.

Animal hoarding is a clearly defined mental illness.

For every animal hoarder who is causing serious problems for herself, her community, and the very animals she claims to love there are probably a few hundred true cat lovers who simply own more than a few cats. How can we tell the difference?

I have created a short quiz that may help you decide if the "crazy cat lady" you are concerned about is truly an animal hoarder, or simply a misunderstood cat lover.

What is Animal or Pet Hoarding?

The most obvious symptom or fact that sets animal hoarders apart from animal lovers is that animal hoarders take in more animals than they are able to provide proper care for AND deny their neglect. They believe they are taking good care of their animals.

This is a recognized mental illness and/or a symptom of other mental illnesses such as OCD and depression.

Some other symptoms of animal hoarding:
The animal hoarder does not realize they are not providing adequate care for their animals. They are deeply attached to their pets, and believe they are taking good care of their cats regardless of obvious signs of suffering. An animal hoarder fails to provide adequate water, food, shelter and health care for their animals resulting in suffering, disease, and even death for their pets.

Malnourishment, including starvation so severe some of the hoarders pets have died, is common.

Severe overcrowding In some cases, hundreds of cats are present in the cat hoarders home.

Poor or non-existant sanitation Animal hoarders houses are often full of feces and urine and even dead and dying animals.

Animal health problems The overcrowding, malnourishment, and lack of sanitation creates an atmosphere in which disease can run rampant. The animal hoarder either can not or will not seek the help of a veternarian for their sick animals.

Self-neglect, and neglect of dependents A surprising number of animal hoarders have either elderly relatives or children who live with them. They are usually as neglected as the animals, as well as negatively affected by the general lack of sanitation.

News services just love stories about hoarders. They are always ready to show you lots of video of filthy homes and sick, dead and dying cats and their crazy owners.

There are some legitimate complaints to be made regarding any person (although it is usually a woman) who feeds feral strays. There is a responsible way to do this - and an irresponsible and inconsiderate way to do this.

First, let us agree that the person who feeds the cats does so from a kind and warm heart that cannot bear to think of the cats suffering and starving. This is the person who when that first cat arrives on their porch, crying and begging for food and comfort, cannot turn them away. This is not a character flaw!

In an ideal world, everyone would keep their cats as indoor pets and there would be no starving lost or feral born cats to feed. Sadly, this is not an ideal world. This is a world where, rather than socially ostracize the people who have abandoned their pets, or allowed their pets to breed irresponsibly, we ostracize and attack the people who attempt to care for the resulting problem - stray cats.

Given that this kind hearted person is going to feed and try to help those cats in any way she can - there are other issues to consider. Does she feed them, but also capture them, placing those who are suitable in good homes, providing vaccinations and spay or neuter and then if necessary a re-release of cats who are not adoptable? This is called Trap, Neuter, and Release and is, in fact, a responsible way of dealing with the stray cat problem.

Before you start pointing fingers - you should visit with the person involved and find out exactly what their situation is. You may be surprised, and also get to know a person of true value and compassion.

If a person has a number of cats in their home, that does not automatically mean they are mentally ill animal hoarders. In the U.S. there are over 90 million pet cats living in 37.7 million households. This should tell you that most cat lovers own more than one cat. A multi-cat household is not de facto evidence of mental illness.

Written and copyrighted by Summer Fey Foovay 2012

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