67 dead cats and 99 live cats taken from NY home

[undeterred]

WRIGHT, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say 67 dead cats and 99 living cats had to be removed from a filthy home in upstate New York. Officials removed the cats from a home in Wright, near Albany, on Wednesday night.

The Times Union of Albany (http://bit.ly/WcrFvU ) reports the dead cats were packed in plastic bags in the freezer and the live cats were in crates stacked floor to ceiling. Sheriff's deputies went to the home after a neighbor called to complain about the overpowering odor of cat urine and feces. Charges are being weighed against the cats' owner.

The manager of the animal shelter that took in the cats said she previously tried to try to help the woman. But she said the woman had "a hoarder mentality."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/6

ok, thats more than some shelters can keep

[polly7]

1. Those poor, poor kitties.

I'm so glad the remaining were rescued. What an awful thing to be so ill that even the horrible suffering of so many defenseless creatures doesn't register.

[PoliticAverse]

2. There are enough animal hoarders to make a reality show...

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/confessions-animal-hoarding

[eilen]

3. Sadly, rural areas are where

people tend to "dump" pets, often without spaying and neutering beforehand. Thus enabling an OCD animal lover with hoarding tendencies--particularly in this area that does see some very cold snowy winters. They are the ones who get charged but those who abandon the animals do not. Some of the rural towns around here (Onondga, Wayne, Oswego counties and Northwards) often are found to harbor these "cat-houses" --of course the people think they are rescuing and saving the animal from freezing to death. Every year another one or two hit the news-- sometimes with other farm animals like horses etc. But 99 cats, wow, I can't imagine where they will place them all.

[Itchinjim]

4. Not to tick off the cat people here, but

one cat can stink up a house pretty good and I can't even begin to imagine what 166 cats would do to a house.

[kestrel91316]

6. If your cat stinks up your house, yur doin' it wrong. There is absolutely

NO reason for cats to stink up a home. They are extremely clean animals.

Too many cats, poor quality cat litter, POOR HYGIENE/HUSBANDRY, untreated illness - these can lead to odor issues. Deal with cats properly and they are a joy to own.

[LancetChick]

7. You are exactly right.

I never understood those kitty litter commercials that go on and on about smelling fresh and getting rid of odor. Even when I skip a day of cleaning the litter box there's no odor. Not with my present cats and not with my last cat. I imagine if you had an indoor cat and were really lazy about cleaning the box the cat might find another place to "go", and that would smell horrible. Cat urine is the worst smelling stuff ever (I know because one of my cats peed in his carrier once. Judging by the smell, I thought it was diarrhea until I saw that it wasn't). But as you said, a house with a cat odor is one with poor hygiene.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

8. My parents had two cats, and one of them stunk the house up like a MFer

It practically RUINED the corers of their carpet in all the rooms - spraying. It would always puke too and then eat the vomit 5 minutes later. They were always trying to find better food for it, they had it spayed, it always had clean litter. I think it was just mentally disturbed. Nasty dirty little animal, and my mother refused to get rid of it.

The other cat was just fine

[kestrel91316]

9. Urine odor issues are almost always associated with urinary tract infections OR failure to

spay/neuter properly. Spraying is usually due to not neutering or leaving a testicle behind. If that's not the problem, it's psychiatric and head meds help. Inappropriate urination (as opposed to spraying) is usually either due to a urinary tract infection or avoidance of the litter box for some reason, like cheap cat litter that doesn't absorb odor, or poor choice ob box design, or bad location, or too many cats and not enough boxes.

I solve these sorts of problems for a living. They are virtually always either completely preventable or very treatable with environmental changes, treating any illnesses present, and/or head meds.

I saw a "neutered" male one time who had a retained testicle that got left behind by a lazy surgeon. He stank like a polecat (IOW like an unneutered tom). I explored surgically, found and removed the remnant, and problem solved. The previous vet who lied about actually doing a complete neuter wound up paying my bill.

[Walk away]

5. There is more of this than you can imagine. The director of our county shelter was a hoarder.

She took animals from the shelter (many adoptable) and kept them in a one bedroom apartment. She caused a fire in her building and between 60 and 70 animals burned. All dead.

A friend of mine that did volunteer training at the shelter had found a home for a beautiful white Shepard who she had worked with and trained. The dog went missing and it's remains were found in the ashes.

No one knew what was going on until the fire but she had alienated many volunteers before that.

[reformist2]

10. I dunno... this Russian lady seems to be taking good care of her 136 cats...

One of my favorite YouTube videos ever... money shot at 1:30...LOL!

[Marrah_G]

11. Hoarding is a devastating illness