Animal Hoarder Chicken Ep. 1-14-11

[Redcatcher]

My brother has 35 cats and does not run a rescue or claim to. He might be considered a hoarder but his house it clean, neat and organized. No odor of cat as you walk in the door. He buys kitty litter and food in bulk (Sam's Club). Sometimes it is hard to believe he has all those cats since you only see maybe 5-6 at any given time (unless it is feeding time). The longer you visit, the more cats you will see but rarely than just a few at any given time. He is single, would rather stay home than go out and the cats are the center of his life (I have ONE cat by the way). I have seen people that have just a couple of cats and their house reeks.

 

[onecent]

Quote:
I have known people to have alot of animals in their house and the house be very neat & clean! ...and I've known a few people who have 1 or 2 and oh brother! gas mask time! unfortunately, most hoarders animal or article, have mental issues going on, and are not on top of cleaning or having the $$ for properly taking care of the animals, but they think(in their minds) they are the only ones who can take care of the animals, and it really gets out of hand, fast, as far as the people who have just a couple of animals & their house is in bad shape, they are just plain lazy & don't want to clean up...ewww!

 

[Smoky73]

The hoarding shows make me want to through things out too, I cleaned out all old food in my pantry the other day after watching a regular hoarder show.
Town near me practically gives cats away at the shelter and the ferals around the area they try to catch, fix and release back. We have 2 indoor cats and 2 dogs. I have roughly 2-3 outdoor cats that the females are fixed finally.

 

[justbugged]

I love watching the Hoarder shows. I think they scare me, because there is a part of me that knows that I could become like some of those people. All though I can't imagine living in garbage or fecal matter.

I overheard my mother describe me as a shop-aholic and a dog-aholic. to my uncle that I had only met maybe 3 times in my life. At the time, I had just bought a male Yorkie to take home to my little girl Yorkie. He was the third dog in my house at the time.

I am not sure why I didn't get the cat-aholic award also. I have 5 outdoor feral cats. As for the shopping thing, I have been to a mall once in the last 6 or seven years. I fairly sure that I have a long way to go before any of the labels will fit, and I can be the star on one of the Hoarder shows.

 

[HHandbasket]

A girlfriend of mine inherited a ranch from her grandmother a few years ago. Last year, she took out a loan on the house and did some major fixing-up, new flooring, etc., and rented it out to this really nice lady. Within a short time, however, something was odd & the lady did not answer her door, but you could hear her dogs barking inside. Finally, come to find out, the woman she had rented to was an animal hoarder and had more than 20 dogs living inside the house (she never let them outside so they wouldn't take off and so no one would know she had them). All the new flooring---ruined. The bathtub had been refinished and the whole bathroom completely remodeled, but it looks worse now than it did before the remodel less than a year ago. The woman only lived there for 4 months, and it is going to cost my friend about $8,000 to undo the damage.

Last we heard, the lady is down to 6 dogs, living with her in her car. So sad. I hope she gets help.

My heart goes out to those people. They're trying to fill a hole in their soul that isn't gonna be filled. It's like me and over-eating.

 

[redhen]

Gahhh..i have 7 indoor cats and i cant even imagine ANY more cats in this house! Its vaccuming a couple of times a day..EVERY day... and the same with the 3 litter boxes... and.. and.. and....
Yeah.. 7 cats are ENOUGH for me.

**well unless i can get my hands on a Savannah cat**

Maybe i'm a hoarder too...

My chickens are outside though...

Neener..neener...

 

[Carols Clucks]

Hoarding is a serious problem usually not noticed by the hoarder. It is sad, and when animals are involved even sadder. My dad was a "collector" and his younger sister would hoard stuff too (including several cats with medical issues) I have spent a giant part of the past 7-8 years cleaning up my parents property. Because everything was precious, I would often have to bag up and hide the trash in the van to bring home to throw stuff out. My dad would collect building materials from construction sites. Both grew up in orphanages and foster homes when their father would be on a bender and unable to care for them. They had nothing, so they save everything.

Those shows are sad, those people need a lot of help and long term as well. My mom has a friend that is a hoarder, she fills cars with stuff she picks up, when they break down from the weight of all that stuff, she parks them and gets a new car. Her yard is full, her house is full, she picks up old food from restaurants....dumpster dives behind grocery stores etc, she owns a few rental properties and could live well. My mom thinks she is just too busy to clean up, I make sure mom keeps a AAA card in case they break down in her friends cars, it really is an illness. These shows shed some light on what the problem might be for family members, but it is hard to watch.

But it sure makes you want to throw open your closets and make some serious donations when you watch those shows!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Hey everyone--we've got a thread with some more information running here, come join us and discuss!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=436267

Our own Nifty-Chicken is featured in the episode, and the chickens are rescued by none other than the farm animal rescue group I work for.

 

[ChickInDelight]

Wow. I just watched some of the clips. I will admit - GULP - that I have many of the traits that derive from OCD type animal hoarder. I am actually on the clean-freak side of the spectrum, having been worn down over time to tolerate some mess in my home, but in the normal range. I am NOT a hoarder of stuff. I have the fault of throwing away too soon rather than accumulating.

Here is where I see the line between animal lover and animal hoarder:

Functional | Dysfunctional.

I believe we hit problem / sick behavior when life becomes dysfunctional. In some cases, the homes are disasters and animals/people are sick. In other cases, only lost jobs / family disturbance seem to be the indicators.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Just saw i wrote this months ago..
Yeah... up to 8 cats now...

Someone send me an intervention....