RAPS is engaged in one of the largest operations we have ever undertaken — rescuing scores of kittens and cats from a disastrous hoarding situation.
“We were called by a family member to intervene in a situation where a person with some significant issues had been hoarding cats and kittens in a large townhouse,” says Valerie Wilson, manager of the RAPS Cat Sanctuary and RAPS Adoption Center. “What we discovered was unlike anything most of us had seen in decades of animal welfare work.”
When the rescuers arrived at the home, dozens of cats and kittens scattered like insects. Opening bathroom cupboards, drawers and looking behind appliances, there were kittens and cats everywhere throughout the house. The entire house was festering with urine and feces everywhere and the stench was unbearable. The home has almost no furniture and the frightened kittens were scampering under urine-soaked blankets to hide from the human “intruders.” When our team cold called unannounced, there were no litter boxes and most of the cats were locked in a room with no furniture, surrounded by feces and urine.
“One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation is that not one, but two, animal rescue organizations had intervened in the past, but had not addressed the underlying hoarding situation,” says Wilson. “In both instances, the organizations had removed cats from the premises but left intact cats, resulting in further reproduction and this near-catastrophic situation that has ballooned into dozens of cats and kittens.”
RAPS has already removed about 15 kittens, as well as a nursing mom.
The nursing mom was so unhealthy she couldn’t care for her kittens. One of those kittens was initially thought to have a brain condition, which was discovered to be merely severely low blood sugar. Through bottle-feeding, that kitten is regaining its strength. The mother is under medical care at the RAPS Animal Hospital and we hope for the best.
As RAPS continues this rescue operation, we anticipate upwards of 10 or more pregnant females and as many as 50 or more cats and kittens in total, most of them unsocialized kittens. And RAPS anticipates at least another 20 to 30 kittens to be born, bringing the overall total to upwards of 80.
