hoarders

[GorgASS]

not sure if this goes here lol. did anyone see the episode of hoarders that was on last night? one of the ladies on there had 57 birds!! i'm no bird expert but i saw a grey, an indian ringneck, a cockatoo of some sort (i think), a bunch of parakeets, and who knows what other ones she had. one of the bird cages was on top of a pile of crap in the shower, and a few you could barely even see behind the huge piles of junk! in the end she gave up 6 of her birds for adoption, but still! there was dust, poop, and cobwebs all over in and around the cages. i'm sure she loves/loved them but you would think she would realize she's not taking proper care of them and they deserve better!

[Dave007]

Actually, I saw that show twice. It first came on in 2009. I know it looked terrible but all of those people have a serious mental handicap. With a person like her, the hoarding will start all over again. I've been watching that show since it firdt came on. It follows Intervention which is another very sad show. Hoarders like that have problems that really can't be cured even with after care that's offered.

She didn't even know what 6 birds were taken away.

[GorgASS]

i hadn't realized that was an old one, and i didn't see all of it (i was flipping back and forth to the football game). i just felt so bad...for the person as well as the birds! my aunt was a hoarder so i understand to an extent how it is for them (i was the one who tried to help her clean up before she lost her house insurance), and it didn't take long before it was right back the way it was.

[Dave007]

Just understand that seriuos things are going on besides the obvious. If you've ever watch the show in the past, I'm sure you've also seen the most horrific living conditions, dead cats, rats all over the place--basically the smell of deathe. As horrible as it is, just try to imagine how horrible it is for the hoarder ON A DAILY BASIS. Families are destroyed, people lose their homes, spouses, children, friends. They live in a private hell and constant shame and then the worst thing happens--they withdraw from life as we all know it. Believe it or not, those birds had much more going for them then the owner. She loved them. The cages were small but she tried to give a life to them. These types of people are permanently in a private hell which most can't imagine exists.

[danmcq]

These types of people are permanently in a private hell which most can't imagine exists.

 

How very true. I watch that show from time to time as well. It is a very serious mental illness with tragic results not only to pets if involved, but there own family as well.

[Chris and Matt]

I've watched Hoarders a bit and it deeply saddens me. They're all so sick and I can't help but feel a heavy heart when they're not ready to receive help yet. I watched Intervention a few times until my best friend's ex-wife was on the show. I couldn't watch it after that. Surprisingly enough it actually helped her, she's still clean and in her support groups...

[tibanks]

I've seen that hoarders when it first ran last year. I noticed she is here in Oregon not far from where I live..I felt bad for her birds, but I think she feels this is the only thing she has going for her, those birds love her unconditionally.

[Chris and Matt]

The cat hoarder was about an hour south of me in NM. Heart breaking

[Mawnee]

I tried to watch that show, it litterally made me ill. People that hoarde animals usually have huge hearts but lack the mental capacity to comprehend that what they do isnt best for the animals they love and even worse for themselves.

 

Even knowing that I cant help but be angry that someone like that is permitted to have animals at all. SOMEONE knows about it or they never would have ended up on those shows. Its always some friend or family member saying "Oh I Stopped going over there a couple months/years ago it got so bad"......WHAT?! Every minute that someone doesnt say something or do something about it is another minute those animals and that person suffers. If anyone knows someone like this do something about it RIGHT NOW! Dont just avoid them, get them help, please.

 

Just imagining one of my pets living like that for a single minute makes me almost cry.

[Dave007]

I remember that one too. So many of those cats had reverted into being feral. They were visciuos. Litters of kittens all over the place. Feces as high as the knee. Skelitons of rats. Bathrooms that can't even be seen anymore. Horrible smells, possible air borne diseases.

 

You know when the first sign of serious mental disease shows itself?

When the therapist looks at the person and say* please look around. Do you see anything out of place or dirt anywhere?

 

The person looks around and is totally oblivious to everything and says **well, I forgot to put the dishes away""

 

I can remember a show there where the lady was deeply bothered by what was going on BUT the only thing she wanted to find was her upper false denture which had disappeared a few years earlier.

 

The nicest, best show I saw there was about a guy who was a hoarder but didn't have such a bad house, just an overloaded bunch of junk.. And when the crew finished they discovered some of the most expensive furniture of all types which wasn't damaged. With his help, they fixed up the place and it's beautiful.

 

Another good show was about the retired Vet who had a huge collection of empty beer cans from all over the world. They helped him fix it up and that show turned out good.

 

But what's really sad is that the good result shows are overpowered by the horror shows normally existing--99% to 1%

[katana600]

When I see these shows, I think that these people were "normal" once and that I could be one tragedy or misfiring neuron away from a step down that path. I do feel horrible for the animals or children trapped in that situation. It has to be tough on everyone involved in the smallest contact.

[GorgASS]

that's what happened with my aunt. she was completely 'normal' (for lack of a better word), she babysat all of her neices and nephews (my cousins) while the parents worked, and we had 'kids night' every saturday night. her house was a mess but it was because of all of us kids running around being kids lol (there was close to 20 of us), and it was full of bins of toys and books and whatnot (just typing this is bring tears to my eyes from all the good and sad memories). then we all started getting older and not needing babysitting, but she wouldn't get rid of any of the toys because someday there might be more kids. then she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and fought with that (successfully), that's when things started to get worse. i think she replaced having the kids there with buying things from places like franklin mint, (keeping in mind she NEVER threw anything that any of us made her or bought her). then she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (?) and it got really bad. she was in so much pain all the time even the simplest cleaning didn't get done, and she held on to things even more then. that's when i tryed to help. she refused to get rid of anything (even old bills from years ago that she had new ones of) so i just tried to keep the house clean. i couldn't do much about all the clutter except try to organize it in tubs, but i at least made sure the dishes were clean, the bathroom wasn't dirty, things like that. when she died in 2003 it was one of the hardest things for me. i had lived with her for a while because she wouldn't let them put me in a foster home. and if it wasn't for her hoarding i never would have gotten my mom's drivers liscense (she killed herself when i was a baby). she never gave a second thought if one of us kids needed help, even if it meant her brother or sister hated her after that, she was always there for us kids, and i miss her dearly. i never completely understood why she couldn't part with some things, but i know anything that reminded her of us kids meant so much to her after she got sick and we grew up and she didn't care if her house was a mess as long as she had that stuff.

[judygram]

I have a relative who is a hoarder, she used to babysit my kids when they were young and she had a lot of stuff sitting around but later she and her husband got worse with it, sometimes it was just a pathway open thru her house, mind you she never piled up dirty dishes and such but collected things and never wanted to throw something away for she might need it later. I haven't been in her house for years now but I pity the one who has to go thru all that stuff after she passes away, she is 82 years old and never had kids.

[Chris and Matt]

When I was a child my next door neighbor had burmese cats. I loved going over there to go play with them but she knew I was allergic and asthmatic and wouldn't allow me in her house without an inhaler, and wouldn't allow me out before I washed my hands. Unfortunately, she didn't take such good care of herself. She was also allergic and asthmatic and had the paramedics at her house pretty frequently for serious asthma attacks. Low and behold, one day she had an asthma attack and couldn't get to the phone in time. Thankfully her electricity and gas had been shut off but she had cats trapped in her bedroom with her and she was nearly unidentifiable when they found her. The city came in and she had well over 50 cats in her home. Newspapers, hair, feces everywhere. They had to pretty much tear the walls out down to the studs and completely replace the floors to make her house habitable again. The city then sold it to repay her debt. It was awful.

[Guest]

I am reviving this thread because I recently visited a friend who I knew for nine years when I lived in an apartment complex. She still lives there and I was invited to come by and visit. I went over and she has become an extreme hoarder. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment and has 11 kitties. There are cat toys and litter boxes everywhere, and the litter boxes are completely filthy. There are dishes up to the sky and there are cobwebs and dust everywhere. The place has a foul odor - cat pee has a high percentage of ammonia - and within about 11 minutes I was wheezing. Her furniture is covered in cat hair and the place is just unbelievably gross.

 

 

When I lived at that apartment complex (I moved from there about three years ago), she went from having four kitties to seven and even then it was a pretty bad situation, and now in the past three years she has gotten another four. But occasionally her family (sister, nieces) would come and do a massive cleaning. Now it seems no one is coming and she is acquiring more kitties. On top of that, she has become anaemic and her health is not great. She works full-time and is simply exhausted by the time she gets home, and her housework suffers for it.

 

 

I understand being tired from a long day at work - but these poor kitties are living in filth and squalor. She would never have a dead cat - at least not so far - because, as she told me, she does a head count every night and makes sure everyone is accounted for and healthy. (!!!) But she was telling me that she's seen a young cat in the alley behind the apartment complex and it is really skinny and she wants to rescue it. Aaack! That would make 12 kitties in her tiny apartment and she is already at about eight or nine too many.

 

 

 

She is a dear, loving, kind lady of about 50 years old in so-so health and so-so finances. I don't want to just call up the city or the SPCA, but it broke my heart when I was over there. I feel badly for the kitties but then I think that if the SPCA takes some of the cats, they'll be put to death and my friend will just LOSE IT. She loves those cats like we all love our own animals and I am really torn as to what to do.

 

 

What do you guys suggest? I'm in Los Angeles, if it is relevant.

[Birdnut]

That would be very upsetting to discover a former friend in such circumstances. I don't think it would do much good to intervene to have kitties removed and clean up. This person has a mental problem and will just recreate the same situation. A person watching this has to feel really helpless.

 

I think the only thing that would really make a difference would possibly be some appropriate medication, and I don't know how one would go about arranging that.

[Elvenking]

Watch the one coming up on Monday the 10th at 10PM. It has a guy who hoards RATS!! Hundreds ofthem crawling out of everywhere, every wall...it's insane. Season finale.

 

Those two that were on the other night with the lady with the birds....and another with cats in a house with 3 feet of cat feces. Those were some long gone hoarders who will not likely ever be normal people.

[Greywings]

She is a dear, loving, kind lady of about 50 years old in so-so health and so-so finances. I don't want to just call up the city or the SPCA, but it broke my heart when I was over there. I feel badly for the kitties but then I think that if the SPCA takes some of the cats, they'll be put to death and my friend will just LOSE IT. She loves those cats like we all love our own animals and I am really torn as to what to do.

 

 

What do you guys suggest? I'm in Los Angeles, if it is relevant.

 

I suggest hands on help cleaning up the Apt. roll up your sleeves help make it sanitary even if you have to get some assistance. Once it is clean then it would be simpler to keep on the healthy side with a welfare ck once every week or two. Guidance and some moral support can make a difference for her and the cats they should not have to live like that.

[Buffy]

I have worked with animal rescue groups for many years. The 'hot button' issue right now is hoarding. Most no kill animal shelters will take in animals from hoarding situations due to the popularity of this issue in the media. After hurricane katrina, it was easier to adopt out animals that were listed as Katrina rescues because of all the media attention. Many rescues in Lousiana and surrounding states would get tons of calls for Katrina dogs and cats, but couldn't be convinced to look at any other animals in the shelter if the Katrina pet was already adopted out. After Michael Vick, adoption of pit bull terriers went way up. Because of all the shows on various channels about hoarding, rescues from hoarding situations are much easier to adopt out than other rescues right now. Anyway, it should be fairly easy in Los Angeles to find someone to take some of the cats. The trick is going to be convincing her of that. I also work in the Mental Health field. There is still a debate as to what causes hoarding and how to treat it. With animal hoarding, it seems to be a little bit easier to define. It often comes from a sense of lonliness and feelings of abandonment. These issues are much harder to address. However, sometimes, an animal hoarder is truly a devoted animal lover who got in over their head. It's extremely hard for them to admit that they aren't taking good care of their pets because this means they are an 'abuser'. That is very difficult for them to come to terms with. It is a fine line of convincing them to release some of the animals without being accusatory. Are her cats spayed and nuetered? If they are not, that would be the most important step to working on the issue. Getting into therapy would be very beneficial for any hoarder to help deal with the emotions that lie beneath the behavior. It is a very hard issue to deal with. Hopefully, you can reach out to her family members. Even if you can convince her to relinquish just two cats, it will help for the time being. The most important thing is to take small steps. Overwhelming a hoarder will often just shut them down. If anyone can get her to admit that her cat situation is an issue, then progress can often move swiftly from that point forward.

 

Best Friends in Utah is the largest no kill animal shelter in the United States. They have done a lot of work with educating people about animal hoarding. They may have some information on their website that will help you. If you google them, you should be able to find the website quickly.

Good Luck!

[BirdsAreGrey8]

Yep, saw that one. My favorite was when they found the dead cat flat as a piece of cardboard under the ladie's couch! The owner of course was oblivious to the cat even being dead and had thought it ran away nine years ago!