As bad as it gets
The day before Thanksgiving the PSPCA Centre Hall shelter had received a call from a man whose mother had been found dead in her home. The coroner had called and told him the house was pretty bad and there were several sickly cats and one dead. The SPCA doesn’t have anyone to send out for situations like this, but employee Cheryl Sharer was so concerned she called Pets Come First. I live near Clarence and she wanted to know if I could help. I called the son and tried to find out information–were cats spayed or neutered, how many, etc. He knew nothing except what the police had told him. The police had bought some food and left half a bag on the counter. He said the house was locked except for the patio doors. I told him I would go on Friday; however I couldn’t get the cats out of my mind. I called Jess Hitchings a PCF volunteer who agreed to go with me that very evening.
At 6 pm on Thanksgiving Eve with water and food Jess and I made the trip to Clarence. At first we couldn’t find the house even with a GPS. I stopped at a house where PCF and Hundred Cat Foundation had done TNR a few years ago. As luck would have it, the house we were looking for was right next door. This neighbor had been feeding the 20 or so cats that were outside of the house. He had been helping the elderly woman with groceries and errands. Jess and I headed over to the house which had lights on but all the doors were locked. Grass in the yard was over 3 feet with cat paths. We found the patio doors on the side of the house and had to climb 4 feet to get inside. I went first and was met by a horrible stench, a badly neglected house and a dead cat right inside the door. As I helped Jess up she was gagging and had to cover her mouth. You see situations like this on Animal Planet, but nothing prepares you for the smell and the horror of a home where the owner just couldn’t take care of herself anymore much less her animals.
Boy, girl, boy, boy, boy, boy and another boy underneath the gray one!
As we made our way to the kitchen, we were met by a few of the cats. There was food pulled from the bottom cupboards all over the floor. I put bowls of water down and filled another with food. One of the cats, a blind kitten, just stayed by the water bowl and drank the whole time we were there. There was an open stairway to the basement and there was a cat lying in a blanket at the bottom. She was so weak she must had gone down there to die. I ran bowls of food and water down to her and she crawled out of her blanket to eat.
Upstairs we found more cats lying together in a linen closet. They slowly came out to eat. They just sat there and stared at us–looking like living skeletons. After speaking to the neighbor we figured the cats had been in the house with the deceased woman for a week with no food or water. After checking the house, we found 12 live cats and three dead ones. We were both very traumatized by what we had just experienced. How this poor woman was left like this was very sad!
The girls!
I called Donna Herrmann of the Hundred Cat Foundation and we went back out on Friday to rescue the cats. The second time of being in the house was even worse. As Donna took pictures, I began gathering the cats and putting them into carriers. Donna found another dead cat downstairs. I captured 11 cats and one got away so I set a trap. Donna took four of the cats including the blind kitten and I took the other seven. I returned the next morning to find the cat had escaped the trap. I reset the trap and went next door to ask the neighbor if he would PLEASE check the trap to help me. I had to begin organizing help for the rescued cats. I stopped back and the remaining cat was trapped!!
I will never forget the smell of that house. Right now we are concentrating on getting the cats healthy. They will be spayed, neutered and vaccinated on January 22. The biggest problem is diarrhea, but they have all been wormed and treated for fleas. Two were tested negative for FIV. They now act and look like cats. My 8 still cuddle together after they eat and now I hear the sounds of purring!
I have called the son several times and he has never returned my calls. All expenses are being covered by Pets Come First and The Hundred Cat Foundation.
Deb Warner
President PCF
