CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Thirty-six cats are recovering after being rescued from a Corpus Christi home where they were living in severe hoarding conditions.
The cats were surrendered by their owner to Edgar and Ivy's Cat Sanctuary. Many are now being treated for hair loss, ear mites, and mange, while others remain in critical condition.
Anissa Beal, director of the sanctuary, said the organization receives cat surrender forms daily and that hoarding situations are prevalent across South Texas.
"Hoarding is pretty common. People start off by trying to help, and then it gets out of their control," Beal said.
The sanctuary was initially told there were 12 cats inside the home, but Beal said they quickly realized the situation was much worse.
"There was no litter in the litter boxes. There was feces all over the floor. He was filling up the water as we were there, and they were running to the bowls, not a lot of food. The cats were underweight," Beal said.
People Assisting Animal Control, also known as PAAC, helped the sanctuary remove the cats from the home and get them veterinary care.
"Just watching the veterinarians working all together like that and just the help that PAAC gave us was just, it was incredible," Beal said.
Now, the 36 cats face a long road to recovery. Among those rescued were newborn kittens found scattered across the floor of the home.
"They were just laying there. It was horrific because I literally felt like I was just picking up kittens off the floor as I was walking," Beal said.
Some of the older cats are also showing signs of prolonged stress and neglect. Beal pointed to one cat experiencing what she described as stress grooming, or excessive licking that can lead to hair loss.
"His hair is just terrible quality. Do you see it all here on the sides? When you get this really short hair like this, they're stress grooming. They're licking themselves constantly," Beal said.
Beal said spaying and neutering cats is one of the most important steps people can take to prevent situations like this from becoming unmanageable.
"The cats have to be sterilized. These cats were continuing to breed in this house. So if you're going to take a cat in, if you're going to help a cat, you've got to get them sterilized at one of the low-cost spay and neuter clinics. It's easy to do and sometimes it's free," Beal said.
The sanctuary also advises against bringing healthy community cats indoors simply because they are living outside. Instead, Beal recommends having community cats spayed or neutered, ear-tipped, and returned to the area where they were found.
For more information on the shelter, click here.