Garden of the Cats working a rescue effort in a hoarding case.
On Saturday, December 7, 2024, rescuers raced to the home of a convicted animal neglect subject who had since had her cats being withheld by her family. Upon arrival, rescuers found over 20 cats caged, starving, and uncared for, for almost a month. Some cats had cannibalized other cats that had already died in order to survive. The entire house was in deplorable conditions, with no heat. Rescuers took the cats out of the house and brought them to their homes and other rescues that were on hand to work with them. Others were placed with fosters families, who were also willing to join their charges on the long road to recovery.
On Sunday, December 8, 2024, a rescuer living 11 hours away heard that there were three more cats in the house and immediately contacted the police for help in getting into the home again. On Monday, the following day, this rescuer met with the police at the house and it was opened up for the rescuer to not only retrieve three more cats, two close to death, but to video tape and photograph the conditions for possible further charges against the family, who had been hiding the cats from the authorities. These newly recovered cats were immediately taken to an emergency vet to be stabilized for the ride home. Upon arrival at the rescuer’s home town, they were taken to another emergency vet for evaluation and care. These two critical cats will need a great amount of medical attention in order to survive.
Now that the cats are with the rescuers, shelters, and fosters, it will be a long road to recovery. A road that is paved with medical bills, supply costs, and love. Garden of the Cats was contacted to help with the more logistical needs of this case. We were more than happy to assist and started a GoFundMe campaign for funds to pay for the care of these cats. We will then work to find fosters for the remaining cats and set up an adoption process once these cats have recovered and need to be re-homed. No cat will go home until it has been spayed or neutered. No one will ever exploit these poor creatures ever again.
Garden of the Cats will not be able to do any of this without the generous donations from the public. We ask that you be willing to donate whatever you can to this fund. No member of Garden of the Cats gets a salary or wage, and all admin supplies are donated. 100% of your donations go to the recovery of these cats. We are a nonprofit 501(c )(3) and you donations are tax deductible. Any remaining funds collected will be donated to the rescues that took some of these cats for their recovery process.
January 14, 2025 Update: a foster parent who could not resolve the medical issues of the kittens she was caring for contacted one of the initial rescuers that she was unable to continue to care for three very sick kittens. The rescuer, who was already caring for several of the rescued cats, will make the trip across several states to bring the kittens to her home. She currently is working with a veterinary clinic that is specifically treating these cats and hopefully, this facility will be able to save these three kittens.
Stay tuned to learn more about the horrible stories that these cats suffered. You can also follow us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/gardenofthecatsclub.
Below, you will find the links to the stories of each individual cat in this awful situation. As they become available for adoption, please consider if you might be right for giving one a home. Applications will be carefully screened to ensure that each cat goes to the right loving home. You may download our application here.
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Meet the Cats We Are Helping
The following are some of the cats we are helping that were trapped in the hoarding situation. We are showing you what these cats originally looked like, and then what they looked like when they were removed from the home. These poor creatures suffered unimaginable conditions and yet were loving when they were collected by the rescuers. Our greatest hope is that they not only heal completely, but are able to put such a horrible period in their lives behind them.
Each cat will have its own story. Click on the link in the summary under each cat to learn more about them. As they become available for adoption, you just might find your furry soul mate.
Atlas had lost an incredible amount of weight and was matted to point that he had to be shaved. He was considered one of the cats in a better condition. He is scheduled for his neuter and vaccinations on December 30, 2024 and will be available for adoption.
Click here to learn more about Atlas
Jing was one of the worst emaciated cats to have been taken from the house. She weighed only 1.86 lbs at the vet after she was rescued. She will need to have a careful feeding regimen to reintroduce her to food again. She is suffering from a parasite burden, herpes in the eye, anemia, and an upper respiratory infection.
Click here to learn more about Jing
It was approximated that Jiya lost half her weight and suffers from muscle wasting. She was severely matted and soiled, and needed immediate clipping of painful knots from her hair.
Click here to learn more about Jiya
Majesty was incredibly emaciated and knotted. She was nothing but skin and bones, and suffering from muscle wasting. She had a parasite infestation and fungal infection. Majesty is Ri’s daugher.
Click here to learn more about Majesty
We do not have previous pictures of Melvin, nor information on this poor boy. As you can see in the scale, Melvin weighed 2.04 pounds coming out of the house.
Click here to learn more about Melvin
It was estimated that Milan had lost half her weight. She was knotted, emaciated, and had a head wound. She will need to have her top canine tooth removed. She, too, suffers from muscle wasting.
Click here to learn more about Milan
Ri was one of the worst off. He needed to go to the ER vet twice on the way back to the rescuer’s home. He was skin and bones and it was impossible to do any grooming until his skin condition improved. He was severely dehydrated and needed constant fluids. It is with deepest sympathy that we report that Ri passed away from his situation only days after his rescue.
Click here to learn more about Ri
Vega is highly dehydrated and emaciated. She has diarrhea and is now on a dewormer. She will need grooming once she regains her strength to rid her of mats.
Click here to learn more about Vega
Xena is severely dehydrated and emaciated. She has an upper respiratory infection and should be on a nebulizer. She also has started deworming medication. However, Xena’s condition when she was removed from the house was almost as bad as Ri’s condition.
Click here to learn more about Xena
Kiki was severely dehydrated and emaciated, weighing only 3.4 pounds. She will need careful reintroduction to food and suffers from muscle wasting.
Click here to learn more about Kiki
Queenie is a very tiny girl that lost an incredible amount of weight. When she was recovered, she weighed only 3.7 pounds. She was emaciated and malnourished. She had mats and dirt encrusted everywhere. She is scheduled for her spay, vaccinations, and microchip on December 30, 2024. She will also have dental surgery at this time. At that point, she will become available for adoption.
Click here to learn more about Queenie
Melody was severely underweight and matted. She was one of the severely emaciated cats that were kept in cages and neglected. One rescuer remembers her from being a victim in a previous hoarding situation. She has vowed to never let that happen again.
Click here to learn more about Melody
Pippa was horribly emaciated and covered in filth. She weighed only a fraction of what should be normal for her. She needed extensive grooming and nail trimming.
Click here to learn more about Pippa
We do not have a picture of Danny when she was taken from the home. She was one of the better off cats that were recovered. We believe she was one of the cats the family was hiding from authorities.
Click here to learn more about Danny
Annie was found caged and in filth, starving, at the hoarder’s/bad breeder’s house. She was rescued by another rescuer and her care focused on returning her kidneys back to proper function.
Click here to learn more about Annie
Rain was kept in a small cage with four other cats. She was horribly matted and needed to be shave. She was starving and wasting away.
Adopted
Click here to learn more about Rain
See the living conditions of which these cats suffered. We warn you; the photos are graphic and we only provide them so you can appreciate the hell these beautiful creatures went through.
Living Conditions
Above are pictures of two of the three kittens that were recovered from the bad breeder’s home. They are in dire condition, still suffering from emaciation and a severe upper respiratory viral infection. They have eye infections and one of the kitten’s eyes is ulcerated. We are trying to stabilize them to move to Omaha for further veterinary care. They will receive their own page shortly.