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 cats that had already died in order to survive. The entire house was in deplorable conditions, with no heat. Rescuers took the cats our 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, 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 house 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 that were hiding the cats from the authorities. These new 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 will need a great amount of medical attention in order to survive.
Now that the cats are with the rescuers, shelters, and fosters, it is 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 are 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.
We are in the early stages of this case, so stay tuned for more updates and to be able to learn the horrible stories that these cats suffered.
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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 taken 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.
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.
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.
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.
Majesty was incredibly emaciated and knotted. She was nothing but skin and bones, and suffering from muscle wasting. She has a parasite infestation
We do not have previous pictures of Melvin. As you can see in the scale, Melvin weighed 2.04 pounds coming out of the house.
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.
Millie was emaciated and matted. She needed immediate shaving to make her more comfortable by removing the painful mats.
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 improves. He was severely dehydrated and needed constant fluids. His condition is being closely monitored and he will need long-term care to recover. He will need dental care and teeth pulled.
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.
We have no before pictures for Xena. She is severely dehydrated and emaciated. She has an upper respiratory infection and should be on a nebulizer. She also has started deworming medication.
Kiki is severely dehydrated and emaciated, weighing only 3.4 pounds. She will need careful reintroduction to food and suffers from muscle wasting.
We are working on identifying the following cats: